The A180 CDi

[Lotiman]

I had one of these today as a courtesy car whilst the S204 was being serviced. I was interested to try it as I've not driven any of the current range of A Class before, so took a bit of a circuitous route home. It was fitted with the Renault developed diesel which, again, I was interested to try as I guess this represents the future of small MB 4 pot diesels.

Well, if this really is the future for the small MB diesels, I don't want any part of it. I was truly shocked at just how coarse, unrefined and gutless this engine is in the A Class. Aside from a few areas on the interior of the car that I felt were cheap looking and the dreadful stuck on iPad, I thought the car itself wasn't bad. It handles well, corners with little roll although the steering feels a little too light for my liking, has powerful brakes and a general feeling of being well screwed together but is crying out for a decent engine.

The engine is quite simply woeful. Trying to pull out of a side turning with any degree of urgency was a waste of time as the power delivery comes in far too late after pressing the go pedal, leaving you wondering just when or if it will go at all. When it does start to pick up the revs, the engine sounds so thrashy and agricultural, you want to immediately back off in order to save your hearing. I've driven quite a few diesel MB's over the years, but this was easily the worst and by some margin. One thing, in fact the only thing, this engine has going for it is that over my day with it, the fuel consumption was very good.

I really wasn't sorry to return the car to the dealers tonight and collect my 204. It's such a shame as the A Class really isn't a bad car in itself, but oh that nasty Renault engine does it absolutely no favours whatsoever.

 

[Aletank]

Maybe a decent remap would transform the car into something worth having !

 

[derekthetree]

I had a b180d as a courtesy car. To be fair it's only a 105?bhp engine and a 1.45 turbo so not much grunt. It's designed for max economy and people who care about little else. I guess competing with 116s and golfs?

 

[Lotiman]

It certainly needs something doing to it but even a remap couldn't mask the inherent crudeness of the Renault engine, unfortunately.

 

[Lotiman]

I had a b180d as a courtesy car. To be fair it's only a 105?bhp engine and a 1.45 turbo so not much grunt. It's designed for max economy and people who care about little else. I guess competing with 116s and golfs?

Yes you're right and as I noted, it certainly is very frugal, but the idea of such an awful sounding engine in an otherwise well built car is complete anathema. I guess I could accept it more if the A Class were a cheap no frills runabout such as a Dacia, but to install it in a car from a premium marque just doesn't seem right somehow.

 

[derekthetree]

Yes you're right and as I noted, it certainly is very frugal, but the idea of such an awful sounding engine in an otherwise well built car is complete anathema. I guess I could accept it more if the A Class were a cheap no frills runabout such as a Dacia, but to install it in a car from a premium marque just doesn't seem right somehow.

Yeah but there is a huge market for cars that look outwardly very upmarket or sporty but are cheap to own and run. The b180d I had, had the amg bodykit and black alloys! But no cruise or DAB??

It must be so much cheaper for mb to use a shared engine, and still get majority of buyers to not care about it. 1% of enthusiast drivers don't get much of a say...

 

[GLK]

I had exactly the same model (A180d 65-reg) as a courtesy car three days ago, when my A200 C169 was in for a major service at the local MB, which took all day - 9am to 6pm.

Now, my A200 Coupé is by no means a high-powered car, but yes, even I felt the A180 was lacking ... and the noise was horrendous! I also didn't like the brakes - too jumpy, practically impossible to do a gentle touch (might be because it's only done 1970 miles?) and I absolutely hated how it slowed by itself going down the ramps in a multi-storey - I'm perfectly capable of handling a car by myself, thank you very much!

Loved the steering wheel and the gear selector (a bit of a nostalgic feeling there, I suspect); the driving position is way too low for my taste; didn't like the cruise and stalk swapped positions (flicked the cruise twice when wanted to indicate), but I guess that can be gotten used to, with time.

Anyway, I was so glad to get back into my own car that evening! With only 33,530 on the clock, fresh ATF and sparks, and everything else is running perfectly, I recon I have good few years still left in it.

There's absolutely no way I would change my car for the W176.

 

[Lotiman]

I had exactly the same model (A180d 65-reg) as a courtesy car three days ago, when my A200 C169 was in for a major service at the local MB, which took all day - 9am to 6pm.

Now, my A200 Coupé is by no means a high-powered car, but yes, even I felt the A180 was lacking ... and the noise was horrendous! I also didn't like the brakes - too jumpy, practically impossible to do a gentle touch (might be because it's only done 1970 miles?) and I absolutely hated how it slowed by itself going down the ramps in a multi-storey - I'm perfectly capable of handling a car by myself, thank you very much!

Loved the steering wheel and the gear selector (a bit of a nostalgic feeling there, I suspect); the driving position is way too low for my taste; didn't like the cruise and stalk swapped positions (flicked the cruise twice when wanted to indicate), but I guess that can be gotten used to, with time.

Anyway, I was so glad to get back into my own car that evening! With only 33,530 on the clock, fresh ATF and sparks, and everything else is running perfectly, I recon I have good few years still left in it.

There's absolutely no way I would change my car for the W176.

Yes, I too was caught out a couple of times by the cruise and indicator stalks having been swapped from their position on my car. Why change them around? As you say though, I'm sure you'd get used to it over time, but it just seems pointless to change from a tried and tested layout.

 

[GLK]

Yes, I too was caught out a couple of times by the cruise and indicator stalks having been swapped from their position on my car. Why change them around? As you say though, I'm sure you'd get used to it over time, but it just seems pointless to change from a tried and tested layout.

Quite! The new position is also counter-intuitive and downright awkward when you need to change indicated direction from say, right to left in a single go on a roundabout, as the indicator stalk is not the first one your fingers encounter. Can't imagine a situation, when the cruise needs to be easier accessible than the indicator...

 

[TheFoX]

The problem is when you are going from a higher powered car to something that isn't, you are going to notice it.

Still, the dealer should have a collection of courtesy cars that befit their clients, and the A class in whatever guise is not a worthy contender when people are asking for C, E, CLS and S classes to be serviced.

When I had my old CLK serviced, they gave me an A class, albeit the original version, and I complained bitterly, especially since this service cost me £750. No wonder I have never gone back to that dealer.

While the name may say 'courtesy', you are actually paying for the car, so you should have some say as to what car you are given.

As for diesels, there are diesels, and there are diesels. Anyone who has driven a 220, 250 or 350 knows that these diesels are responsive. My old C220 would hit 60 in 7 seconds, and my CLS350 is even quicker, especially off the mark. On the other hands, the purely economical diesels such as the 200's and below are much more sluggish. Our B180 needs planning when pulling out of a junction or overtaking.

I was once given a 1.4 litre diesel Corsa when I had my ComboVan serviced, and it felt like the car was being driven through mud. The response was non existent, and I was extremely glad when I handed that one back.

On the other hand, when I owned a 1.4 litre petrol Corsa and had it serviced, they gave me a Vectra 2.5 litre V6 SRi as a courtesy car, and I didn't want to hand that one back. After driving it, it felt like my own Corsa was stuck in mud.

 

[rhud]

It would be interesting to know whether MB's decision to drop the W169 A Class in favour of something completely different is actually paying off? Local dealer tells me that no W169 owner has so far swapped for the new version. This is not really surprising as the new open is aimed at an entirely different demographic. But have they made up - or more than made up - the shortfall by sales to younger drivers?

 

[GLK]

Even if they have, why relinquish an established (168, 169) market segment? Particularly as the latest 169s have pretty much all problematic areas ironed out?

 

[Lotiman]

The problem is when you are going from a higher powered car to something that isn't, you are going to notice it.

Still, the dealer should have a collection of courtesy cars that befit their clients, and the A class in whatever guise is not a worthy contender when people are asking for C, E, CLS and S classes to be serviced.

When I had my old CLK serviced, they gave me an A class, albeit the original version, and I complained bitterly, especially since this service cost me £750. No wonder I have never gone back to that dealer.

While the name may say 'courtesy', you are actually paying for the car, so you should have some say as to what car you are given.

As for diesels, there are diesels, and there are diesels. Anyone who has driven a 220, 250 or 350 knows that these diesels are responsive. My old C220 would hit 60 in 7 seconds, and my CLS350 is even quicker, especially off the mark. On the other hands, the purely economical diesels such as the 200's and below are much more sluggish. Our B180 needs planning when pulling out of a junction or overtaking.

I was once given a 1.4 litre diesel Corsa when I had my ComboVan serviced, and it felt like the car was being driven through mud. The response was non existent, and I was extremely glad when I handed that one back.

On the other hand, when I owned a 1.4 litre petrol Corsa and had it serviced, they gave me a Vectra 2.5 litre V6 SRi as a courtesy car, and I didn't want to hand that one back. After driving it, it felt like my own Corsa was stuck in mud.

To be fair, I didn't so much mind going from my C350 CDi to a lower powered car, but it was just the way the A Class delivered (what is laughingly called) its power that I found so shocking.

In my car the stop/start system, for example, works pretty unobtrusively and when sat at a junction or lights I am always confident that the moment I touch the throttle pedal it will spring into life and the car immediately move off with little discernible hesitation. In the A Class, however, my foot moved on to the pedal expecting the same but instead, the car almost had to think about it for a while before starting the engine. When it had started, again it had to stop and think about what is required of it before finally moving off. In reality, it was probably still only a fraction of a second, but it was enough that I would be left at the lights every time by other cars alongside; something that never happens in my own car. Please don't think that I pull away in a traffic light Grands Prix manner either, because I don't, but the car just didn't seem to want to make any decent progress.:fail

Thereafter, I disabled the stop/start but even that didn't encourage the engine to be any more enthusiastic, so next thing was Sport mode. Well I say 'Sport' only 'cos that is what the dash told me and in the accepted manner, it meant the car would pull away from rest in 1st and hang on to the gears longer between upchanges. The actual result though was simply to make the engine note even more raucous and offensive to the ear. It was just as well there were no horses or children about as I feel certain one would have bolted and the other cry uncontrollably - you choose which!

On handing the car back, I had come to the conclusion that MB (and Renault) have pulled off quite an amazing feat in designing an engine that manages to turn fossil fuel into noise, without the side benefit of any meaningful power. Something the Americans managed a while back with the Harley-Davidson!

 

[Wheelsnuts]

Even if they have, why relinquish an established (168, 169) market segment? Particularly as the latest 169s have pretty much all problematic areas ironed out?

I agree - I really liked my 169 and am not at all keen on the new A Class: too cramped. That's why I ended up with a 246. For me, the new B Class is the nearest thing to satisfying the market segment abandoned with the demise of the 169.

 

[rhud]

I agree - I really liked my 169 and am not at all keen on the new A Class: too cramped. That's why I ended up with a 246. For me, the new B Class is the nearest thing to satisfying the market segment abandoned with the demise of the 169.

I sort of agree with you about the new B Class - except that my W169 A Class cost £17k whereas a similarly specced B Class is £25k.