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August 28th, 2013 
The new Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG
Source: Supplied
The world’s fastest hatchback went on sale in Australia today – and police have already issued a warning to its drivers.
The Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG can reach the speed limit faster than a Porsche and has had its top-speed “limiter” increased from 250km/h to 270km/h – even though there are few race tracks in Australia where such a speed could be reached.
Its secret weapon is the world’s most powerful turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Hand-built, it has more grunt than most V8s.
Despite costing $75,000, it is sold out until March next year as Australia is one of the biggest “hot hatch” markets in the world.
But police have a warning for drivers of the car that can outrun even the nation’s fastest highway patrol vehicles.
“There is no reason for vehicles to travel above the speed limit,” said NSW Police Assistant Commissioner, John Hartley, whose highway patrol officers attended seven deaths on NSW roads on Monday in what he described as “a day of horror”.
“Plenty of other performance cars are able to do the same speeds (as the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG). We just hope manufacturers don’t encourage buyers to exploit that speed on the road,” said Mr Hartley.
Speaking at the launch of the car in Melbourne today, Mercedes-Benz spokesman Jerry Stamoulis said the A45 “has every piece of safety technology available to Mercedes-Benz”.
“As always we encourage our (performance-car) buyers to utilise the performance of these vehicles on the racetrack,” said Mr Stamoulis.
The Mercedes-Benxz A45 will brake automatically to avoid a collision between 30km/h and 200km/h. If a crash does occur, the interior has nine airbags to protect occupants.
The A45 is the most affordable car to ever wear the AMG badge. Until now it had been reserved for exclusive Mercedes-Benz V8 and V12 supercars.
Fast facts: Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG
Price: $74,990
Engine: Turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 265kW and 450Nm
0 to 100km/h: 4.6 seconds
Top speed: 270km/h
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