Mercedes-Benz CLA 220 CDI 2013 Review - International

Not so much
>>Cramped rear seat
>>Long overhangs
>>Head banging rear entry

OVERVIEW
>> With A- and B-Class under assault, the Benz fightback starts here
This is in the books as Benz's game-changer, a baby CLS with a swoopy, crisp, head-turning style designed to bring the zing to a small-car family that is facing withering VW Group opposition.

The signs are good, with the design alone boasting the potential to drop the average age of a small Benz buyer by a decade. That's what the CLS did when Benz dropped that body on top of the E-Class chassis and there's no reason why it won't do it again now. A CLA sedan, after all, is a simply a re-bodied A-Class.

It will arrive in Australia in a matter of months with an engine range that will include the 2.1-litre turbo-diesel CLA 220 CDI, the CLA 200 petrol and the CLA 250 petrol.

With no CLA 180s on offer, we drove the 220 CDI. What we found was a curious amalgam of good and quizzical, with parts of the CLA shining bright and other parts suffering from its common small-car architecture.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
>> All the A-Class's tech and more
There are some leaps forward here, as befits the younger person's version of the A-Class, including an option pack that completely integrates a smartphone into the car's own entertainment system.

It can bring in the phone's Google Earth and Google Maps systems directly into the multimedia setup, plus satellite radio and Facebook and Twitter, news from both of which can be read out to the driver.

In fact, it can do all manner of trick integration things with a smart phone, provided that smart phone is from Apple. Android? Got nothing.

If you've got an iPhone, you can see its contents along with your own navigation etc in a free-standing screen that looks for all the world to be a portable unit, but isn't.

But take that away and there are plenty of electronic steps that highlight that in-car electronics are now up to around 20 per cent of the build cost of a new car.

There has been a big investment to deliver collision prevention assistance from the big Benzes into the CLA. The system can figure out the braking force needed to avoid a crash and, when the driver finally hits the pedal, brakes exactly that hard – regardless of how much the driver miscalculates what's needed.

There's also the drowsy driver assistance system and radar cruise control, plus air conditioning and the usual array of seat and steering adjustments.

There is the option of what Benz calls a Lane Tracking Pack, that we would regard as essential, because besides its lane-keeping assistant that buzzes the steering wheel when you inadvertently move out of your lane, it comes with the Blind Spot assist, which is utterly vital for this car.

PACKAGING
>> Longer and wider than the C-Class but on a shorter wheelbase?
If anything is likely to hold back the CLA, it's the packaging. Let's just say the car has its issues here. Significant issues.

First, the worst. This is a small car that is being pitched to sit beneath the C-Class sedan. The trouble is that at 4630mm long it is actually 40mm longer and 7mm wider than the current C-Class, yet lacks its rear legroom.

For me, it's puzzling in the extreme that Mercedes-Benz has delivered a transverse-engined sedan that is longer than the (longitudinally-engined) C-Class, but with less interior space. That's a product of the CLA's designers being limited to the A-Class's 2699mm wheelbase. It's 61mm shorter in the wheelbase, but with the car 40mm longer than the C-Class the parts that are bigger are in overhangs (which are 101mm longer than the C-Class), rather than the bits people sit in.

The only real compensation there is that it delivers a deep 470-litre boot that is 11 litres larger than the one in the C-Class, but that in itself delivers two hints.

The first is that its next generational change will see the C-Class grow again – and it will have to, because its all-new architecture will be the modular basis for every other Benz passenger car up to and including the S-Class. The second is that this CLA will almost certainly be short cycled to get it onto a longer wheelbase, so expect a five- to six-year lifespan with no facelift, rather than something more traditional.

The upshot is that anybody in the front seats will be pleased with a cocoon-like atmosphere for each of them. Its five round vents up front have come directly from the A-Class, as have most of the bits and pieces on board, while the broad expanse of either metal or wood across the passenger side of the dash adds visual width to the whole thing.

Besides lacking the C-Class's interior room – which is fair enough if it's supposed to be positioned beneath it – it's also a bit tricky to get in and out of the back seat. The curved C-Pillar is so raked that everybody we asked to try the back seat at the car's launch bashed his/her head both on the way in and the way out again. It's possible to get in and out without cracking your noggin, but you have to actively think about it each time.

MECHANICAL
>> The easiest part of the puzzle to understand
The mechanical package of the CLA is by far the simplest part of the car to understand. It has the same chassis package from the same architecture as the A-Class and largely the same core suspension hardware, too.

The core chassis setup incudes a MacPherson strut front suspension and a trickier rear end. It's a multi-link rear with three control arms and a trailing arm on each side, so it more or less independently takes care of the longitudinal and lateral forces.

The under-floor technology is more than reasonable, with lightweight aluminium wheel carriers and spring links, plus electro-mechanical power steering that does a lot of counter-steering for the driver when the back end slides.

One of the keys to the CLA is that there are two distinct chassis packages: the Comfort and the Sport packages. They do exactly as they suggest, with the Sport version running stiffer springs and dampers, plus lowering the ride height 15mm at the front and 10mm at the rear.

It will begin its Australian career with two petrol engines. The cheapest will be the 1.6-litre turbo motor in the CLA 200, while the other will be the 2.0-litre turbo engine in the CLA 250.

The smaller engine has 115kW of power at 5300rpm, while the torque level is a solid 250Nm at 1250-4000rpm. That's a diesel-style torque curve, and it helps the car feel faster on the road than its 8.5-second sprint to 100km/h suggests it should be.

The upside is that it uses only 5.2 litres/100km on the NEDC cycle, and emits just 122 grams/km of CO2. A lot of this is down to a Cd of 0.23, which was unheard of half a decade ago, while a full aero special edition CLA 180 (not bound for Australia, last we heard) will drop that down to 0.22.

The engine in that car is hooked up to either a six-speed manual (though that's still on the may or may not list for Australia) or a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, driving the front wheels. In six-speed manual guise, the kerb mass sneaks in below 1400kg – by 5kg.

Then there is the CLA 250, with a larger engine developing 155kW of power at 5500rpm. There's a good, strong amount of torque, too, with 350Nm at 1200-4000rpm, which is actually the exact same torque level delivered by the CLA 220 CDI and it arrives 200rpm sooner to boot.

It all adds up to a 6.7-second sprint to 100km/h, which is actually a bit slower than the power figure suggests, especially with 1480kg to carry around, and it's only available with a seven-speed dual clutch transmission.

Might as well top it off with the CLA 220 CDI because, in spite of MB Oz's denials, its arrival in Australia seems inevitable.

The 2.1-litre in-line turbo four-cylinder generates 125kW at 3400 rpm in a power curve that stays flat from there to 4000rpm and 350Nm from 1400 to 3400rpm.

It's three tenths quicker to 100km/h than the CLA 200, but uses only 4.2 litres/100km on the NEDC cycle. It's not quite sub-100 grams/km (at 109 grams), but none of the CLAs get there.

ON THE ROAD
>> Strong and solid, with great ride quality
The single biggest issue with driving any of the CLAs on any crowded road has nothing to do with the engine or the chassis dynamics. It's the vision. You just can't see anything you need to see out of any window save the front one.

The rear window is small enough, but the main rear mirror takes care of it. But the thick B-pillars and thicker, raked C-pillars combine with the front passenger's headrest to make the car's blind-spot warning system absolutely critical. It's very difficult to turn your head and see cars in the next lane.

We tested it several times, with one car moving into another car's blind spot and there are areas on each side of the car that are nigh-on impossible to see into. We even tested it sitting still by walking into blind spots and each time we knocked on the window, it was a surprise to the driver. That sounds damning, and it is meant to be, but can be somewhat mitigated by the Blind Spot Assistant and no car is in more serious need of it.

For all that, it's a very pleasant place to be, especially up front. There is a stylish centre that marries the best of the A-Class's interior with its own flavour and a large feature panel across the dash to add a feeling of width.

The Comfort pack's leather-rimmed steering wheel fits beautifully in the hands, while the seats are instantly supportive and combine with a wrap-around dash to give a cocoon feeling.

The 1.6-litre CLA 200 motor is a nice enough thing, firing up quietly and getting on with the job with a soft-gloved strength that is stronger at its lower reaches than a small four-cylinder petrol engine has any real right to be.

Around town, it's a really nice little package, even with the six-speed manual attached (we weren't offered a seven-speed with it). It climbs up its rev range easily and without tantrum, but it follows the Benz strategy of “down-speeding” its engines as well as down-sizing them, so its best work is all done and dusted by 4500rpm. Sure, it will rev up into the high fives, but its trait of preferring to live in its bottom two-thirds gives it the performance character of a diesel without the extra noise and harshness. Or the fuel economy.

Speaking of which, the 220 CDI's 2143cc motor isn't quite the smoothest four-cylinder prestige diesel going around, but it's strong at almost every point in its rev range. The torque is the star, delivering 350Nm from 1400rpm until the power curve takes over, and that's how it feels to drive.

It doesn't matter whether you're on full throttle or ambling away with the rest of the traffic, the diesel always seems to be operating with plenty in reserve. Its overtaking is simple and crisp with strength in reserve, even though it only posts an 8.2 second sprint to 100km/h.

The CLA 250's engine is easily the strongest package here, though the step up in performance at low to middling rpm isn't quite what you'd imagine.

It's smooth, though, especially below 4000rpm, and delivers some real character when you're asking it to work harder between 3800 and 4500rpm. It can get a little scratchy in its feel out beyond 5300 or so, but that's all part of the down-speeding and it never feels uncomfortable.

If the engine is better described as 'serviceable' rather than 'a highlight', the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission is also less than outstanding. It suffered from a few jolting downshifts in the CLA 250 we drove, which Benz put down to an untested software patch, but was otherwise a little less crisp than we've found in other versions.

It was fine in the diesel, and Benz explained that by admitting the diesel dual-clutch transmissions have different control software for a different, softer feel than the units attached to the petrol engines.

In none of the CLAs, though, are the engines a highlight. They fit into the packages nicely, but none of them leave you thinking “wow” at their prowess, nor do you leave thinking anything negative of them.

The best part of the CLA's on-road package is the way it rides. The steering system is a little slow, particularly in those critical few degrees just off-centre, which means the car isn't going to cut it as a baby sports sedan. Our advice would be to forget the Sports pack, because what it does best is deliver a beautifully damped ride.

The car's damping is absolutely bang on for even the bumpiest roads while the handling is tremendously competent without ever feeling like it's inviting you to explore its depths. Instead of teasing you with baby sports car-style entertainment, it feels calm and reassuring, always promising to take care of you should things go wrong, which isn't a message in keeping with the body style.

It's a hard car to put in a pigeon-hole, though. It looks like a baby sports sedan, but it rides like a baby E-Class, but with even more assurance. It looks small, but is actually quite large, except inside. Its boot is usefully large, but its rear seat isn't.

You'd come for the looks and stay for its unshakeable commitment to keeping you comfortable – and for plenty of people that will be enough.

But given the competition, it's just very good. It's not great and it's no Golf.