Mercedes-Benz CLA200 2013 Review

On driving this highly stylised, hugely appealing "four door coupe" in France earlier this year, we concluded that it mattered not an iota how we felt about it, you were going to buy the CLA anyway. So it's transpired, to the extent the waiting list stretches far into next year.

VALUE

The CLA starts all of $10k under the entry C-Class - which, almost seven years into its life cycle is still the nation's best-selling mid size import. That's a symbolic 10 bucks under $50K but all of $15K above the equivalent A 180 hatch on which it's built.

Value truly then is in the eye of the buyer, so does this longer, tighter and compromised package in any way warrant the extra? Practically, of course not. See it in the dramatically sculptured metal and you're more likely to disregard such tedious considerations. Yep,  you'd go there, alright.

So while the A-Class thrashes it rivals by not only carrying the more desirable badge but more kit and a better price, the CLA cedes the latter advantage. Yet it's also the first Benz four door in relevant memory at this price, well under the cheapest 3 Series and Audi A4, but with much more kit and - not so very subjectively - a good deal more cachet.

More tangibly, the $49,900 base model features sat-nav, smart 18-inch twin spoke alloys within run flat tyres, all of nine airbags, blind spot warning, bi xenon front lamps, LED rears and collision warning. The small but willing 1.6 turbo four is driven through a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic.

The CLA 200 is launched with the stonking CLA 45 AMG. In February it's joined by a pointless diesel at $50,400, in April by the AMG tuned CLA 250 Sport with a 2.0-litre four at a steep but tantalising $63,400 (the equivalent A 250 Sport is priced at CLA 200 money).

Salient among the option packages is the bling Edition One. Available till December, this combines tautly suspended AMG pack and other visual options besides for five grand.

The CLA transcends the boundaries of brand and prestige category. In terms of traditional rivals, BMW's 2 Series remains some way off and will, if form is any guide, struggle to match price and spec.

TECHNOLOGY

Diesel is redundant in compact cars. Benz's own figures all but prove it. This turbo petrol unit uses all of 1.1 litres per 100km more juice and would be approximately 10 times more fun to drive. That said, its rev ceiling is 6100rpm, but nothing meaningful occurs after 5500 when peak power - such as it is - announces itself.

So what? The nicer note alone is justification enough. Engine is happily coupled to a seven speed twin clutch auto drivetrain which pootles in normal mode, holds a gear in sport and has a meaningful and useful manual mode via paddle shifters, which can also affect an override of drive. Edition One or AMG optioned cars get a stiffened and unrelenting suspension tune. Our advice - don't.

DESIGN

You will be waylaid at service stations and stopped outside shops. It's that way with the CLA. Longer, lower and and altogether more striking than the senior C-Class, this is an imposing design - one that distils the essence of the much copied CLS down to compact dimensions and a three times lower sticker.

That's mirrored by a lowered roof, one which makes it impossible for 185cm me to take a back seat without removing my legs below the knee or head at the neck. It's a 2+2 and barely that. Another price of the coolest shape under $100k is the near impossibility of seeing your rear three quarters, so shrouding are the back pillars. Good job blind spot warning lights are standard to those wing mirrors.

The cabin is A-Class - in both senses. We've burbled on a bit about the latter, so maybe skip the next paragraph. Frankly, even in base trim with artificial leather and basic (not sports) seats, it's fairly sensational. A few embellishments help, but it is in its essence a step apart from the soberly tedious German norm.

SAFETY

Yet to be crashed by a test authority - possibly because they can't be bothered deflating all those airbags - the five star rating of the related A- and B-Class is a given. Run flat tyres though ... We've kicked BMW often enough for these, so the same misgivings apply. Get a series puncture beyond the metropolis, or anywhere on a Sunday, and your CLA is going home on a platform truck.

DRIVING

Over spec it and you'll regret it. The limited Edition One is afflicted not only by questionable striped upholstery but suspension that relentlessly relays the road's every irregularity. Indeed, it's every regularity.

Nothing escapes its Richter Scale charting rigidity. But it looks cool, right? And, when circumstances enable you stir it up a bit, is altogether more pliant.

The entry car - which, as we've seen, is not so very boggo - is every bit as grippy but tolerable in all circumstances, almost miraculously so, given it rides on 18-inch RFTs. Benz's least potent petrol engine is, in its way, among the most enjoyable. If you judge performance solely on 0-100kmh, 8.5 seconds would impress only a Lexus IS 250 owner.

Engage with it via manual mode and you have an enjoyably responsive device that's at its best in the thick of the torque band which extends from just above idle to more than 4000rpm. Third and fourth are almost always sweet and you do need to be awake to avoid being borne to license losing speeds without apparent exertion.

Slightly heavier than the lithe A-Class, the base CLA is a reliable cornering companion - balanced and predictable with just enough in reserve.

VERDICT

As an object of relatively affordable desire and fun, the CLA has no rival until Benz's traditional foes bestir themselves.

Mercedes-Benz CLA 200
Price: from $49,900
Warranty: 3 years/100,000km
Capped servicing: No
Resale: N/A
Service interval: 12 months/15,000km
Safety: 5 stars
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo, 115kW/250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed auto; FWD
Thirst: 5.5L/100km
Dimensions: 4.6m (L), 1.4m (H), 2.0 m (W)
Weight: 1395kg
Spare wheel: None