The ‘A’ in Mercedes-Benz A-Class could stand in for so many concepts useful to us over the course of this piece.
‘A’ is for ‘agitant’, you may very well be thinking; especially if you’ve never been drawn quite so powerfully by the styling of a small Mercedes hatchback. It could also be for ‘advanced’, ‘alacritous’ or ‘accomplished’. That’s what I’m thinking, having driven one for a few hundred miles over an interesting couple of days.
We’ve had occasion to write about this car twice already and, on both occasions, those sort of words freely tumbled out of the reviewers’ keyboard. On neither previous occasion, however, did we have an Audi A3 Sportback and a BMW 1 Series on hand–the cars against which the stature of Mercedes’ new compact premium hatchback must surely be measured – to check the veracity of our impressions. Enter lucky reviewer number three, then.
And so to continue a theme, and having just adjudicated on this three-way tussle between the new Mercedes (in big-selling A180d low-emissions diesel form) and its direct diesel rivals, I can also reveal with some certainty that there has never been a more ‘ambitious’ or ‘assertive’ A-Class than this. AMG models notwithstanding, there has never been a more ‘agile’ one, either.
So does all that mean it’s ‘all-conquering’ – or something of an ‘arriviste’? Better close my dictionary.com browser window and get on with the explaining.
Straight A:
This is the fourth instalment in the A-Class model genealogy. It isn’t very much like either of the first two. Having dialled down the ‘originality factor’ of the ingeniously packaged original 1997 A-Class by quite alot for the second-gen car in 2004, Mercedes pretty much abandoned the innovative spirit altogether for the 2013-model-year, third-gen A-Class. Once it was gone, it was never likely to return.
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Merc verses Dacia stepway
It is astonishing that the Merc is considered by anyone, it has the 40 year old 1461cc renault diesel lump of an engine that is also fitted to all of the Dacias and I think by Dacia in Romania. People are paying for the badge, nothing more, nothing less. An Astra is streets ahead in terms of engine technology.
So you can spend almost £ 30k
So you can spend almost £ 30k on an underpowered diesel hatch just because it has a German badge on....
Yet a Mazda 3 with a 148hp diesel engine, engaging handling, even loaded to the gunwhales with equipment will give you change from £ 24k......
Some people really are mugs buying their cars because of the badge on the front.
d....for boredom (and noise)
I went for a drive in a diesel car the other day and thought you must be crazy, the racket from a diesel engine is horrendous so you can keep all 3 of the cars, personally I would buy a french diesel hatchback not spend big money on "johnny come lately" german hatchbacks.