Wifey has always thought of Mercedes and BMW as the ultimate upscale cars. Someone at my daughter's school showed up in a new Mercedes that she really liked, so she went online and after a bit of research, she decided that it must have been a CLA250. When she saw the relatively affordable price base price of $30K, she became very interested in upgrading from her 2009 Honda Civic. However, with a decent set of options, the price was closer to $38K, which puts it squarely in the territory of many entry level upscale cars. With the $38K price and the mixed reviews I read online, I suggested that she should wait for Audi S3. She thought the Audi looked like a Hyundai or something like that, so she wasn't interested. Sigh. Anyhow, after test driving the car for only 5 minutes, she decided to buy it. I couldn't even her to wait for the 4Matic that's due out mid-year.

I got my first chance to drive it around this weekend, and for the most part, I think several aspects of the online reviews were accurate, but some where not. Here's my rundown:

Looks - I think its a pretty decent looking car with a reasonably aggressive look. The wheel gap is about 1" front and rear. The front lip is about the same height as my Evo.

Interior - Like pretty much all the reviews said, the interior makes use of plenty of plastic and really isn't that much more upscale than our Honda Civic. It has faux leather seats that give it some upscale feel, but I think I like cloth better. The rear seat area is pretty tight. Anyone 6 foot or taller is going to have problems with headroom and legroom. One thing that none of the reviews touched on was road noise. Again, I found it pretty equivalent to our Honda Civic in this regard and was quite disappointed.

Amenities - MB did well here. At $38K, it comes with heated front seats, separate climate controls for driver and passenger, power driver and passenger seats with three memory settings, a HUD with lots of options, a decent stereo, and an awesome sun/moon roof.

Handling - Many of the reviews complained of a stiff, unsettled ride, but I found it to be firm but supple and composed. I'd say its a nice cross between the Civic and the Evo. It was raining all day, so I couldn't go all out, but in the corners where I pushed it, I found it to have very little apparent body roll and excellent grip. It was very confidence inspiring, and overall, I think the handling is awesome for what it is.

Power/Transmission - The car has three shift modes - Eco, Sport, and Manual. As the reviews said, Eco is too eco and makes the car somewhat of a dog for threading through traffic. And its not just me. My wife feels exactly the same way. OTOH, Sport mode is quite entertaining. Acceleration is much more impressive than I anticipated. Its quite lively with a wide and pleasing powerband. No problem to spin the front wheels or get the jump on jerks trying to cut in front of me. I haven't had a chance to try manual mode yet. The dual clutch tranny operated seemlessly.

Drivability - I'm still getting used to it, but my impression thus far is that its ok. Both the wife and I prefer driving in Sport shift mode, but the car resets to Eco mode everytime the engine is shut off. Annoying. It has an Eco start/stop mode that kills the motor when the car comes to a stop. This is actually fairly seamless. Visibility is not as good as the Civic or the Evo, and the car feels big and cumbersome when trying to navigate tight spaces in parking lots even enough though its not much bigger than the Civic or Evo. I'd say what makes this car worth it is the solid powerband, Sport Mode, the excellent handling, the awesome sun/moon roof, and the good looks. My wife likes it because she used to econo car interiors and road noise, but I suspect that anyone looking to crossover from an Acura, Inifinti, or Lexus would not be too impressed. Thankfully, she got it on a three year lease, so when its up, I'll be pushing for something that is closer to a true upscale experience.

 

Glad to see a review on a CLA.... I've been interested in a CLA45. Been waiting for a phone call when one comes in for stock I can see, but this hasn't happened yet. Or the sales person just blows. I've seen a cla45 in person once and it looked shape. However I do fear the interior size being too small for me personally. I doubt I would ever get one unless I was tremendously impressed by it.

 

Based on my experience with the CLA250, the CLA45 should be pretty quick.

I'm more and more disappointed with the degree of road noise. I have decided that the interior is as loud or louder than my Evo. Perhaps its the tires, but since its reasonably quiet on smooth road, I think its just poor road noise isolation.

 

the cla45amg is decently quick. For about the same price you can get the E250 with the new bi-turbo diesel though, and is a much better engine.

I personally dont care for the dual clutch setup, it shifts too much like a smart car for me. Im not sure if you have a chance to drive on those, but you arent missing much. You cant really find a CLA with decent options for under $38k, and imo thats in the territory of better options out there for the money. But so long as your daugher likes her new car thats all that matters.

 

congrats on the CLA as well as the review. not a fan of MB, until I got a new 2014 MB GLK 350 for my daughter as her first car. The multimedia is superb, better than my escalade or range rover. It has some valet features which I liked: perimeter area of driving alert, curfew alert, etc. the nav will find the closest gas station automatically if you get low on gas, which my other cars don't have. the engine is well built and the only SUV made germany. I might write a review later but I'm impressed with the CLA esp the CLA45 AMG. wished mitsubishi was more serious in their direction with the Evo.

 

Now that I've gotten a few more months driving the CLA250, my opinion is still largely the same:

- Engine performance is solid. Nice peppy motor. I prefer it to the E350 motors that I've had now as loaners while the CLA250 was being serviced for a phantom CEL issue.
- The DCT tranny is great except Eco mode is too Eco. Sometimes its almost dangerously slow to get the car moving from a stop. A firmware update would fix this. Doubt it will happen though.
- Highway mileage is impressive - no problem getting 35-37 mpg on the highway. City mileage is nothing special though, maybe 24 mpg.
- Interior has pretty much all the same features as the E350s I've driven, so its got a solid interior.
- Road noise is still too loud for a high end car.
- My biggest issue at this point is that I've figured out that the suspension isn't actually firm, but instead, it has almost no wheel travel. I realized this when I was driving over some speed bumps not long ago. The rear suspension would bottom out even when gently rolling over a speed bump in a parking lot. I think the rear suspension has perhaps 1.5" of compression travel at best. I think the front is about the same. Its pathetic. Would seem dumb for AMG to hop up this car due to this reason alone.