Te s te r s’
notes
Spec advice
Jobs for
the facelift
ROAD TEST
2 1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 35
ROAD
TEST
RIVALS
MATT
SAUNDERS
Having been
much more
impressed with the
dynamic polish of the
A-Class last year, I’m
a bit taken aback that
Mercedes allowed such a
rough-edged car as this
CLA out of the factorygates. ‘Sportiness’ isn’t
a get-out-of-jail-free
card for any refinement
bugbear you fancy.
SIMON DAVIS
You’d really
need to buy into
the form-over-
function idea to
buy a CLA in preference
to an A-Class. I don’t
think I’ve sat in a four-
door car with rear head
room as poor as this.
he second-generation CLA got off to a much more promising start on these
pages than its predecessor managed. It looks the part, has an impressively
upmarket and high-tech interior and sprang from a willingness to give keener
drivers the appealingly energetic and engaging compact Mercedes sport saloon they’ve
been denied for decades – a willingness we would applaud wholeheartedly.
Regrettably, having done enough to impress us with a differently engined version on
foreign soil some months ago, the CLA that ought to typify the car’s sporting credentials
- the punchy 250 petrol version – doesn’t quite cut the mustard on UK roads. Its
performance is strong and its real-world efficiency likewise; but its engine, gearbox and
ride are all surprisingly raucous in too many of the wrong ways and its handling, although
good at times, is hardly the dynamic calling card it might have been.
A pricing strategy that will look ambitious to some and practicality with as many
weaknesses as strengths round off a picture that’s convincing in parts but equally
disappointing in others.
If you want all of
Mercedes’ active safety
systems, you’ll have to
opt for top-level Premium
Plus trim. Even so,
we’d stick with a CLA 200
AMG Line Premium in abright colour.
z Redesign those
space-hogging interior
door handles.
z Quieten the noisy ride.
z Give the range-topping
petrol models more grip
and better vertical body
control.
Price
Power, torque
0-62mph, top speed
CO 2 , economy
1 2 3 45
T
Nearer the mark to look at, but still way wide of it as a driver’s car
AAACC
VERDICT
Verdicts
on every
new car,
p82
ALFA ROMEO GIULIA 2.0T
NERO EDIZIONE
It’d be pricey to beat the CLA for
power with this pretty Alfa but
agile handling makes amends.
AAAAC
£35,705
197bhp, 243lb ft
6.7sec, 146mph
153g/km, WLTP figures tbc
JAGUAR XE P250 SE
Took a leap with the facelift.
Powertrain is still not the
greatest, but the car is
dynamically impressive.
AAAAC
£35,385
247bhp, 269lb ft
6.5sec, 155mph
159g/km, WLTP figures tbc
BMW 330i SPORT
Deserves prime consideration
by anyone wanting a sporty
small executive saloon. Quick,
classy fun.
AAAAA
£37,665
255bhp, 295lb ft
5.8sec, 155mph
134g/km, 40.4-41.5mpg
VOLVO S60 T5 R DESIGN
EDITION
Strong alternative design and
very appealing inside. A slightly
mixed bag to drive.
AAAAC
£37,935
247bhp, 258lb ft
6.5sec, 145mph
152g/km, WLTP figures tbc
AUDI A5 SPORTBACK 40 TFSI
S TRONIC SPORT
Roomier cabin than the CLA’s,
equally luxurious and more
refined. Expensive, trim for trim.
AAAAC
£36,590
187bhp, 236lb ft
7.5sec, 148mph
136g/km, 38.2-39.8mpg