Ambitious Baby Benz
By including the GLA in its 2014 lineup Mercedes- Benz is hoping to turn its luxury sedan leadership into a range- wide affair, writes Dave
There’s an old saying that if you’re late to a party, best turn up with the prettiest girl or the handsomest bloke, if you want to make an impact. While I doubt that MercedesBenz pinned such a comment on their inspiration board when they were designing the GLA, the look of this silver- starred entry into the light soft- roader slot should turn plenty of heads and pop a few corks.
With a massive departure from the ‘‘ two- box’’ SUV template that has afflicted such machines since the first four- wheel- drives made it the norm, the far more organic, muscular lines of the GLA make it look more like a taller hatch than a serious mud- plugger. Mercedes- Benz identifies this as the difference between a hiking boot – representing a conventional SUV – and a lighter sports crossover shoe, of the type you might buy from a Rockport or Ecco outlet. In other words, the GLA is a street car that doesn’t flinch at an occasional foray off the beaten track. Truth be known more serious soft- roaders than the GLA don’t do much more than that anyway.
The GLA range, which starts arriving here this month is at first a three- pronged attack on this new slot for the Mercedes- Benz brand, as it strives for over- all sales dominance of the New Zealand luxury vehicle market, instead of merely topping the car part of the equation.
The reason Mercedes- Benz says that it isn’t already over- all leader is that until the GLA arrived, its SUV line up consisted only of the large format ML and GL ranges and with the help of the GLA and its mid- sized SUV, the GLK, later in the year, it forsees considerable growth in total by the end of the year.
Developed from the A- class platform, the GLA is the first compact SUV from MercedesBenz to arrive here, and like the hatch and the CLA four- door models derived from the same underpinnings, the line up has entry- level diesel and petrol models, as well as sporting AMG flagship versions.
The range will initially start with the 2.2- litre turbodiesel front drive GLA 200CDi, which has 100kW and 300Nm on tap starts from $ 64,900 and will be available right away. It will be followed by the all- wheel- drive GLA 250 4Matic from $ 76,900 in July, which will have a 2.0- litre turbo petrol engine providing 155kW and 350Nm. In September, the GLA 45 AMG arrives which from $ 99,000 has 265kW and 450Nm available.
Mercedes- Benz says that the all- wheel- drive AMG car has the most powerful four- cylinder engine currently on the market, though it has to be said that there isn’t a slug in the range, with even the 200CDi hitting 100kmh in less than 10 seconds, while offering 4.3L/ 100km fuel consumption.
Meanwhile, the GLA250 can accelerate from 0- 100kmh in 7.1sec and has a combined fuel consumption of 7.0L/ 100km, while the hot- totrot AMG car reaches the legal limit in 4.8 seconds and yet still manages a combined fuel economy figure of 7.5L/ 100km.
All three variants are fitted with a sevenspeed dual- clutch automatic transmission as standard.
The GLA builds on the A- class’ 2699mm wheelbase, topping it with a pleasingly muscular body – for an SUV design – that manages the best coefficient of drag in its class, at 0.31. The body is longer, at 4417mm than the somewhat truncated A- class hatches by 125mm. It’s also about 25mm wider at 1804mm, and thanks to its subtle roofrails and increased groundclearance, at 1804mm it rides 63mm higher to boot.
Interior space is noticeably increased with better headroom, even with the optional sunroof, while the load area increases from the hatches 341 litres, to 421 litres, with the rear seats in place. This increases to 1235 litres when the seat backs are folded away.
Despite the extra sheet metal,
added
length
All front transverse- mounted turbocharged 16v DOHC fours, driving though seven- speed dual clutch transmissions.
GLA 200 CDi- FWD 2143cc turbo diesel, producing 100kW at 3400- 4000rpm, 300Nm at 1400- 3000rpm.
GLA 200, maximum 205kmh, zero- 100kmh 9.9 seconds, 4.6L/ 100km, 122g/ km CO2.
Front MacPherson struts, rear fourset- up, electromechanical power steering, various choices of alloy rims.
Vented front discs, solid rear discs, electric parking brake, ABS, Brake Assist, ESP, ASR, adaptive braking, attention and blind- spot assist, nine airbags, Pre- Safe accident anticipatory system.
Colour display screen, sat- nav with map pilot; USB, iPod/ iPhone integration; Bluetooth connectivity with audio streaming. CD/ DVD. MPs, WMA, AM/ FM.
L 4417 mm, W 1804 mm, H 1494 mm, W/ base 2699 mm, F/ track 1569 mm, R/ Track 1560 mm, Weight 1505- 1565kg, fuel 50 litres.
GLA 200 CDi from $ 64,900; GLA 250 4Matic from $ 76,900; GLA 45 AMG 4Matic from $ 99,990.
Muscular look; unimpeachable quality; high equipment levels; great on- road dynamics; better space than A- class; classy offering.
High pricing; no diesel 4Matic offered ( yet); could do with a more serious off- road version; Not different enough to A- class.
The market will love it and its pricing is more understandable when viewed as an extention to the stock A- class line- up. and increased volume, not to mention protected wheel arches, sills, and front and rear valances, the two- wheel- drive GLAs are only about 30kg heavier than the donor hatchback, while the allwheel- drive hardware makes the 4Motion and AMG model up to 60kg heavier.
As well as being roomier, with more seriouslooking superstructures than the A- class hatchback donor car, the GLAs have their own more SUV- oriented suspension settings with additional ground clearance of 40mm in the 200CDi and 250 4Matic versions, while the hothatch cum soft- roader AMG can be had with firmed up suspension with a 15mm lower ride height as part of its sporting intentions.
The biggest targets for the GLA as far as luxury compact SUVs are concerned are the Audi Q3 and later Q1 models as well as BMWs X1, each of which drop into a similar model price spread to the new Mercedes- Benz.
The 250CDi’s transmission has functions to make things more effective when doing some light off- road work. In off- road mode the shift points occur at lower ground and engine speeds, while a Downhill Speed Regulation setup employs engine braking, the transmission and ABS systems to keep things contained when descending on lower friction surfaces. A dash read- out displays pictogrammes showing roll angle, and steering angle, gradient and compass bearing.
Not intended to go off- road beyond mall or driveway ramp, despite its all- wheel- drive system, the GLA45 AMG instead offers the world’s most powerful four cylinder production engine; a high- performance variant of the 2.0- litre turbo, its 265kW output matched by a peak torque value of 450Nm available between 2250- 5000rpm.
Only the front- drive entry- point GLA 200CDi was available for driving at the vehicle’s launch, but even in this form, one gets the impression that it’s a well- sorted car.
This entry- point car’s fairly high $ 64,900 pricing is probably easier to fathom when the GLA is regarded as an extension of the A- class range in general, which starts at $ 46,900 with a turbo 1.6- litre and moves through $ 54,900 diesel and 1.8- litre uptions through to the Sport model at $ 64,900.
It’s a neat dovetail, in fact and when the standard kit of decent alloy rims, automatic startstop, Artico trim ( a very convincing fauxleather), useful standard connectivity and satnav map pilot set- up, plus blind- spot assist, nice airbags and bi- xenon lamps, it all falls into place.
When the GLA 250 4matic gets here, its $ 76,900 sticker will cover the all- wheel- drive system, the multi- mode AWD friendly version of the 7- speed transmission, even flashier alloy rims and a panoramic power sunroof and a fullautomatic lighting system.
The GLA AMG adds even sharper wheelrims, black, red- cut leather sports seating and Mercedes- Benz’s all- the- fruit ‘ COMAND’ APS navigation and connectivity. As it should, for $ 99,900.
All GLA models can be upgraded when ordering with various Seat Comfort, AMG packages and Driver Assistence packages from $ 2190 to $ 3190.
And you really want to push the boat out, a special $ 6390 AMG Edition 1 pack can also be had, which has some aerodynamic add- ons, even flashier alloys than standard, special detailed colourways and a few ways to make sure that your GLA doesn’t look like anyone elses.
Inside our test GLA 200 CDi, everything felt like a deeper taller A- class, with a bigger space between the windscreen base and the floor. This is reflect in the rear legroom too, where the leg and knee room allowed this passenger to sit behind the driver’s seat when set for my 1.88m frame without touching the seatback with the knees, something I couldn’t quite achieve with the A- class hatch.
The 2143cc turbodiesel’s figures of zero to 100kmh in less than 10 seconds felt realistic enough, but such a time doesn’t portray the car’s pleasing mid- range punch, which truth be known is the performance area most useful in terms of every day running.
Decent ride quality and the ability to mute road noise were strong point of the A- class, and thus it is with the base GLA which drives in a very refined manner in normal road conditions. Jolts over holes and bumps are well- suppressed, as is understeer when coursing along typical Central Otago curves when testing.
The car’s stability control does its work gently and without spoiling the driving experience, while braking is superb, with good, firm and linear pedal feel.
Steering ‘‘ feel’’ and car’s reactions to turning in, are meaty and accurate, and while the lowish roofline exhibits the same ‘‘ pillar- box’’ view we remember from the A- class hatch, the overall impression is of a much larger car than the vehicle really is.
The seat adjustments possible as a result of increased interior height make it easy to get the seating position into that Goldilocks ‘‘ just right’’ position.
Over all, the GLA range looks like a useful addition to the Mercedes- Benz range. It is good enough to snare a few new customers to the silver star brand who previously thought that the marque didn’t offer anything young enough to appeal.
Well it does now, and while customers will have to be pretty well- off even to start off on the GLA trail, when you see what you have to pay for similarly- equipped cars from any source, the Benz is pretty convincing.
Smaller- engined petrol GLAs may arrive eventually as well as a diesel 4matic option. Until then, this Baby Benz on a mission is placed to generate new prospects for the marque among that deep- pocketed ‘‘ early adopter’’ segment out there for whom the introductory models’ pricing won’t matter a jot.