Mercedes’ next-generation AMG A45 will be so powerful it’ll have more horses per liter than a McLaren Senna.

German automaker Mercedes-Benz is locked in an arms race. Their weapon of choice is hot hatchbacks. Their opponents are Audi and BMW. The prize is the beating European heart of the hot hatch market.

Mercedes intends to win this race, and to do it they’re developing a car so powerful it puts British supercars to shame.

It’s the AMG A45—a nuclear hatchback.

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A 45
via autocar

Well, not really. It’s not actually nuclear powered (although most of us wish we could have a nuclear-powered car) but it might as well be. According to Tobias Moers, the head of Mercedes’ performance division AMG, the next generation of A45 will have "well over 400bhp.”

Moers also noted that the new A45 will still have the same 2.0-L engine, although heavily redesigned so it produces more power than any engine before it. The current leader in horsepower per liter of engine is the McLaren Senna at 197 per liter from its 4.0-L twin-turbo V8. If the A45 has more than 400 horses from two liters, that’s easily breaking the 200 hp/L barrier and dethroning the Senna for power efficiency.

"It's going to be the next step in every perspective, including driving dynamics," said Moers to Autocar. The new A45 is expected to have a dynamic suspension that’ll allow for “track mode” driving, essentially lowering the car as close to the pavement as possible to improve handling.

The new A45 has been seen in the wild over the past few months testing out its new drivetrain. Work must be getting close to completion as the most recent models have been seen with a new exhaust sporting rounded tips rather than the current squared-off ones.

Industry insiders are calling the car “The Predator” for its intense performance. Or possibly because it has enough power to kill its test drivers. We won’t know for sure on any of these figures until Mercedes releases something official, but in the meantime, BMW and Audi are quaking in their boots.

The Predator is coming.

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