Shame About the New A Class

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hawk20

MB Enthusiast
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Lymington, Hampshire
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ML250 BlueTEC Sport Jan 2013
Shame About The New A Class

Here are some quotes from the WhatCar review of the new A class.
“SE and Sport cars come on 'Comfort' suspension, but there isn’t anything comfortable about the way they ride. Even on the standard 17-inch wheels, the A-Class crashes over bigger bumps, and shimmies around nervously on any surface that isn’t perfectly smooth. The optional 18-inch alloys only make things worse.

</SPAN>Surprisingly, the firmer AMG Sport and Engineered by AMG set-ups actually improve things slightly because they cure the shimmy, although they are very firm.

This is forgivable in the Engineered by AMG model because it resists body roll well. By contrast, cars with AMG Sport or Comfort suspension lean over clumsily when you turn into a corner.

It’s a shame, because the A-Class’s steering weights up nicely when you turn in and there’s a reasonable amount of grip.

</SPAN></SPAN>A-Class is available with six engine options at launch

We tried three engines: the A200 and A220 CDI diesels and the A250 petrol, all of which came with the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

The A220 feels significantly stronger than the A200 and isn’t as coarse and rattly, while the A250 accelerates strongly whenever you put your foot down, even if it’s nowhere near as fast as the similarly priced BMW M135i. All A-Class models generate quite a bit of road noise.

As with bigger Mercs, you operate most infotainment functions by scrolling through menus using a rotary dial between the front seats. However, the menus aren't especially intuitive, so the system can be frustrating to use – particularly on the move.


The boot is a decent size, but the space is quite shallow, and the narrow opening can make it tricky to load larger items.

Should I buy one?
Although prices and running costs are competitive, the A-Class is nowhere near as comfortable, refined or good to drive as the Audi A3 or BMW 1 Series, so it’s hard to recommend.

True, the Engineered by AMG suspension set-up does turn the car into a good sports hatch, but this is available only with the A250 model, which costs almost £29,000. There are plenty of hot hatches that are faster and cheaper. Alternatively, you might want to consider the BMW M135i, which is a vastly superior car that costs only slightly more.”




http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/2012-mercedes-a-class-review/263311?utm_source=Silverpop&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=WCAR%20ENews%20Bulletin%20(24.10.2012)&utm_content=article1_readmore



They rate it a paltry two stars.
 
Autoexpress were a little more positive but still rated the BMW and Audi as better. The only thing the A-class seems to have going for it is the styling.
 
Well last week's Autocar placed the A200CDI Sport ahead of the A3 2.0 TDI Sport and BMW 118d Sport, awarding 4, 3.4 and 3 stars respectively. But they concluded you'd be better off with a Golf...
 
MOCAŠ said:
Well last week's Autocar placed the A200CDI Sport ahead of the A3 2.0 TDI Sport and BMW 118d Sport, awarding 4, 3.4 and 3 stars respectively. But they concluded you'd be better off with a Golf...

They said the A class was better to drive than rfe BMW, and more comfortable and almost as nice ad the A3 inside. Don't know who to believe but a drive would tell me which one I liked the best.
 
Audi and especially BMW have huge muscle with these car magazines.They have a massive marketing/advertising budget and as far as editorial honesty is concerning...you do not bit the hand that feeds you. I always remember a bloke from Vauxhall management telling me that J.Clarkson was nicknamed Jeremy FORDson by them for the obvious reasons of his bent towards Ford products...
 
I saw the new a class outside my local mb dealer yesterday and was very impressed with the style. Have never been a fan of small cars but this looked classy and up to date. Wouldn't be much good though if it drove like a tank as you generally spend more time in it than looking at it.
 
Audi and especially BMW have huge muscle with these car magazines.They have a massive marketing/advertising budget and as far as editorial honesty is concerning...you do not bit the hand that feeds you. I always remember a bloke from Vauxhall management telling me that J.Clarkson was nicknamed Jeremy FORDson by them for the obvious reasons of his bent towards Ford products...

There does seem to be something going on here. What Car also gives the C-Class two stars, which is just silly.
 
Apart from some hard facts like bhp, 0-60, CO2 most other metrics that cars are judged by are very subjective.
 

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