2.0-liter DOHC I -4 turbocharged CRDi (208 hp @ 5500 rpm, 258 lb-ft @ 1,250 rpm)
7-speed "7G-DCT" dual-clutch aut omatic
24 city / 32 highway / 27 combined (EPA Rating, MPG)
26.5 (observed MPG)
tested options: 4Matic AWD aid package to driving, active Parking, Blind spot Assist, Woodwork, HID lamps
base price:
$ 32,225 *
As Tested :.
$ 42,800 *
* Prices include $ 925 destination charge
Each luxury manufacturer is in a relentless quest downmarket. There are a few reasons for this, but the most important volume are increasing, amortization of common development costs and snags brand loyalists long life as soon as possible. The Mercedes GLA is the latest entry in a growing segment :. Small luxury crossovers
Small luxury brand vehicles are nothing new to our European friends, but until recently, BMW and Mercedes kept anything in small and wheel car before away from American hands. Until now. In 2014, Mercedes took their fwd hatch category and made a sedan out of it. Call a "CLA", the Civic sedan size was a huge success from $ 31,000. Since crossovers are hot segment to be in those days, it did not take long to raise the Mercedes CLA and add a rear hatch to create GLA.
Is the GLA luxurious enough to convince Ford Escape buyers to jump to a Mercedes? And perhaps even more important: is it a real Mercedes
Exterior
[1945009?dernièreconceptiondentreprisede] works well on Mercedes GLA despite being considerably shorter than the GLC (formerly GLK). (Are you still confused?) Before the CLA landed on the stage, I had feared that the look of the company would be awkward when combined with driving proportions of the front wheels, but I was obviously wrong. GLA is easily the best option to search in this segment in my opinion. The Q3 and X1 sports the simple and elegant lines and the Range Rover Evoque is playing its card Mini-Me well, but the GLA is the compact luxury crossover that turned heads.
At 173.6 inches long, the GLA is almost 9 inches shorter than the CLA while sharing 106.3-inch wheelbase sedan. As with most pairs sedan / hatchback, 5-door can swallow more cargo despite being shorter. Much of the extra length of the CLA is consumed by the bumper and a longer hood to give CLA a sleeker profile. Overall, the GLA of the slots between the X1 and Q3 in length, although Mercedes kept the low roofline that makes the interior feel tighter than others.
Although the aggressive metal sheet is standard HID headlamps and rear LED lamps sexy shown on our tester is optional. As we continue to delve deeper into the GLA, which is the first hard truth is to be learned by new buyers in the luxury segment. While the GLA, Q3, X1 and Evoque may seem like small bumps on the Hyundai Tucson Limited youre cross-shopping, its easy to get carried away with the options list.
inside
inside the GLA is styled after the CLA sedan. The dashboard is straight and properly designed around large circular vents. The large expanse of real wood you see in the picture above is optional in the GLA, as with most com petitors. The basic version is a metal plastic interpretation, $ 150 buys you aluminum and $ 325 buys you the real tree. Also optional is the GLA leather seats, something most luxury manufacturers move in an effort to reduce the cost base. Of course, leather is not a stand-alone option - it is part of a package of $ 1,700 option that also requires a set of options 2,300 $ for a total of $ 4,000 if you just want to hide in your real baby Benz. Also optional (and not on our tester) for 2015 is dual zone automatic control of temperature. Unless you option the above packages, you get a partial single zone automatic system. Set the temperature and the damper is automatically managed by the car, but the fan speed and vent selection is yours. We are told that this too will be set in 2016 with a double standard zone system.
Despite the faux-leather seat comfort before proved excellent in our tester to the electric seats standard 14 channels with headrests in 2 electrically adjustable channels four-way lumbar support and seat 3-position memory. Next year adds more love hair with a thigh extending cushion for the driver. At the rear things are more compact, but not as compact as the CLA. In the CLA, it was not possible for anyone to sit be hind me (I am 6 feet tall, so not a giant by any stretch), but in the GLA there was space behind the knee acceptable the drivers seat. The overall design of the GLA, however, limit the rear seats more than the X1 and Q3. GLA is not very large compared to the size crossover and it shows in the back where my head hit the outside of the ceiling. 
In addition to improved legroom in the GLA, the cargo space and car seat room improves. There was simply no hope to install a child seat rear-facing in the CLA and put a man in the front seat, but it is possible in the GLA due to the shape of the dashboard which allows the front passenger seat to slide further forward than in many major intersections. Behind the door you will find a few cubic feet of space in the CLA, but it is more crowded there than traditional crossovers like the CR-V.
Infotainment
size standard LCD screen (5.8 inches) is notably lower entry-level to many, crosses the mass market, and LCD 7-inch option is even smaller than what we see in the Escape and Tucson. Mercedes has announced that 2016 will be the standard 7-inch LCD option, which is a welcome change as the greatest screen costs $ 4,780 in 2015 (it takes both premium and multimedia packages). One thing that is a standalone option but is the excellent system Logic7 surround speakers ($ 850) is an option I would check box.
Although our tester was over $ 10,000 in options, the biggest screen, navigation, voice control system, satellite radio and iPod interface are not among them. Lack of love is unusual iPod in 2015 and - even stranger - the GLA has a USB port and you can plug in your media and head unit, you can not just play music via the link. Fortunately, this too will be addressed in the 2016 model will be the media embedding standard. This means that the entertainment system in our tester was $ 42.800 fairly limited compared to your average compact crossover. If you do not want to shell out the big bucks for the factory navigation system, Mercedes made another answer - $ 0 MapPilot Becker, a more limited navigation system that can be added at any tim e
Training
Under the hood, we see the same 2-liter engine that is spreading across the Mercedes range. With direct injection and variable valve timing, the little engine cranks 208 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of twist. Regarding comparisons go, which is roughly the same power as the 2-liter four-banger of the Audi Q3, but 25 percent more torque. BMW and 2-liter four-cylinder engines Range Rover putting more power than the GLA 250 but Mercedes has an answer to this question: GLA 45 AMG. The AMG version of the GLA has a turbocharged 2-liter closely related compounds that was until 11. 2015 GLA 45 models will produce 355 horsepower and 332 lb-ft and 2016 recently announced model will be good for the modest sum of 375 horses.
Power in all models is routed to the ground via essentially the same seven-speed, double-clutch, robotically shifted manual we see in the Mercedes CLA. An AWD system is optional on the GLA and 250 series GLA 45 AMG models. The AWD system in the GLA 250 is quite similar to all other AWD in this segment with a multi-plate clutch pack to send up to 50 percent of engine power to the without rear sliding the front axle. Thank you to the wheel drive type front before a curb weight of 3428 pounds light and efficient dual c lutch transmission, the GLA is easily the most effective crossover in this category topping out at 35 mpg highway and 29 combined in the pull model before and a still impressive 25 combined 355 horsepower in the GLA 45 AMG AWD.
player < /strong> Mercedes seven-speed DCT appears to have received a major software update since my last sampled in 2014. In CLA the sedan driven transmission gear frequently starts unexpectedly was harsh and moderate throttle downshifts were downright rough. GLA 250, however, felt a bit like the latest designs of DSG VW: almost as smooth as automatic. Driving the GLA on the highway and you will feel that the DCT is just a super-fast, traditional slushbox. Driving in stop-and-go traffic and your passengers can ask "whats wrong with your Mercedes?" Like all other cars with dual clutch transmissions (particularly those using dry clutches) the low speed exploration experience can be described as herky-jerky. low crawl speed (less than 5 mph) on an incline really demonstrates the advantage of the softness of traditional automatics in Q3, X1 and Evoque.
The reverse of the economy less-than-smooth transmission is improved and better acceleration. Our tester ran from 0-60 in 6. 58 seconds, which makes the GLA 250 4Matic a bit faster than a 2015 BMW X1 xDrive28i and about 3 / 10ths slower than the recently announced 2016 X1. Compared to Q3 Audi, which is a full second faster. While 35 mpg on the highway level was achievable without much difficulty in our AWD model, my weekly average was just under 27 because of my heavy right foot. Although the noise of the engine under hard acceleration is improved over 250 CLA, GLA was stronger on the road than the average crossover mass market.
The reasons for the GLAs impressive fuel economy are the "narrow" tires. I realize calling a 235 / 50R18 "small" may sound crazy, but remember that a quick troll around local Audi batches revealed that nearly half of Q3 models wore 255 / 40R18 rubber. The deficit of the tire size has a direct effect on the handling. While GLA is approximately 0 pounds lighter, the bump rubber two dimensions means that GLA can not just hang with Audi. Interestingly, the upgrade of the GLA 45 AMG gets you the sticky rubber but the rubber either. Slap summer tires available in Q3 and it would be out handle 45 and GLA.
tuning suspension obviously plays an important role in handling. The suspension of the GLA is firm enough, almost too firm for my liking in a non-standard sports base. On rough roads of Northern California, this firmness was far from being an asset, making the GLA feel unstable on the broken pavement. "Crashy" was a word used by a passenger to describe the feeling.
On the other hand, the GLA has one of the best front wheel drive racks on sale in the United States. As CLA, GLA has a hint of feedback, the steering is quick and strong and it is easy to say that the front wheels are doing. However, it is also easy to say that the front wheels get angry when pushing the car on rough roads. While the GLA can be considered more fun than Q3 in terms of sensation, the Audi is the companion that I want on my favorite twisty road (I suspect that the GLA would be more fun on a smooth track).
pricing on the GLAs really the fly in the ointment for me, though it will slightly improve in 2016 with all the standard features increased. $ 32,225 sounds like a great buy, but when you start adding options that most luxury buyers want, the price quickly built. Our tester was $ 42.800 and lacked leather seats, navigation, automatic climate control, keyless entry, keyless go, a rearview camera and an interface / iPod basic multimedia. Adding these options to our G LA 250 could damage the price to nearly $ 50,000. At this price, an X3 xDrive 28i BMW with essentially the same options and considerably more interior space and better driving dynamics is just $ 2,000 more. When considered as an upgrade of the regular competition, the GLA may start near an upscale Ford Escape, Honda CR-V and Hyundai Tucson, but the reality is a "comparable equipment" crossover general public will be 100- $ 15,000 less.
Let me be clear: I have no problem paying luxury prices for cars. I own luxury vehicles purchased new showroom, but the GLA crossover is full of ups and downs. Even the base model is attractively styled and well set up, but you must pay extra for leather and gadgets that are standard on non-luxury crossovers. While adding what I consider essential luxury will add nearly $ 9,000 starting price and top that off with AWD pushes the GLA well over $ 40,000. The superb leadership, strong acceleration and excellent fuel economy in counterpoint by too firm ride and handling that disappointed. GLA definitely carves corners better than a CR-V or RAV4, but in this segment GLA slots below the Q3 and X1 and in many ways behind the linings of the same price of the upgrade, including the BMW X3 xDrive28i, Volvo X C60 and Lincoln MKC. Audi and BMW also offer more space for the rear seats and a list of cheaper options.
I think Mercedes has been in the right direction by entering each entry segment. The new C-Class, for example, is more expensive than the competition, the difference is the C300 feels worth the premium. GLA on the other hand, just seems expensive.
Mercedes has provided the vehicle, insurance and a tank of gas for this review.
Specifications as tested
0-30: 2.6 seconds
0-60 : 6.57 seconds
1/4 Mile: 15 seconds @ 94 mph
