2019 Mercedes-Benz A-Class vs Mazda 3

What's the difference?

Unicorns. They exist. The thing is there aren’t many of them and if you want to find one you need to know where to look. 

Now, I don’t normally give secrets away, but I’ll let you know where one is: it’s this 'early release' version of the Mercedes-Benz A 250 4Matic, and chances are you will never see one like this again.
 
See this A 250 4Matic is a sort of early release version of the car because it’s different to the model which will arrive later in 2019 – it’s also more affordable.

So, what’s the catch? We drove this special A 250 4matic at its launch recently to find out, if there was one.

If you will indulge me, I'd like you to cast your mind back to the mid-90s. If you're too young, ask your parents or Google to do the same.

Have a peek at the pretty but not especially amazing 323 Astina. Some folks call it a four-door coupe, but it's a sedan. It was not nearly as attractive as the more adventurous hatchback.

The 323 went dull for almost a decade and then when the 3 arrived, it was the sedan that I thought was the looker. Sure, they weren't completely different like the old days, but the proportions were nicer and it was just a better thing to look at.

Then along came the most recent fourth-generation 3, the BP. The hatch, I think, is the gorgeous one while the sedan is a more sober. And while still made of lovely proportions, it seems to have been... flattened a bit.

Thorough as we are here at CarsGuide, I spent a week with the new sedan to ponder not only its looks, but whether it's much different to the hatch.