2 1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 29
ROAD TEST
f all the smallish new
c a r s w it h w h ic h , ov e r
the past couple of
decades, Mercedes has
pumped up its global sales volume
and lowered the average age of its
customer, the CLA four-door coupé
m i g ht not s pr i n g t o y ou r m i nd a s t he
most transformative of the bunch.
Were you a North American
car buyer, though, it might well
spring absolutely front and centre
as such. Because while the last-
generation, original CLA wasn’t the
most common sight on UK roads
compared with the A-Class or even
the GLA crossover SUV, it was the
very first compact front-wheel-drive
Mercedes to hit the American marketwhen it landed there in 2013. Not
s o lon g a f t e r it h a d , it w a s de s c r i b e d
by Mercedes’ regional bosses as
t he f i r m’s mo s t s uc c e s sf u l pr o duc t
l au nc h i n 2 0 y e a r s. O v e r a si x-y e a r
life cycle, the CLA racked up an
impressive production run of some
750,000 global units.
Mercedes will quite reasonably be
expecting equally big things of this
second-generation CLA, then: with
‘big’ becoming a word you can apply
t o t he c a r i n mor e w ay s t h a n one.
Having grown between the axles
and in overall terms, this car is now
longer than a current C-Class saloon
and also has a bigger boot than its
better-established saloon relation.
L i k e t he or i g i n a l CL A , it s e e k s t o
reproduce the design appeal of the
bigger CLS four-door coupé at a more
affordable price and, using Mercedes’
l at e s t M FA 2 pl at for m a s a ba si s ,
shares engines, cabin architecture,
s u s p e n sion h a rd w a r e a nd mor e w it h
the current A-Class and B-Class.Unlike the last CLA, the car gets
off to the right kind of start by more
clearly differentiating itself visually
from its hatchback relations and
drawing more effective design
parallels with the current CLS. But
what is there, if anything, beneath
the skin to lift the car above the level
of a n A- C l a s s t o d r i v e? L e t ’s f i nd out.
DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
AAAAB
The CLA’s wheelbase is identical to
that of the current A-Class but, this
time around, there’s little chance
that you’d guess as much. With
a lower, more elongated roof line
than the last CLA had and a rear
overhang stretching beyond a
metre in length, the car has adopted
a much more elegant and clearlydistinguished silhouette than that
of its hatchback sibling compared
with its predecessor – which, by
c ompa r i s on , lo ok e d mor e l i k e a n
A-Class hatchback that’d had a
Bunsen burner held torturously to
its hindquarters. As several testers
agreed, it succeeds where the last car
failed by looking like the downsized
CLS ‘coupoon’ you’d hope it might be.
The car uses most of the same
suspension hardware as higher-end
versions of the A-Class, specifically
MacPherson struts at the front axle
and a multi-link set-up at the rear,
z In pursuit of a cleaner look, the new
CLA’s rear numberplate is carried within
the bumper panel. It was on the bootlid
with the original version and is on the
hatchback of an A-Class.
z Mercedes calls the forward-leaning
grille of its current crop of coupés its
‘shark nose’. Although it is not the only
car maker currently employing this
design trick, it certainly helps to inject
extra drama into the car’s profile.
z CLA’s surfacing is generally ‘purer’
(read sleeker) than that of the A-Class,although the inner bonnet ridges –
which you won’t find on the hatchback
relative – are the exception.
z More advanced computer modelling
was done to optimise the CLA’s
aerodynamics than on any compact
Mercedes before – which is why the
drag coefficient is as low as 0.23. These
aerodynamically designed alloy wheels
and the longitudinal fins adjacent to the
a r c h e s b o th p l ay th e i r p a r t.
O
Mk1 CLA sold well in the US, less so here
but the tuning and some of the more
minor hardware specification are
d i f fe r e nt. A x le t r a c k s of si g n i f ic a nt l y
greater width than those of the
A-Class would have obliged Mercedes
to retune the springs, dampers and
anti-roll bars in any case, but the
opportunity has been taken to do
exactly that, to fit a stiffer front anti-roll bar than the A-Class uses, as well
as noise- and vibration-countering
hydraulic suspension bushes to the
front axle. With a lower roof line and
lower centre of gravity in play as well
as that wider chassis footprint, the
CLA, Mercedes claims, is a notably
more dynamic-handling prospect
than the A-Class.
The engine specification of
our test car should certainly put
it i n a p o sit ion t o i mpr e s s a k e e n
driver. With four four-cylinder
turbocharged petrol engines offered
in the line-up as of now and one four-
cylinder diesel joining the range later
this year, the meekest model is the
134bhp, 148lb ft 1.3-litre CLA 180
and the stoutest is the 221bhp, 258lb
ft 2.0-litre CLA 250, which is the
variant we’ve elected to test here.
A CLA 35 lower-rung AMG
performance version with 302bhp
w i l l a l s o b e av a i l a ble t h i s y e a r, w it h
an even beefier, 416bhp CLA 45 S
coming soon afterwards. Thosetwo AMG versions both come with ◊
ENGINES POWER FROM
CLA 180 AMG Line 134bhp £30,630
CLA 200 AMG Line 161bhp £32,180
CLA 220 AMG Line 187bhp £32,945
CLA 250 AMG Line 221bhp £33,720
CLA 220 4Matic
AMG Line 187bhp £34,545
CLA 220d AMG Line 187bhp £34,830
CLA 35 4Matic 302bhp £39,320
CLA 45 4Matic+ 382bhp tbc
CLA 45 S 4Matic+ 416bhp tbc
TRANSMISSIONS
7-spd dual-clutch automatic8-spd dual-clutch automatic
(CLA 220d only)
The CLA range is extensive even
after Mercedes UK chose not to
include the entry-level 180d diesel
and the four-wheel-drive 250 4Matic
available elsewhere.
There are three AMG performance
versions – counting both tunes of the
forthcoming 45 versions, prices for
which have yet to be confirmed.
A shooting brake bodystyle will
cost you £1000 more than a coupé.
Range at a glance
We don’t like
We like
z Exterior design widely
acknowledged as more successful
and the car more desirable
z Engine combines assertive
performance and unexpectedly
strong touring economy
z Both the rolling and the
mechanical refinement leave
a bit to be desired
z Mixed body control and average
grip levels limit its driver appeal