RE: Mercedes-AMG A35: Driven

[Alex_225]

J4CKO said:

I would love to see a CLS at a track day, they do go round corners better than you would expect based on my experience but its not its natural habitat,

I always got the impression the car went "Come on, get your foot down lets go, wahey, behold my magnificent V8"

And then arrived at a corner sort of half not expecting it, travelling at an inappropriate speed with limited ideas of how to get round other than give it a go and hope for the best, manage and then resolve not to do that again.

AMG may be better than my cooking 5.5, but it was only slightly retuned Airmatic so i cant imagine its night and day different, and imagine the tyre, brake and fuel bills !

There's a chap on the MB owners club who took his CLS55 round the 'ring and from the photos it looked very composed. Don't get me wrong with the adjustable suspension, my CLS63 handles very well. I can just imagine that if you pushed it round a track you'd really feel just how heavy a car it is, despite it's power.

[anonymous-user]

Alex_225 said:

There's a chap on the MB owners club who took his CLS55 round the 'ring and from the photos it looked very composed. Don't get me wrong with the adjustable suspension, my CLS63 handles very well. I can just imagine that if you pushed it round a track you'd really feel just how heavy a car it is, despite it's power.

You would

It’s fun.

But you will have a big bill to pay as the weight takes its toll.

[Shiv_P]

tril said:

Agreed. M140i is the best dynamically but realistically will get left for dead by an A45 and especially RS3, although it probably competes more with the S3 which will probably also show it a clean rear end in anything other than perfect conditions.

The reviews I have watched and read say otherwise, that the M135/M140 is the worst dynamically save the prefacelift RS3

[anonymous-user]

Mr Tidy said:

Yes, but while your Clios and A-Class shopping trolleys may live close to a motorbike road racing circuit how close can they get to the 2-wheel lap time?

???

Odd.

[cerb4.5lee]

DaveTheRave87 said:

Article said:

AMG says it's a different beast to the A45 - this burgeoning sector of the market already has some really good options for a driving enthusiast, so offering first-gen-A45-like handling with less power would risk leaving AMG's new contender looking a little boring. "Fun" is a term in constant use at the A35's launch.

So, where's the manual gearbox then?

Its still in the lower range A-class models. I would have liked a manual gearbox in this too, but two pedals are the norm nowadays in the quicker models of cars.

[cayman-black]

When is Merc putting this up on the configurator?

[anonymous-user]

cayman-black said:

When is Merc putting this up on the configurator?

It’s already there .....

I had a look at it yesterday.

It’s under A Class as opposed to AMG

Approx £42k in maxed out specification.

[Temo_Wil]

Looks like a really good package in my opinion.

Sadly it appears that the Recaros and steering wheel drive mode controls won’t be available on UK cars. If so that would be a shame and would potentially push people to wait for the A45 to released.

[Deep Thought]

Brooking10 said:

Mr Tidy said:

Yes, but while your Clios and A-Class shopping trolleys may live close to a motorbike road racing circuit how close can they get to the 2-wheel lap time?

???

Odd.

Yeah indeed. Its not like i said or was implying otherwise.

So much vitriol, so little point.

[Itsallicanafford]

Deep Thought said:

+1

Having owned a track prepared 182 Cup, a 197, a 200 Cup and now we have an A45, AND we live very close to a motorbike road racing circuit here in NI which i know like the back of my hand, the A45 would wholly run rings round a 182 around it or on an A or B road. Totally in a different league. I expect this A35 to be VERY close to the old model A45 in terms of real world capability and thus well ahead of a 182, etc.

I think the limited factor on a B road is that it is still a road, with all the myriad of uncertainties and limitations which come with this. Take your cars on track and you can drive as fast as you are capable of in a far safer environment for everybody.

[Deep Thought]

Brooking10 said:

cayman-black said:

When is Merc putting this up on the configurator?

It’s already there .....

I had a look at it yesterday.

It’s under A Class as opposed to AMG

Approx £42k in maxed out specification.

The base car with AMG Style Pack and Premium Package and metallic paint (which seems to cover most things) its coming in at around £39,900. Assuming that the usual 10% or so discount will be avail once the initial furore dies down then that brings the car back to around £36K.

That makes it expensive for an R or S3 rival, but maybe relatively cheap as an A45 alternative and the "opportunity" to get in to an AMG car?

[Deep Thought]

Itsallicanafford said:

I think the limited factor on a B road is that it is still a road, with all the myriad of uncertainties and limitations which come with this. Take your cars on track and you can drive as fast as you are capable of in a far safer environment for everybody.

Thanks for dropping in from mumsnet.

It was merely a debating point relative to the fact this would be slower than a Clio 182 on a B road. It wouldnt IMHO.

I do "think of the children" when i'm driving and no puppies or kittens are harmed.

[anonymous-user]

Deep Thought said:

I'm crushed by your words on the internet! "Racing motor bikes go faster than our road cars around the track" Who'd have thought!

There's always that one dick who has to mention motorbikes on a thread about cars!

[Itsallicanafford]

Deep Thought said:

Thanks for dropping in from mumsnet.

It was merely a debating point relative to the fact this would be slower than a Clio 182 on a B road. It wouldnt IMHO.

I do "think of the children" when i'm driving and no puppies or kittens are harmed.

My apologies, my comment was not directed at anybody in particular. More at this idea that the B road is some sort of a motoring nirvana. They can be totally lethal and IMO some of the most dangerous roads in the UK. Just my experience from a few million miles of driving around the UK.

Everyday of the week in every corner of the UK there are organised track days which enable performance cars to fully exploited in as safe an environment as possible.

[Deep Thought]

Itsallicanafford said:

Deep Thought said:

Thanks for dropping in from mumsnet.

It was merely a debating point relative to the fact this would be slower than a Clio 182 on a B road. It wouldnt IMHO.

I do "think of the children" when i'm driving and no puppies or kittens are harmed.

My apologies, my comment was not directed at anybody in particular. More at this idea that the B road is some sort of a motoring nirvana. They can be totally lethal and IMO some of the most dangerous roads in the UK. Just my experience from a few million miles of driving around the UK.

Everyday of the week in every corner of the UK there are organised track days which enable performance cars to fully exploited in as safe an environment as possible.

And likewise, apologies for my misinterpretation

Yes, agreed. You're wholly right.

[Itsallicanafford]

Deep Thought said:

And likewise, apologies for my misinterpretation

Yes, agreed. You're wholly right.

[Ares]

horsemeatscandal said:

Nothing against the car (other than that it’s ugly as sin) or the sector, but the problem for me is that the A35 badge carries no clout when compared to equivalents from other manufacturers e.g. Audi’s ‘S’ range. So, I’d really struggle to justify paying £35k for a hatchback that’s not even the fast one.

They are fast. There just happens to be an even faster one available.

[Ares]

F4R said:

Ares said:

The 1-series is different. And for the others, how else can you design a 5-door hatch back without compromising on practicality?

If the 1 series was the same colour it wouldn't look a lot different would it?

Hatchbacks used to have their own identities so it is possible. Most manufacturers just want to add squinty lights, slopey bonnets and pokey little rear windscreens to their design cues.

No. HTH. The 1-series is like a little bread van, the A-class (and most others) far more like a traditional hatch.

[Ares]

Barga said:

Ares said:

Yes because most A-Classes are driven by Ali-G lookalikes


Mercs 20yrs ago were, on the whole, dull. Modern Mercs are not, hence why their market share has rocketed.

Do you think that’s the reason!

Yes, not the sole reason, but significant. Without question. The brand now has a far broader appeal.

[Ares]

petrolhead4 said:

tril said:

The Merc would need to do 3.5 in the real world to be faster than the RS3, because Audi drastically under-report their 0-60 times. Would be hilarious if the brand new A45 was still slower than the current RS3.

I don't think the new A45 will be faster than the RS3.

The Audi makes 394bhp between 5850 and 7000RPM and 354lb-ft between 1700 and 5850RPM. The current A45 doesn't make it's 370HP until 6000RPM and the 350lb-ft is available between 2250 and 5000PM.

In short, the Audi makes more power and more torque over more of the rev range than the A45. Unless Mercedes can do something special with the new A45 this will remain the case for the next generation of cars.

But Merc probably don't give a st about a now meaningless 0-60 sprint time.