The "c++ implementations" are two stack overflow answers. I don't think the comparisons are representative of the performance of implementing A*:
1 - Is an innefficient and obfuscated BFS. It has no heuristics. (The lisp benchmark is using Manhattan distance. You can think of it as comparing walking blindfolded on a maze vs having a GPS that tells you how far you are from the exit)
2 - Is a person claiming numbers on a specific instance of a problem that was tested, without showing any code or details on what heuristics were used