Based on a report by Britain’s Autocar following a ride in the prototype A45 at Mercedes-Benz’s winter testing facility in Arjeplog, Sweden, the newcomer, as previously indicated, will come powered by the same 2.0-litre turbocharged engine as the A35, but in two outputs confirmed to be 286kW and 310kW in the case of the A45 S, which until now had been referred to as the A50. No mild-hybrid system will be used as initially reported.

The first hot hatch of its kind to break through the 400 PS or 294kW power mark, the A45 will again send its grunt to all four wheels via Benz’s 4Matic’s all-wheel drive system, though the A45 S will come with the more advanced 4Matic+ setup. In the case of both models, however, the new all-wheel drive system does away with the rear differential in favour of two separate clutches that can send the full 286kW or 310kW to the rear axle, in addition to each rear wheel depending on the traction levels and steering angle.

Already confirmed to receive the new eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox that first debuted on the new B-class in Paris last year, the A45 will also feature a drift mode which, according to the publication, requires the selection of Race mode from the six mode drive selector, the others being Comfort, Sport, Sport+, Individual and Slippery, deactivation of the stability control and holding down of both of the gearshift paddles to put the ‘box into manual mode.

“It’s the confirmation command. Without it, the system defaults back to the nominal race mode,” the automaker’s driving academy Head, Reinhold Renger, was quoted by the publication as saying.

Aside from the new powertrain, the A45 will come with bespoke AMG exterior and interior detailing and, like the standard A-class, the three-pointed star’s MBUX infotainment system and dual 10.25-inch instrument cluster with AMG graphics.

Expect more details to emerge in the coming weeks leading up to the Geneva.