This sudden and violent ‘swerve’ maneuver that simulates avoiding a stationary Elk proved to be the compact car’s Achilles heel. The tall car turned over therefore demonstrating the original tyre and suspension settings were not up to the job. The car was revised and made safe but the stigma lives on.
On the road the new A Class is a big improvement on old car but still short of the competition. It is only enjoyable when traveling in a dead straight line on a smooth road. The much criticized steering is still lifeless and vague. Even the slightest turn of the steering feels remote (and my test car is on sporty alloy wheels!). The car is stable on the ‘twisty bits’ allowing roundabouts to be attacked without loading up the car’s suspension or rolling too much. The SUV –like driving position is commanding and offers excellent visibility all round, again this is thanks to the ‘sandwich’ floor.
The new A Class exterior is an evolution of the old and direct from my old school copybook. The refined variation on a classic wedge is clearly family orientated. Mercedes’s main premium compact rivals Audi and BMW offer more ‘sporty’ silhouettes with A3 and the 1 series. If captain James T. Kirk was right and ‘space is the final frontier’ then the Enterprise would have been traded in against the A Class.
The baby Merc has an interior that rivals even its own biggest cars! So how has Mercedes come up with all this space when no other rival can? In simple terms the ‘A Class’ was designed with a clever floor plan. It maximized interior space by allowing some mechanical bits to go underneath the car instead of under the bonnet, even the engine was placed at a greater angle to free up space and divert energy in a crash away from the cabin. The result is this clever piece of engineering is a structurally sturdy car with spectacular cabin space for such a small exterior.
The new A Class is available in three and five-door guises. There is now just one wheelbase, the old car was available in two lengths (the stretched version arrived relatively late in its life). My test car is the three-door A150 (replaces the A140) and is aimed at empty nesters. It is in Avantgarde specification, which is Mercedes for ‘Contemporary’.
The six engine options are 1.5 (A150), 1.7 (A170) and 2 litre (A200) petrol units and 1.6 (A160CDi), 2 (A180CDi) and 2 (A200CDi) litre diesels. A CVT automatic called ‘Autotronic’ is available with seven virtual gears.
The materials used inside have improved but the steering wheel only adjusts for tilt and the handbrake sits far too high when in the off position. Overall build quality seems good but the stereo in my test car was only firing on three of the four speakers.
The BMW 1 series and Audi A3 offer far more driving craic but neither can serve up the vast helping of interior space delivered by the A Class.
Overall I am disappointed with the A Class but those in the market for a posh badge and tonnes of space needn’t really care.
- Michael Sheridan
