Jeep Wrangler vs Mercedes-Benz GLA250

What's the difference?

The first two things any new starter who arrives in the design department of Jeep’s headquarters in Ohio is told are, 1) The bathrooms are here and, 2) Don’t change the Wrangler.

Okay, I made that up, but it’s probably not far from the truth, because the Wrangler isn’t just iconic for Jeep, but iconic for the entire car world in a similar way to the Porsche 911 and the Ford Mustang.  

The Jeep Wrangler is the equivalent of a Hollywood superstar - the Clint Eastwood of the car world - with its design that stretches all the way back to the iconic little off-roader purpose-built for the US Army in World War II. 

So, how do you make changes without changing the recipe? Well, the Wrangler has been updated and we went to the Aussie launch to see what’s changed.

Buuuuuuuur, parp, buuuuuuuuuuuur, parp. Anyone who knows anything about cars immediately recognises the sound of a 45-engined A-class derivative. It's the sound you hear in a tunnel as old mate blasts past with a giant carbon-fibre wing atop his hatchback. It's the sound you hear at 3:00am on a summer morning (if your suburb has no speed bumps, of course).

In short, that sound means big power from a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, a seven-speed transmission, and a bunch of Germans who clearly had a sense of humour in charge of tuning the exhaust note.

Sure, the GLA compact SUV is probably a slightly unexpected source of all that noise. But then, Merc's Ingolstadt rivals stuffed Audi's stupendous five-cylinder engine into a Q3 to make the hugely improbable RSQ3, so why not do the same with their skirts-lifted A-Class?

To be honest, my expectations for this car were low. So do I owe Mercedes a grovelling apology? Or can I still claim the moral high ground after a week of GLA 45 "ownership"?