RE: Mercedes CLA45 AMG: Review

[danielj58]

Article said:

Deliberately opting for finely honed passive damping and linear rate steering and going to the trouble of engineering bespoke suspension hardware is the kind of credibility AMG brings to the table. And offers substance where others might choose to distract from prosaic underpinnings with lots of damper modes, user configurable steering maps and other gizmo-based smokescreens.

I'm not sure I fully get this, I think I understand what you're trying to say, but by your own admission that fancy bespoke AMG suspension is "pretty brutal"? It would seem the smoke screen of gizmos is both the correct compromise and what the target demographic for these models want?

Just my 2p.

[davea18h]

It's the back end of it that looks bloody awful to my eyes, from the B pillar back basically. Those heavy creases that go towards each other, and the back lights look truly hideous. It's almost like they sourced them from a Hyundai parts bin....of about 5 years ago!

[mikebradford]

405dogvan said:

They're the opposite of the new SL which looks wide/short/wrong in pics but is just lovely in reality (because it's about twice the size it appears in pics!!)

definatley agree with this. in pictures they definatley look badly proportioned

but looked at a few of them in the flesh, and they oooze class

[scoobyPPP]

I was fortunate enough to have one for a couple of days, here are my impressions:

Suspension was brutal and very uncomfortable
Gearbox was very slow in changing down or up
Very quick and picks up speed nicely
Makes some nice sounds from the exhaust
Interior is also a nice place to be
Steering lacked abit of feel

[Offspeccer]

The Mercedes line-up mostly just confuses me now.

[Sampaio]

Weird-looking with a turbocharged two-liter four pot? Sounds like a Japanese rally rep, except those looked much better and were infinitely cool. The mercedes has actual interior trim though, I'll give you that.

... But I'd much prefer a M235i, or save some more for a M3/M4.

[folos]

From the rear a CLS and C63 look menacing and imposing, even in silver. That looks just, well.....

[Ari]

Dave Hedgehog said:

Ari said:

AMG. Finally sold out by the polo necked thick rim glasses marketing bods. Just like 'M' with BMW and 'S' with Audi.

S'pose you can't blame them when style counts for so much more than substance these days but I think it's a tragedy.

Except S is not Audi's top range, RS is, S just notes the car is slightly more sporty

I never said it was, but it used to actually mean something in the days of cars like these:





Then, with the Recaro seats, flared arches and other properly distinguishing bits gone they became little more than a trim level (diluted further by looky-likey S-Line models)

Even the RS, which as you say, is now the top end performance model, doesn't have the cache it once did when they were making cars like this.



These used to be subtly but genuinely different league stuff. Now an Audi S or RS is just a fast version of an ordinary car. And AMG, which also used to stand for something special, has now sold out.

Bloody shame.

[folos]

^ I saw a new RS6 the other day in dark grey and thought it looked incredible with huge swollen arches.

[Ari]

What manufacturers don't get is that these tags (RS, AMG, M) are valuable because they are attached to exclusive high end cars.

Attach the tag to everything and you don't end up with a field of exclusive high end cars, you end up with a worthless brand.

10 years ago having an S or RS Audi or an AMG Mercedes really meant something. Now you can buy an "AMG SPORT" A-Class diesel it means nothing anymore.

[Fetchez la vache]

don logan said:

EVERY time I see a CLA I think it`s a Chinese copy of a Mercedes due to the odd proportions!

This sums it up for me too really.
Can't help thinking it's a 1st year design students effort that might just about scrape a "C".

[unpc]

When I first saw the pictures, I thought, meh, looks ok. When I saw it in the flesh I thought OMFG! I honestly cannot think of a worse proportioned car. It doesn't work from any angle IMO. People still go on about the goppy faced Scorpio but I find it more incredible that this thing ever got signed off.

[howardhughes]

One of the worst looking Mercedes Benz cars produced.

[Ari]

Ironically the A Class it's based on looks great!

Guess this is the new millennium Vauxhall Belmont.

[Gompo]

First time I saw one in the metal I thought the standard car looked quite nice in a 'different' or slightly individual way. I generally prefer saloons to 5 door hatches anyway although the more I have seen CLAs they get less interesting; I suppose the familiarity has had a negative effect. Not seen a '45 version yet.

However, I don't find the m135i notably more ugly than its competitors either.

[scherzkeks]

Ari said:

I never said it was, but it used to actually mean something in the days of cars like these ...


These used to be subtly but genuinely different league stuff. Now an Audi S or RS is just a fast version of an ordinary car. And AMG, which also used to stand for something special, has now sold out.

Bloody shame.

Whatever that means. They were fast versions of ordinary cars "back then," too. Every modern S and RS offers the same types of upgrades and they all outperform the older models. Don't see what there is to complain about.

[WokkaWokka]

996jim said:

Price as tested nearly £53000.00! Anyone seen driving one of these should be stopped and their sanity questioned (in my opinion). A series 1 M coupe looks like a second hand bargain compared to this, there are so many better alternatives out there for less money. Mercedes you could be watering down the AMG image just a little too far. Any chance of a Black Edition ?

I totally agree with this.

Where are people getting their money from nowadays to spend this on a car.

Also I've just bloody bought an S3 and it irks me somewhat that a 2.0 TDI S-line looks virtually the same.

[Ali_T]

I test drove the hatch and even that, at £40k with minimal options, is grossly overpriced IMO. Another hugely competent but ultimately rather dull German performance car. Not at all like the usual AMG V8 muscle cars which I do like.

[0a]

I like the looks, but I would not buy a 4 cylinder Mercedes, let alone an AMG - a 4 cylinder AMG is completely wrong.

[astirling]

It looks like I really am in the minority in thinking these look great. Quite fancy one later this year/early next....