Today's loan car is a CLA180 Resplendent in credit crunch white, with the obligatory graphite wheels, and black 'sports' interior :-)
Note to Admin - the CLA doesn't feature in the model drop-down under MB...
s1296.photobucket.com/user/C4P_PeterS/library/MB%20CLA%20Loan%20Car
I've only driven it around 40 miles, but despite being a manual, FWD car (based on the 'A' class I think) it was surprising fun to drive. The ride is firm, but not unpleasant, and it handles very crisply. The petrol engine is refined at low revs, but can provide a fair turn of speed (and a more rorty sound...) when revved. The most surprising thing though was the feeling of solidity. Now it is a '63 plate with just 3,500 miles on the clock, but it did feel very solid indeed. Definitely on a par with the LEC, and more substantial than the last 'C' class I drove.
When I first saw one of these on the road I couldn't quite see the point, but having driven it it's actually quite a nice, compact, sporty-ish saloon. It looks OK from most angles to me, but the front view is odd. Too high, but I guess that the effect of the pedestrian safety rules.
Its a CLA180, which I'm guessing is a 1.6 turbo engine. Unusually for a MB this one has a 6 speed manual gearbox, which, bar an initial problem finding reverse, was easy to use and nice and precise. Not as torquey as a turbo diesel of course, but its averaged 34mpg per the OBC where the LEC would average 39, so pretty reasonable I thought
It's probably a bit claustrophobic in the back on a journey of any length as the roof-line swoops down and the window line is high. This one had a black headlining which didn't help. However I had plenty or room to sit behind myself, if that makes sense. I'm only 5'10" though, but do have the seat fairly far back
Looking at the MB website the list price of this car is around £25k, which I expect means you could pick one up for £23k. Quite a lot for a small car, but its not as small as it looks inside and I'm not sure there are many other small saloons (I know MB would call it a coupe) to chose from.
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Sorry, I just threw a few thoughts into that posting and didn't really finish! In summary I thought it was good car but couldn't quite work out who it was aimed at!
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>> summary I thought it was good car but couldn't quite work out who it was
>> aimed at!
Yes thats tricky to do now they have taken the MB star gunsight off the bonnet.
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:-)
I swear the MB badge gets larger with every iteration of the grill-mounted version. It's larger than a dinner plate now! Perhaps they want to standardise the part with that fitted to lorries ;-)
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Is it meant to be a 1 series alternative?
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The hatchback 'A' class is definitely aimed at the 1 series hatch, but it only comes in 5 door I think. I'm coupe 1 series was a 2 door which sat alongside the 3 door hatch in the old range. Don't think it exists in the new range, though perhaps the up-coming 2 series will plug that gap?
I forgot to mention that one other pretty nice thing about the CLA was the fact that all 4 doors have frameless windows - a little thing I know, but makes it feel special for some reason...
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It's also aimed at the Audi A3,. which is cheaper - indeed, some models are little more expensive than the equivalent Golf, and will hold their value better.
If I were in the market for that size of car, I'd try a CLA and a 1-series but probably end up with the Audi.
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There's a saloon version of the A3 coming at some point isn't there? That'd seem like the CLAs competitor, though I think the MB is far more distinctive in shape. I was surprised quite how many people commented, all positively, about it when they saw it in the office carpark. Particularly 20 something's, men and women. I'd thought it might appeal to the older generation, so perhaps MBs strategy of pursuing younger buyers is working :-)
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I saw one of these at M-B World, and for a 4-cylinder diesel with a few trimmings they wanted £40,000!! They had a LEC alongside for the same money!?!
I also happen to think the CLA looks hideous, but then I consider the new A-class a travesty alongside the originality of the Mk 1&2 A-classes.
Who is aimed at? People who can't find their way to Specsavers?
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I'm guessing your not their target market then :-). Certainly all the coments I got were positive - in fact two people described it as beautiful, which is possibly going a bit far. I think it looks pretty good, bar the height at the front. But then it's FWD which probably doesn't help in that respect... I agree that £40k is too much though, but low £20s makes sense.
I have just remembered something though, which I think is common to all new MBs. Someone has decided that it was a good idea to switch the cruise control and indicator/wiper stalk around. In mine, indicators are lower left and cruise above it. The CLA had them reversed. It just felt wrong!!
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>> £40,000!! They had a LEC alongside for the same money!?!
What is an LEC Boxster?
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LEC (Large Estate Car) has become car4play shorthand for the MB E class estate AC
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>> Its a CLA180, which I'm guessing is a 1.6 turbo engine. Unusually for a MB
>> this one has a 6 speed manual gearbox, which, bar an initial problem finding reverse,
>> was easy to use and nice and precise. Not as torquey as a turbo diesel
>> of course, but its averaged 34mpg per the OBC where the LEC would average 39,
>> so pretty reasonable I thought
According to Autotrader the auto gearbox only comes with the larger engine.
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The 250 engine and the 220cdi come with an auto box as standard, but it is an option on the C180. I wouldn't be surprised if the C180 and C250 petrol had the same turbocharged engine in different states of tune. I actually though the manual suited the car though, which isn't always the case with a Mercedes!
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>> I wouldn't be surprised if the C180 and C250 had the same turbocharged
>> engine in different states of tune.
Just looked on the website - C180 = 1.6 (122bhp), C250 = 2.0 (211bhp). Manual not available on the C250, which has a claimed 0-62 of 6.6s; nippy :)
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That's interesting - it felt like more than 122bhp! The C250 seems like an interesting option then; 4WD, auto and pretty nippy. £33k before options though :-o. Mind you, a Golf GTi is not far off £30k now...
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>> Mind you, a Golf GTi is not far off £30k now...
Golf GTI 3 door starts off at around £26k. You could get the Golf R for around £30k.
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Ah OK. Mind you, without getting too carried away I've managed to get a CLA250 to £39k...
tinyurl.com/nk7wmnd
That's just with metallic paint, COMAND, DAB, Distronic Plus, Memory Pack, HK Logic 7, heated seats and adaptive headlights...
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>> Ah OK. Mind you, without getting too carried away I've managed to get a CLA250
>> to £39k...
Tried that spec at drivethedeal and got £2260 off - bargain(?)
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>> >> Mind you, a Golf GTi is not far off £30k now...
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>> Golf GTI 3 door starts off at around £26k. You could get the Golf R
>> for around £30k.
>>
Just had a quick look - the 5 door auto GTi, which would appear to be closest to the CLA in format, is around £28.5k to a similar spec. Difficult to spec it to £35k though whereas it's quite easy to get the CLA north of £40k... 4WD though compared to the Golfs FWD
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Golf R is 4WD isn't it? Standard CLA is FWD unless you go for the 250 4MATIC or 45 AMG 4MATIC.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 7 Feb 14 at 12:19
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Going for a 5 door Golf R and adding things like Nappa leather, top of the range sat nav, adaptive chassis control, metallic paint, etc. I can get it to near £40k with the options I'd want :-) Adding a few more options and I can get it to about £40,660! Not bad for a Golf.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 7 Feb 14 at 12:31
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I thought I'd added keyless entry to the Golf - I hadn't. So price is over £41k. Starting price for Golfs 3dr is £16,775!
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>> Golf R is 4WD isn't it? Standard CLA is FWD unless you go for the
>> 250 4MATIC or 45 AMG 4MATIC.
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Yes, I'm comparing the GTi to the CLA250 as they're similar in power and close-ish in price when similarly specced. The AMG is close to the Golf R in power though isn't it - I think it's got 360bhp!!
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>> The AMG is close to the Golf R in power
>> though isn't it - I think it's got 360bhp!!
They claim 0-62 in 4.6s, yet still get 31mpg on the urban cycle :o
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It seems to be 360bhp from the same basic 1,991cc engine in the CLA250 - which has 'just' 211bhp. You'd think the extra 149bhp would knock more than 2 seconds off the 0 - 62 time :-)
Mind you, that's 20% more power than the Golf R, and that claims a 4.9 second 0 - 62 time in DSG format. 0.2 seconds longer with the manual transmission.
Last edited by: PeterS on Fri 7 Feb 14 at 13:50
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>> which has 'just' 211bhp. You'd think the extra 149bhp would knock more than 2 seconds
>> off the 0 - 62 time :-)
Well... 211/360 = 0.59 = x/6.6 where x = 3.9s but presumably it's not a linear relationship. Or something :)
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The main source of the non-linearity is that the car is traction limited for a good proportion of the acceleration.
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Mercedes Benz - Mercedes CLA 180 - PeterS
