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Test Drive: 'Bargain' Mercedes CLA disappoints

6K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  noreason 
#1 · (Edited)
#3 ·
Sound like a pretty biased review to me. Highlight all the cla weak points, but ignore all the positives...

Its true the basic car is pretty cheaped out. But if you tag on some options I think the car looks pretty good!@ The edition 1 doesnt look cheap to me at all...
 
#4 ·
I don't typically put that much stock in auto reviews from USA Today but as reviews go this one isn't great. I'm not sure I see the shining prose hidden between the lines of a review that ends, "overall, the CLA is disappointing" and offers enough content to back-up that conclusion. And, to make matters worse (for me, at least), every criticism they've written is one we've seen on these boards from people who have seen the car in person.

Actual and prospective owners who are willing to overlook those issues or who never noticed them in the first place are entirely unaffected. I always advise people to ignore the reviews and judge for yourself. If you love the car it doesn't matter what I think or what anyone else thinks about it. I still hold to that belief firmly...but I still don't see the silver lining on this review.

-Eric
 
#7 ·
"CLA 45 AMG has 2-liter turbo four rated 335 hp at 6,000, 332 lbs.-ft. at 2,250."

Good to see that no one proof read the article before it was published as a review.

Aside from journo getting the facts wrong in what seems to already be a biased review, I agree with above comments. Not everyone will love it. And, as above, I'm fine with that as I can look past some of the things mentioned (rough ride, shit glued on iPad onto the dash)
 
#11 ·
s3 looks aight... could prob get a nice one for under the cla45's base msrp too...

im hoping i like the test drive... the cla45 is going to be about 10k over the s3 after you build both im assuming...

do you think it's worth 10k more ? 9 inches longer and 55 more hp ?

whats the 0-60 on s3

..

s3 will be out then cla45's will be selling under sticker by then

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Mercedes CLA Forum mobile app
 
#14 ·
Youtube has a well done "driving" test between the A45, M135i and new GTi. The GO-Pro type camera and the real time comments clearly shows the 45 is insanely fast and as strong as the M135i is, it was having a hard time keeping up partly because of the steering deficiency on the twisty road. When the hammer was down, the much improved and stronger GTi literally watched the A45 disappeared in front of it's eyes. The tester, however, surprisingly said he would choose the GTi over the M135i on handling alone.
The S3 at, say, $45k would be interesting but it has the space efficient box look and I will have to see it to judge. 0-62 in 4.9 is plenty quick. The fact that I can get a 6-speed is a plus ( my wife would have final say on that.)

If the CLA45 is near the A45, which I believe it should, it is going to be a special car. The regular CLA is a pretty, well priced but otherwise pedestrian 4 door coupe that will make many first time luxury car owners happy.
 
#13 ·
Those that own a different brand and have no interest in switching tend to talk down the CLA to justify why they are driving what they are driving.
Those that are seriously considering buying or have already bought or ordered a CLA tend to talk up the car to justify why they are getting the car.
Both are biased views.
We are human...
 
#15 ·
I think all of us who are buying the CLA understand the car is not perfect and make no excuses for it.... some of the interior issues for example (door gap, low head room) but we are willing to make those compromises.

With that being said, I don't disagree with most of the stuff that was brought up in the review. The roof line is low but that's what makes the car so damn good looking.

I'm 6' and I found there to be ample legroom in the car. I didn't need to move the front seats all the way back to be comfortable and then got into the back seat after my front seat adjustments, there's still 1 or 2 inches of knee space. Head room is another matter, you're going to need to use that extra leg room to slouch down for head space or sit upright with your head cocked to one side. I think most of us are happy to make this sacrifice because we don't really need the back seats, it's just a bonus two doors from a coupe car.

I don't get all the ranting about the suspensions being jarring. I purposely drove the demo car over a really rough patch of road at speed to see how it would do. Yeah - it sucks if you're trying to do 40km/h over pot holes but nothing worse than any other sports suspension cars out there. This is supposed to be sporty so if you're coming from a sports suspension to the CLA, almost no diff. If you're coming from a floaty comfort suspension to the CLA, it's going to be very different. The steering/handling/cornering is excellent btw.

One thing I did have some minor concerns with was a huge lag in power.

The car felt very responsive in normal driving, even with the eco mode (engine stop/start) on. If you pay attention to the lights and have decent reflex, the eco start will be ready to go as you move your foot from brake to gas.

However even in sport mode, eco off... when I'm driving along and then floor the pedal. Literally gas to the floor - there's a 1-2 second delay before the engine kicks in. Is this turbo lag? I've only driven naturally aspirated cars so I don't know what is causing this... gearing? the turbo?

Has anyone else found this to be the case - a 1-2 second delay when you slam on the gas before the car starts to respond?
 
#16 ·
I came from the early days of turbo charging. That sounds just like what I experienced with the old fashion" turbo lag," especially with a large turbo charger. It took time to spool up to push the extra air. But the road tests on the car never mentioned significant lag and you are the tenth person on the forum that complained about that issue. I haven't driven the car so I am just guessing based on my current C250 Coupe which has effectively the identical engine. In econ mode, kickdown is horribly slow but gets better in sport mode although nowhere near perfect. I generally don't have any issue unless I am merging onto a highway from an uphill ramp with fast oncoming traffic. The DCT kickdown may be the problem. Someone said even using the manual mode doesn't help. Have a feeling we will be hearing more on this...
 
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