Saturday 6th July 2019

Mercedes-AMG A35 vs VW Golf R | PH Video

The wise old stager of hot hatches meets the swaggering upstart - which wins?

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If imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, the Mercedes-AMG A35 must border on the sycophantic where the VW Golf R is concerned. Both have 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engines, both have about 300hp, both have exactly 295lb ft of torque, both are all-wheel drive, both have seven-speed dual-clutch transmissions and both cost in the region of £35,000. Spooky. It's almost as if Mercedes-AMG has seen the success of the Golf R since 2014 and aimed to muscle in on its patch with a very similar rival...

Which is exactly why we have them together on video. Given VW and AMG are so evenly matched on the spec sheet, can there really be any differences on the road? Is one actually a better hot hatch than the other? That's what Dan P will answer in this video.

Handily enough for the all-weather, all-season hot hatch case, Wales was sopping wet when this was filmed last month. Yes, last month being June. Dan nearly got his hair spoilt and everything.

Still, professional that he is, Prosser persevered, the end result being the video that can be seen below. We really hope you enjoy it; if there are any suggestions for drives, tests and features you'd like to see on the PH YouTube channel, please let us know. And don't forget to subscribe!

 

 

[Nerdherder]

Some folks might find a review putting these against each other gedooid, but I well enjoyed Dan’s take on them and think he raised touched upon exactly the right points of both. The A35 to me is more (pleasingly) dramatic in terms of design (on all fronts) and it sounds better so wins. I’d happily drive around in either of them though.

[Nerdherder]

DoubleD said:

Cups Renault said:

Fart, fart four pot
Why the four exhausts?

Why not?

The point of this post to me is not the opinion but its poetic quality.

[Nerdherder]

JimbobVFR said:

nickfrog said:

What's a tepid hatch then?

I'd guess that would be my Suzuki Swift Sport, although I prefer to call it a proper old school hot hatch with none of this Turbo nonsense.

Haha, a tepid hatch. I’d have one in this case.