2013 Mercedes-Benz CLA200 Reviews

The all-new Mercedes-Benz CLA adds yet another vehicle class to the ever growing range provided by the iconic German marque.

On driving this highly stylised, hugely appealing "four door coupe" in France earlier this year, we concluded that it mattered not an iota how we felt about it, you were going to buy the CLA anyway.

You might as well skip this. You're going to buy the CLA no matter what the likes of me say. Such a meeting of relative affordability and outright desirability has seldom been seen. The CLA will, as one observer pungently put it: "Sell its tits off," when it arrives for Christmas.For what it's worth, you're unlikely to regret investing in the cheapest ever Mercedes four door. Though at some $50,000 it's a good deal dearer than the same under the skin A-Class hatchback, the CLA sedan - or four door coupe as it is styled - is a good deal more evocative and cooler than something so utilitarian as a hatchback.VALUEWe're barely used to the reality of a fully equipped, good to drive Benz priced substantially under a basic Commodore. Such is the entry A-Class. Carsguide has gleaned that this new and madly stylish departure will start just north of $50K - eight grand under the ridiculous luxury car tax and nine under the Mercedes C-Class, which sells its chest assets off despite it.Benz has been here before, albeit with the two door and too poor CLC, a device to give hairdresser's cars a bad name. The CLA is cut of a very different cloth, essentially an A-Class in a classier suit, but with all that's substantial about that landscape altering model.Standard is a seven speed twin clutch automatic transmission driving a choice of four cylinder turbo petrol or diesel engines and multimedia screen possibly with satnav. The probable starting price is higher than we expected, but Mercedes promise a bountiful kit level, though the desirable options will be plentiful and costly.Initially we'll see the two turbo petrol variants - the entry CLA 200 and the stove hot 250. The former can be optioned with sports suspension and 18-inch wheels to match the latter's handling if not its punch. A diesel follows next year if you must go that way, as does the CLA 45 AMG with all-wheel-drive and blistering performance. You'll go that way if you can.TECHNOLOGYOf the opening lineup, the 250 is that which all with petrol in their veins will desire. The 200 is the one almost everyone will buy and feel satisfied by. Both have a three mode drive system that at a button's push shifts engine response between normal, sport and manual which is operated within strict limits by shifting paddles.While most Mercedes except SUVs remain rear wheel drive, its latest models suffer little from the fact of the one end doing both the steering and driving. All variants get Direct Steer which is smart enough to react to changes in grip, gradient and gratuitous driving.Few cars punch so cleanly through the air. The term "drag co-efficient" may mean nothing to you; suffice that the sharp angled CLA's is one of the lowest of any production car and a major contributor to its exceptionally low fuel use and emissions.The newest versions of Merc's multi-media system brings photo realistic map display, an additional Bluetooth profile to enable net access via iPhone and real time traffic data. Connoisseurs need to know that while the A250 Sport was developed from the get go with the input of that mighty tuning arm AMG, the top CLA lacks that. Mind you, we who drove between Marseille and St Tropez reckon that counts for close to nothing, so adept is the newcomer. Anyway, CLA 250 Sport to sit beneath the full on AMG model is on the way.DESIGNBasically this is the A-Class in a shell sculpted down from the imposing CLS, the model that started the mania for so-called four door coupes. The effect of those accents concentrated in a smaller shape - though one longer than the current C-Class sedan - is confronting."Aggressive" is invariably used to describe the styling of sporting cars - for once the adjective is warranted. Seen live in the metal the CLA is stunning. The shapely nose mirrors that of the hatchback, but we're assured that not a panel is shared.The inside story is, to our eyes, yet more successful even with the lurid and mercifully optional yellow stitching and striped seats of our test 200. The cabin is otherwise a model of class and taste, from the bare centre console and largely unadorned but quality expanses to your front.The five circular vents are the more effective, both functionally and in form, for standing out. It isn't classist to say this defines the difference between a try hard car from the lower orders and a true patrician. It just is. Now to the caveat. No one standing more than 180cm in height will want to sit in the back. In fact, they can't.There's also the minor matter of the driver being barely able to see out the back, so thick are the pillars and small the rear portal. Blind spot alert had better be standard. But this is, of course, a coupe, albeit one with two extra doors than usual and if functionality is too impeded for your liking, Mercedes will sell you a mechanically compatible hatchback.SAFETYWe do tend to go on about active safety and so we should. By that we mean the ability of the car to co-operate with you in not making necessary all those airbags and crumple zones. While the five star cars rating of the A-Class will surely carry over, it's the CLA’s inherent balance and instinctive drivability that will do most to save you from yourself.DRIVINGThere has been considerable disquiet among the petrol sniffing fraternity as Benz and soon, BMW, moves away from the holy rear-wheel-drive paradigm. Likely buyers (ie: real people) are hardly likely to be bothered and even the doom mongers will be hard put to complain.The 200, running the smaller turbo petrol engine, is going to be more than enough for most of us. Never mind that its 0-100kmh time of 8.6 seconds is more than two ticks of the clock behind the guts and glory 250. We talk about torque for the damn good reason that it's far more important than power in most modern driving situations.This is another compact turbo petrol engine that summons all the torque has almost immediately both for efficiency in general running and rapid response when overtaking. That responsiveness is allied to refinement fully in keeping with one of Merc's luxury saloons - the CLS for example.Hastily leaving a toll booth on the test drive (at that point it's a rat race in France) the guttural growl of the engine is almost shocking, so quiet was it till this moment. Mercedes might be after younger buyers, but it's not about to forsake its traditional virtues.That applies to the driving experience as a whole. The 200 is not the sportster of the lineup, though the optional suspension keeps it in that ballpark. It is, however, recognisably of Mercedes DNA. You can well imagine a CLA owner for whom family responsibility has come either trading up to a C-Class or getting an A- or B-Class as a second car to fulfil life's grimmer tasks.Once you've had a Benz in the driveway, you're not willingly going back to the farm. On the first world roads in the south of France, the CLA 200 is to all intents and purposes faultless. The ride won't thrill a traditional Benz buyer, but even on sports suspension it is absorbent without losing dynamic poise.By no means the most involving drive (the manual mode is too apt to block selections - you're best to leave it to pick its own gears in the sport setting), it points and goes where it should when you want it to abetted by completely linear steering.It's looking looking likely that Benz Australia will take a CLA 250 Sport over the 250 with sports enhancements we drove. That means the quicker steering, rorty exhaust and stabiliser bars of the equivalent A-Class added to an already formidable package. The 2.0-litre turbo four puts out a stonking 155kW/350Nm, the latter all from low 1200rpm.It gives the CLA a knockout punch over the deft jabbing 200. Although the transmission's tendency to scale the gears quickly can exasperate, we'd give it an extra half star to add to lesser car's four.VERDICTStill with us? Looks as though you were right in the first place. Where's mine?Mercedes-Benz CLA 200Price: From $50,000Warranty: 3 years/100,00kmCapped servicing: NoplppResale: N/AService interval: 12 months/15,000kmSafety: 5 starsEngine: 1.6-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol; 115kW/250NmTransmission: Seven-speed auto; FWDThirst: 5.5L/100kmDimensions: 4.6m (L); 1.4m (h); 1.7m (w)Weight: 1395kgSpare wheel: none

Mercedes-Benz is about to take a club to Golf with the new, German made A-Class premium hatchback priced from around $36,000.It is one of five new buggies on the same new platform coming from Benz in the next two years. Some have front wheel drive, some drive all four wheels to get you out of the rough. A coupe and possibly two compact SUV variants are on the way.The baby Benz has a handicap advantage over Golf in standard equipment scoring a seven speed dual clutch ‘manumatic’ auto (DCT) across the range along with engine stop/start, self- park function  and nine air bags.Additionally, the crash preparation system Pre-safe is also included. A clever Apple- developed communications system that even chats to the driver is available as an option for about $2000.It makes A-Class into a virtual smart phone on wheels and includes 3D satnav with traffic information and allows seamless iPod or iPhone integration into the car. An Android version should be available when the A-Class arrives in Australia March 2013.THE RANGEWe’ll be getting turbo petrol models; the A180, A200 and A250 Sport and one turbo diesel; the A200CDi. Local cars will likely be available in two spec’ levels or alternatively, with locally developed feature-rich ‘packs.’ The 250 Sport will be highly specified as standard and is likely to come in at around $50,000 or about the same as an equivalently specified VW Golf GTi.THE ENGINESNew generation engines make their debut in the A-Class. The 180 and 200 petrol are 1.6-litres while the 250 is a 2.0-litre. Power outputs across the range go from 90-166kW while torque is rated between 200Nm-350Nm. A250 Sport has an overboost function to achieve and additional 11kW over the ‘normal’ output when in sport mode. The petrol engines are all direct injection with a new cam system called Camtronic that alters valve lift on the inlet side and also has cylinder cut-off for fuel savings.It’s the first time this system has been used in a production car. The A200 CDi is a 1.8 – again a new engine specifically developed for this new class of Benz and is good for 100kW/300Nm. All these engines pass the 2015 Euro 6 emissions regulations with extremely frugal fuel use (down into the mid 4.0 litre/100km range) and low carbon dioxide output.SAFETYDesigned from the outset to deliver a full five star level of crash protection, A-Class can be specified with a full suite of safety equipment from the Benz inventory including lane departure system, speed limit recognition and warning, Distronic radar cruise control and blind spot warning. All our local cars get the collision prevention system that takes control of braking in a potential crash situation if the driver doesn’t react and attention assist if you start to nod off behind the wheel.THE LOOKIn its metamorphosis from stunning concept to production car not that much changed with the A-Class. It has an aggressive frontal appearance, truncated rear and sculpted side panels that really command attention. Even the pointillist grille made it through to the Sport model while the others get a two bar diamond grille housing distinctive headlights and wild LED driving lights. It looks ‘the biz’ on the outside.INSIDEInterior styling marks a new trend for Benz with elements carried through from both the SLS and SL sports cars. It’s dominated by three metal ringed air vents atop the centre stack and a funky instrument console with metal face dials. The dash itself in Sport is something to behold with its carbon fibre finish.THE DRIVEWe got hold of the A200 petrol and diesel in Slovenia this week and also had a squirt in the A250 on a disused airfield marked out like a race track. You’d be happy with any of them especially their drive feel and the way they sit on the road. Benz has done a great job of engaging a driver’s senses in all dynamic aspects of the car especially the steering and ride. It feels almost predictive.A-Class will satisfy the enthusiast driver and then back up as a competent and easy to drive town hack. The DCT transmission is impressive with multiple modes available and quick changes up and down the range.  Noise levels are at a minimum partly because of the car’s Cd 0.27 aerodynamics. The Sport has strong power available at will and even sharper dynamics than the other cars as well as more purposeful looks and sound.But our pre-production test drive A250 Sports were a tad tardy off the line, something that will be addressed in the months before it goes on.Mercedes-Benz A-classPrice: from $36,000 (approx.)Safety: 5 starsEngine: 115kW 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol,155kW 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol, 240kW turbocharged petrol 2.0-litre engine, 100kW 1.6-litre diesel engineTransmission: 7-speed automaticThirst: 5.5l/100km, 6.4l/100km, 4.4l/100km