"What!? Wimmer your sister has a Mercedes A180 CDI!?"
Sadly, SHE DOESN'T. My sister, as part of her college requirement, has to have an internship with a company for at least 6 months. This company now sent her on a Germany-wide "tour" to visit their competitor outlets in various cities and do some research oriented tasks in them, most likely "mystery shopping". What exactly she does, I don't know and I am not supposed to know anyway. Maybe someone here with connections to the CIA can help me find out?
Anyway, the company gave her a rental 2005 Mercedes A180 CDI 6-speed Classic trim level. Classic is the cheapest trim level on European Mercedes' and is usually bought by taxi and police fleets as well as some private buyers. These cars are usually strippers, and this A180 CDI was totally naked. Zero options except for an aftermarket non-Mercedes navigation system (made by MEDION), which according to Claudia, "Ist totale Scheiße...".
So she was heading towards Munich, but decided to stop here in Mühldorf to say hi to us. I took the opportunity to take the little Baby-Benz for a spin.
As mentioned earlier, I love the new A-Class. After repeatedly driving and getting exposed to them, I have to say that this is one of the most fun cars I have ever driven. If you think they're slow, think again. While not blissteringly fast, they're quick in the city environment and out in the country are characterized by very sweet handling. You can throw these A-Classes into curves and the precise heavily weighted steering inspires confidence. Seriously no lie, this Benz is up there with the revised C-Class, new SLK, CLS and the new S-Class in terms of handling. This is also the type of car soccer mom's should drive, not some POS gas-sucking V8 SUV.
You've noticed the cheap-looking exterior. Classic trim level trademark all the way. Plastic hubcaps, black plastic door handles and a lack of feel-good materials on the inside indicate that this is truly a "budget Benz". And these things sell like hotcakes. But for my needs, an Elegance or Avantgarde spec A-Class would suit me better because of better interior materials and feel. However, this isn't to say that the interior of this A-Class was bad. All materials appeared pretty solid and of good quality for a car of this class, certainly better than the original A-Class with its Fisher Price plastics. Interior space is big. Trust me, these little A-Classes are roomy on the inside. The boot is a little small, but this is because precious space is sacrificed to give the rear passengers more legroom.
Under the hood, a 109-horsepower CDI turbodiesel engine that is perfectly up to the task of moving the car around. The engine, although quite loud in this car (Classic models apparently lack sound-proofing inside the engine bay), was rev-happy for a diesel, very low in vibrations and once warmed up, pulled with a vengeance. The fun part about this car were two things: the good handling and sporty (hard) suspension setup and the torque that the diesel engine produced. Everytime you hammered it in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, heck even 4th gear, the little A180 CDI always took off with a nice little push that sent you back into the seat. Nothing brutal in 3rd and 4th gear, but in 1st and 2nd...oh boy!
In the city, it was very quick and agile. Out in the countryside, the engine was more than up to the task of hauling the car around. 0-62 mph in about 10.9 / 11 seconds. Not bad at all, and the torque helps it feel faster.
Once again, the steering feel was very heavy: weighted and precise and instantly responding to driver input. I also noticed how the FWD A-Class drove better on some snowy roads than our families RWD E320. Damn I loved throwing this car around and abusing the hell out of it. It never let me down. The suspension was hard and noisy, typical of budget Classic trim level Mercedes', especially in the A-Class range.
My sister said she maxed the car out at 185 km/h (116 mph) on the Autobahns in Northern Germany. Sometimes, a little above 190 km/h if the Autobahn was going downhill. Although my sister knows little about cars, she said she wasn't afraid of pushing this car since it felt so safe. Which brings me to another point: the little A-Class feels like a tank. Solid. Although the doors are light in weight, when you close them gently, they still close with a nice thud that reminds you of older MB's- which relied on heavy steel for safety.
The 6-speed manual was good, but unlike the other A and B-Classes I have driven, felt rubbery only in 1st to 2nd gear shifts. I'm glad this car didn't have the Autotronic (CVT) though since that transmission works only well with cars who have power. The A180 CDI wasn't underpowered at all, but the CVT transmission would have just made it a slug. I enjoyed hammering this thing in 2nd gear, because that's where the excess torque really shoved you back and shoved you back hard. God I love diesels...
Best of all, my mathematics whiz sister said she averaged slightly above 5 liters (47 mpg) even after some city traffic and Autobahn cruises in mixed driving mode. That's pretty darn good fuel economy for a car which has good acceleration, a respectable top speed and weighs 1.3 tons!
Well what can I say? Mercedes has a winner with the new A-Class. A superb little automobile. Extremely fun to drive, great handling, good peppy engines with refinement (not like the last generation) and airconditioning and front electric windows are now standard!
This car was a real joy to drive. Despite the somewhat cheap exterior appearance, once you drive it, you cannot help but notice that the A-Class has such a wonderful personality: even in Classic trim level mode.
I want one, and I want one bad.
ALBUM:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2114796547