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Hey guys! New A35 owner here. After owning a Toyota Aygo, Toyota GT86 and Honda Civic Type R FK2, and worshipping Japanese sports cars for the last 15 years, today I finally moved to the dark side, and took ownership of a new AMG A35.
Got the car last month, took it steady for the first 1000 miles like suggested, and now I am starting to drive it properly. Here are my thoughts so far:
I'll start with the only negative thus far, build quality.
I have a rattle coming from the dash area, and one coming from the rear. It's been into the dealership but they've not managed to fix them. I'll just put up with it, I've accepted that any car with a hard suspension set up is going to be prone to rattles. The state of British roads only enhances the buzzing and rattling!
What's made the initial 1000 miles (running in period) difficult is the fact I've not been using the car for what I bought it for, it's performance. It's essentially been an unrefined cruiser, when of course the A35 is built for attacking B roads at pace.
But now I'm at 1000 miles, I've started opening it up and driving it quick, so the banging of the transmission and popping of the exhaust drown out the rattling haha!
And now the positives...
First and foremost, DCT is a game changer. 100 millisecond upshifts, it's rapid. I always thought paddles where a gimmick in slower cars, but I've been proven wrong. I absolutely cannot change gear quicker in my 2016 Type R than what the DCT does in the A35. It's physically impossible. There's a reason why all modern performance cars come with DCT.
I love how when in manual mode I'm in full control, at redline it won't upshift for me, it'll only upshift when I bang the paddle. It auto rev matches on downshifts too. Power delivery is nice thanks to the fizzy engine and twin scroll turbo. It loves to be revved. Many have said it pulls better at higher RPM, but it certainly feels faster when at lower RPM. Throttle and turbo response is brilliant.
The engine sounds good too. It's still only a 4 cylinder of course, but the turbo spool is very loud, and the exhaust makes all the right noises. Honorable mention to the transmission sound too, it sounds wicked, it bangs so loud when in Sport mode, it's an amazing experience. And then when I'm commuting, I stick it back into comfort mode and let the car/ transmission do the work itself. It's bliss.
After I test drove an A35 and got back into my Type R, my mind was immediately made up. The Type R felt like a horse and carriage in comparison. The A35 is a whole 1 second faster to 60MPH too. Helped by the DCT and 4Matic. It also looks better. I opted for the Aerodynamic pack, and Sun Yellow. As far as I'm aware, it's the first Mercedes to come from factory with a Yellow colour option.
The only thing the Type R does better is steering feel and direction. But Honda worked some black magic shit to make the Type R handle how it does. The Merc feels lighter in comparison, but then the Merc isn't an all out bare bones racecar like the Type R is.
It's the most engaging car I've driven. I've had manual RWD, manual FWD, everything *purists* consider engaging. But I find that bollocks, this is the best car I've owned so far.
