Mercedes-Benz A35 vs Audi RS5

What's the difference?

The Mercedes-AMG A35 sedan is a genuinely fun small car. To me it’s a more mature offering than the A35 hatch, while not being quite as pretentious as a CLA35. Therefore I like it on principle.

Would I personally choose it over an Audi S3? Probably not - but there are plenty of objective reasons why you would.

Good looking, good to drive, and good to simply sit in, the Audi RS5 range ticks plenty of premium boxes. Whether you can live with the practicality pitfalls of the Coupe is up to you, but if you can't, might I suggest taking a wander over to our RS4 Avant review?

This is the first AMG A-Class sedan ever, so that’s an interesting design decision. I wasn’t sure whether Mercedes needed a CLA ‘Coupe’ and an A-Class sedan to sit alongside one another, but there are distinct differences in terms of the look and intent of the two compact models.

The A sedan carries over the A-Class hatchback’s aggressive styling, with sharp, angular headlights, a strong presence courtesy of its black exterior highlights (including AMG flics on the front bumper and black side skirts, rear spoiler and rear diffuser for this test vehicle). The black 19-inch black-finish rims fitted to our test car are also optional, with silver being the standard finish.

It has a stumpy little boot with a broad stance thanks to its triangulated tail-lights and horizontal reflectors, while the twin exhaust pipes with black tips are rather pleasant to look at, too.

It’s a very attractive sedan, with nothing clumsy about its proportions at all. Is it gorgeous enough to make you think twice about the Audi A3/S3/RS3 as the ruler of the pretty little sedan? Maybe… it’s not quite there for me, although it’s close. But it is certainly a distinct design, one that Merc fans will undoubtedly adore.

The dimensions of the A35 sedan aren’t what a lot of people would actually consider “small”. It’s 4549mm long (on a 2729mm wheelbase), 1796mm wide and 1446mm tall. For context, that’s longer, wider and taller than the substantial Mazda3 small sedan, if not quite as big as the a Corolla sedan.

And if you’re wondering about how that compares to a CLA, that car has the same wheelbase but is 4688mm long, 1830mm wide and 1439mm tall. That’s bigger than a C-Class. Gosh, how confusing. 

What does it all mean when it comes to interior space? Check out the interior images and details below to see for yourself.

I defy anyone to describe the RS5, and especially the Coupe, as anything but stunning. Seriously, the near perfect proportions and swept-back styling make it look fast even when it's parked. 

Up front, there's a new-look black-mesh grille that's been given a 3D effect, like it juts out over the road in front it, while the thing headlights have been carved back into the body work like they're been windswept under hard acceleration.

The 20-inch darkened alloys fill the arches, too, with a sharp body crease that runs from the front headlight all the way back to the bulging shoulder lines above the rear tyres accentuating the curves.

Inside, the RS5 is a sea of black Nappa leather and sporty touches, and we particularly like the chunky, flat-bottomed steering wheel, which both looks - and feels - great.

I admit, I thought I’d get a bit more in the cabin of the A35 sedan. There’s no electric steering wheel adjustment, no heated steering wheel, and the fact adaptive cruise control is optional (it’s standard on some $25K cars!) is a bit rude, too.

That isn’t to say that it’s not an eye-catching space, one that will hit hard on the bling-o-meter, and will definitely impress anyone who isn’t familiar with Mercedes’ recent cabin design traits.

The twin screens are dazzling - crisp and beautiful to behold, and with graphics that are extremely high resolution. The menus have been designed to be simple, but honestly, it’s a bit confusing until you’re initiated.

Also, I found the media screen to be very glitchy. On multiple occasions it would not respond to touch, and once it even reset itself. I also had several problems connecting to Apple CarPlay. Note: I was using a Mercedes-Benz USB-C adaptor to USB-Lightning cable with an iPhone XS, and I think maybe the adaptor had a part to play in the problems I encountered.

The touchscreen is just one way to interact with the media controls, as there’s a touchpad between the front seats, and the driver has a thumb-controller on the steering wheel to jump between screens. And there’s voice control as well, with the MBUX system’s ‘Hey, Mercedes’ recognition allowing you to ask for things to be adjusted. 

Furthering the wow-factor up front are beautifully designed air vents that light up blue when you turn the temperature down or red when you up the heat. There’s configurable ambient lighting for the cabin, which makes the A35 a bit of a showstopper at night, and our car had the no-cost optional red and black Lugano leather trim, which is either going to be your thing, or not. 

The space for adults up front is decently accommodating, with good headroom and width, plus nice soft touch points where there should be, and there are bottle holders in the doors. There are three USB-C points up front, a pair of cup holders between the seats, and a wireless (Qi) phone charging bay.

The steering wheel is a nice shape and easy to hold, though I’m still not convinced by the little digital displays for the drive-mode dials - they’re toy-like teeny-weeny screens and look a bit pixelated compared to the other displays in the cabin.

Rear seat space is not as good as you might hope or expect, given the size of the car. As a 182cm (6.0ft) man with the driver’s seat set for me, my knees were hard against the seat in front, my toes were squashed and my head was just brushing the headliner, too.

That mightn’t be a problem for you - maybe your only rear seat riders will be short, or young. There are dual ISOFIX child-seat anchor points and three top-tether restraints for baby seats, if that’s the case.

And they’ll be well catered for, with a pair of USB-C ports, as well as directional air-vents, mesh map pockets, and bottle holders in the doors as well as a fold-down armrest with pop out cup holders.

Boot space will likely matter to you if you’re buying a sedan over the hatchback model, and you’ll find an additional 60 litres of boot space here over the five-door model, with 430L of cargo capacity.

That should, in theory, be large enough to fit all three of the CarsGuide cases (124L, 95L, 36L), but the shape of the cargo hold meant I only managed to fit the smallest case with the middle or largest case, but not all three together. Soft luggage could help.

There’s no spare wheel under the boot floor, as the A35 has a tyre repair kit. 

We only tested the Coupe, and I can tell you that the practicality perks on offer largely depend on where you're sitting.

Up front, you're spoiled for room in the two-door Coupe, with the two spacious seats separated by a sizeable centre console that's also home to two cupholders and a variety of cubbies, with extra bottle storage in each of the front doors. 

The back seat, though, is a little, or a lot, tighter, with come acrobatics required to even climb into it, given the Coupe only has two doors. The Sportback offers two more doors, which will surely make the process a little easier. 

The Coupe measures 4723mm in length, 1866mm in width and 1372mm in height, and will deliver a decent 410 litres in luggage space in the boot. The Sportback measures in at 4783mm, 1866mm and 1399mm, and boosts your luggage space to 465 litres.

Either vehicle has your tech needs sorted, with an abundance of USB and power outlets serving both front and backseat riders.

It's available as a Coupe or a Sportback, but either way, the RS5 commands a $150,900 asking price. And that's not chump change, but Audi's performance model does come with a lot of bang for those bucks.

We'll get to the engine and safety stuff in a moment, but in terms of fruit, you'll find 20-inch alloys outside, as well sportier RS body styling, sport brakes, Matrix LED headlights, keyless entry and push-button start and heated mirrors, a sunroof and privacy glass. Inside, there's Nappa leather seats (heated in the front), illuminated door sills, stainless steel pedals and ambient interior lighting.

The tech stuff is handled by a new 10.1-inch central touchscreen that gets both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as Audi's Virtual Cockpit, which replaces the dials in the driver's binnacle with a digital screen. There's also wireless phone charging, and a killer 19-speaker Bang and Olufsen sound system.

You could look at this one of two ways: 1) this is the least powerful AMG on sale today; 2) this is a seriously powerful small car.

If you’re glass-half-full-biased like me, you’ll see the engine specs and park yourself in the latter camp. 

There’s a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol motor which isn’t short on horsepower: it has 225kW of power and 400Nm of torque - those were class-killing power outputs not too long ago. 

The grunt numbers give the AMG A35 sedan a claimed 0-100km/h time of just 4.8 seconds, while the top speed is limited to 250km/h. Five years ago these power figures and performance numbers would have pegged the A35 in A45 territory - this is a seriously powerful little jigger.

The engine is teamed to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and the A35 runs Benz’s 4Matic all-wheel drive system, which is front-biased but can shuffle torque 50:50 if needed. 

Its a terrific engine, this - a twin-turbo 2.9-litre six-cylinder TFSI that will deliver 331kW at 5700rpm and 600Nm at 1900rpm, sending it thundering to all four wheels (because quattro) via an eight-speed tiptronic automatic.

That's enough, says Audi, to deliver a 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.9 seconds in the Coupe and the Sportback. Which is very, very quick.

The combined cycle fuel consumption figure - that’s what the brand says the car will use over a mix of driving - is 7.4 litres per 100 kilometres.

I saw a little higher than that over my 650km of driving, which was heavily biased towards highway testing, but also included a few traffic snarls and a couple of stints of performance testing. I saw 8.4L/100km, which is okay, but I expected better given 80 per cent of my time in the car was in easy-going open road driving.

The fuel tank capacity for the A35 sedan is 51 litres, and you’ll need to fill it with 98 RON premium unleaded petrol. 

The RS5 Coupe will sip a claimed 9.4L/100km on the combined cycle, and emit a claimed 208g/km of Co2. It's fitted with a 58-litre fuel tank. 

The RS5 Coupe will the same 9.4L/100km, but emit 209g/km of Co2.

On paper this seems like the ideal option for those who know they’ll never really be able to take advantage of the outputs of an A45 or CLA45’s ludicrous power and torque figures.

In practice? It mostly lives up to that notion - though just like an A45 or CLA45, you’re going to enjoy it a lot more when you’re giving it the beans. 

Driving with intent, the engine and transmission work together amazingly well. The transmission itself is thoughtful and smart shifting, swapping cogs exactly when you think it should - while you have paddle shifters available to use, in most cases you’re not going to need them.

The engine itself is an absolute weapon. There’s lots and lots of pulling power, it’s linear in the way it delivers its power, and there’s a little bit of pop and crackle from the exhaust - personally, I would like even more. I guess that’s where an A45 or CLA45 comes into its own.

The steering is superb for an all-wheel drive car, too. It’s direct and accurate, and while you can feel the electronics shuffling the power and torque between front and rear axles it’s a really nicely balanced and very easy car to drive fast – at times even faster than you really should be. 

In Sport mode and Sport Plus mode the suspension and steering are tightened up, with taut responses but the suspension is never crunchy or uncomfortable. Braking performance is very good, too.

In Comfort mode though, I struggled to come to terms with the A35 a little. In my mind, it lived up to the notion of a sporty sedan a lot more readily than it did that of a compact luxury sedan. It just feels like it’s meant to be on a twisty road, not dealing with daily drudgery in commuting.

One not-very-luxurious element was the road noise intrusion, which was the worst of any new car I can recall experiencing. That might seem a dramatic claim, but the booming tyre roar on coarse chip road surfaces, including major Sydney freeways, was verging on unbearable. I measured it on my smartphone, and 78 decibels was the maximum readout.

And while very impressive under pressure, the powertrain is somewhat doughy in less demanding situations. There’s some lag to contend with, and a little bit of lunging from the transmission, too. However, it was during downshifts that I found the transmission’s behaviour most questionable, with some shift-shunts when slowing to a halt in urban driving. 

One unexpected finding was the 'Route-Based Speed Adaptation' system’s behaviour, which was active in the car I was driving. The tech uses the car’s mapped position to guide its adaptive cruise control behaviour. In theory it’s a very smart idea - the car will slow itself down if it predicts you’re about to approach a tight bend and you’ve got it set at the speed limit. Or if you’re approaching a roundabout, it’ll think ahead, too.

But during my time in the car, I had an issue that I found could be potentially dangerous. Having set the speed at 80km/h in a relatively new tunnel in Sydney’s west (the WestConnex M4, opened July, 2019), the system couldn’t place the car’s location, which meant the car believed it was still on surface streets. 

On multiple occasions the car slowed dramatically thinking I needed to turn a corner that didn’t exist on the road I was driving on. My instant thought was: “What if the person behind me wasn’t looking at the road ahead?” I’ve seen enough drivers with their eyes aimed at the phone in their lap and not the road ahead, to know this is a distinct possibility.

There’s also a risk from tailgating trucks, which seem to be more prevalent in Sydney’s west than anywhere else on the planet. It’s a potential risk, even if the Benz has clever tech that can flash the tail-lights if the car’s systems predict there’s a chance of being rear-ended.

Mercedes-Benz’s Aussie team let me know that the map software wasn’t up to date, which is why the car didn’t understand the situation. It’s technology you can disable by simply delving into the menus on the MBUX system, but I’d recommend you try it out to see if you’re comfortable with it.

With our time behind the wheel limited to the RS5 Coupe, we can only really report on how the two-door feels on the road, but given the prodigious power on offer, it's unlikely the addition of two doors is going to make the Sportback any slower. 

In short, the RS5 is thunderously fast, collecting speed with utter nonchalance thanks to this thick and endless-feeling supply of power unleashed whenever you plant your right foot.

It makes even the most ham-fisted attempts at cornering feel fast as lightning, with the power flow able to make up for every slow entry and exit by simply piling on pace between bends. 

But that's what you expect from an RS model, right? So perhaps more impressive is the RS5's ability to transform back into a relatively sedate urban cruiser when the red mist subsides. The suspension is firm, especially over rough road surfaces, and you do need to be a little careful with the accelerator to avoid that lurching feeling at every green light, but driven calmly, it doubles as a everyday car quite nicely.

Like in the RS4, we did find the gearbox felt a little quick to change at pace, shifting up or down at strange moments on the way into or out of corners, but you can reclaim control via the paddle shifters.

The safety story begins with six (Coupe) or eight (Sportback), and the usual suite of braking and traction aids, but then climbs into the tech-savvy stuff from there.

You get a 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise with stop and go, active lane assist, front and rear parking sensors, AEB with pedestrian detection, rear cross-traffic alert, an exit warning system, blind-spot monitoring and turn assist, which monitors oncoming traffic when making a turn.

It's a lot of gear, and it all contributes to Audi's five-star ANCAP safety rating, awarded in 2017 to the A5 range.

Mercedes-Benz Australia recently joined Korean luxury brand Genesis in meeting the market with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty plan for all of its models, including AMG variants.

Service intervals for the A35 sedan are set every 12 months/25,000km - yes, that’s a generous maintenance schedule, as most cars require servicing every 15,000km. 

Buyers can opt to pre-pay servicing costs and roll it into their finance package, and there’s a level of discount applied if you do that. 

For a three-year/75,000km service plan, you’ll pay $2150, saving you $500 over pay-as-you-go capped price servicing. There’s also a four-year/100,000km plan ($2950) or a five-year/125,000km plan ($4000). That’s surprisingly decent for a luxury car, though keep in mind it doesn’t include wiper inserts or brake pads/discs.

Buyers get roadside assistance included for the duration of the new-car warranty, too.
 

Audi vehicles are covered by a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is feeling more than a little underdone when compared to some competitors.

Services are due every 12 months or 15,000kms, and Audi allows you to pre-pay your service costs for the first five years, at a cost of $3,050.