hi I'm Dave Thomas with cars.com and this slick little sedan behind me is
Mercedes latest attempt at an entry-level car
the cla-class you're already staring at his biggest Pro it looks great but it's
surprisingly practical and gets great mileage but it doesn't mean the con side
of the ledger is completely empty
let's talk about those looks this thumb knows front end and a drooping rear make
this a late look like a short car but in reality it's an inch and a half longer
than mercedes c-class interior rooms pretty similar to and believe it or not
the trunk is even bigger in the CLA for those are just numbers on the spec sheet
how do people really fit inside this coupe-like sedan
let's check it out up front most people have plenty of room to be comfortable
none of our editors even those taller than me complained about space up here
now there's something unusual about the front passenger seat position
namely that your feet rest against the firewall so it's a little strange
just getting into the backseat of the CLA is a bit of an adventure
you don't hit your head there that's for sure but you can see here I have plenty
of knee room and this has a driver's seat exactly where I had it when I was
driving now I'm five foot ten
so if you're much taller than that might be a little more cramped back here and
you can see - there's not a ton of head room for me right now but this car is
equipped with a panoramic sunroof which looks great but it takes a whopping 1.4
inches of headroom back here and I test it without the panoramic sunroof and i
can tell you it's much room here but this is a back seat of a small sedan
it just needs to be big enough and the CLA does the job
208 horsepower might not sound powerful enough either
that's another number that can be deceiving this is an all-new engine from
Mercedes
it's a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and that's for solar put
out
258 pound-feet of torque which is more than competitive for the class in around
town driving
you're not going to notice any lack of power but it certainly isn't for Speed
Freaks but Mercedes isn't forgetting performance bands either
there's a hot rod version of the CLA called the cla45 AMG it actually takes
the same 2.2 liter engine
and transforms it million dollar man style into a 335 horsepower 332
pound-feet of torque
all wheel drive performance machine the cla250 way up here is standard with
front-wheel drive all wheel drive will be an option on it but it won't be out
until 2014
but it does have a stunning performance number of its own because 38 miles per
gallon on the highway and that is far beyond the competition like audi a4
acura ILX or the cadillac ats those miles numbers for thanks to a
seven-speed automatic transmission some weight saving technology and an
automatic start/stop function in my own testing the returned
excellent results however you're going to need some excellent gasps premium is
required and you better be happy about those miles numbers because the clas
ride is really firm
you can tell this car was developed for your pian tastes not American ones if
you've heard anything about the CLA
it's probably the price mercedes spent a ton of money
funny enough advertising a starting price under thirty thousand dollars
before destination and that includes some decent standard features like
bluetooth and powered front seats for both front seats but most shoppers are
going to want expected convenience features like navigation and upgraded
stereo and ipod integration all those things cost extra
which brings the price tag around 35 thousand dollars which when you look at
it is still pretty competitive first the rest of the class
interior quality is another ? people might have about a cheap mercedes and
all the interior is in his opulent as an s-class it is right in line with the
class that competes in at this price
there are also some clever touches inside at these circular air vents are
styled after mercedes sls AMG supercar
they look great the plastics and stitching inside are also really well
done
you could come up with the most comprehensive pro and con list possible
it's still not going to help you make up your mind about the CLA because while
that ride might be really firm its price and these looks are going to sway a lot
of people