Thabiso Malimela
Back in 2012, Mercedes-Benz wowed everyone when they unveiled their very first attempt at claiming a piece of the premium C-segment hatchback pie, which prior to this time, was saturated with BMW 1-series, Audi A3s and Volkswagen Golfs. If you believe in beginner’s luck, then I’m sure that’ll be enough to justify the then new A-Class’s success in the market. Although it didn’t sell as well as the Golf (which no one expected it to anyway), it did mark its territory in the C-segment market and sent its fellow German rivals swiftly back to the drawing board – did anyone else notice how good the A3 suddenly became after the A-Class arrived?
The all-new Mercedes A-Class hatchback has been unveiled to the world and there are many things that Mercedes was excited to tell us about their all new C-Segment hatchback.
All New Platform
“Why mess with a working formula?” you might say. Yes, the outgoing A-Class was very good indeed but as time went by and the competition became stronger, its faults began to become more conspicuous as its relatively old design began to cry foul. So like every piece of technology in today’s world, the A-Class was in need of an update – it was overdue for one if you ask me. The new A-Class, now in its 4th generation, gets a brand new platform in hopes to, according to Mercedes, “retain its youthful and dynamic character” and “also more grown up and comfortable than ever”. What this entails is an altogether bigger chassis and a more spacious interior that is a result of augmented dimensions – 30mm larger wheelbase, 14mm wider track and a total 120mm increase in longitudinal length. There is also more headroom, with the front gaining by 7mm and the rear by 8mm while trunk space is also improved by 29 litres, although this is still a far cry to what the Volkswagen Golf has to offer. Altogether the W177 Mercedes A-Class is a bigger car and it sure feels like it, but more about that later on!
Technology – Benefits from S-Class and E-Class Gadgets
Just like with any family, the benefits of having a cool older sibling is that you get to play with their cool stuff too! In the past few years, it’s been a rising trend for manufacturers to pass down features from their halo car, way down the food chain where prices are low and demand is high. Mercedes has done so too with the S-Class, E-Class and A-Class, as the interior is littered with cool and interesting features you’d find in the much more expensive S-Class and E- Class models. One such feature is the dual screen setup which replaces both the classic instrument cluster and the non-touchscreen iPad-sort-of-thingy you’ll find in older A-Class and current C-Class models. You have a choice between one of three setups – two 7-inch screens (standard), one 7-inch and one 10.25-inch screen, and two 10.25-inch screens. Both screens are controllable using a small touch sensitive touchpad on the steering wheel, all which were taken from the 2019 G-Class. You might be asking “Why do you need two screens. It’s just a hatchback”. You see, this is not just any hatchback. And to prove that to the world, Mercedes has doused the A-Class with class leading technology – I think it should be called the ‘A1-Class’ instead, what do you think?
Part of this class leading tech is the Mercedes-Benz User Experience or MBUX if you have the attention span of a small dog. The MBUX is a user interface and multimedia system that uses artificial intelligence to give you a variety of access to the car’s infotainment system. MBUX even enables you to use voice control to command the infotainment system and all you have to do to bring up a mobile assistant is say “Hey Mercedes”, and she will help you with whatever you need. However, even after knowing this, there are still some questions left to be answered. Firstly, how accurate and versatile is this mobile assistant, i.e. will she be able to help me choose what tie I should wear and secondly, will I still need a girlfriend now that I have someone to talk to on my journeys? If you happen to have a boyfriend who drives an A-Class with MBUX and is a little too attached to it…now you know.
Apart from the artificial mistress, the A-Class also gets class leading safety and driver assisting features taken directly from the S-Class – ‘S’ for safe perhaps? It gets Semi-Autonomous driving which uses camera and radar sensors to scan the road up to 500m ahead to give you features such as adaptive cruise control (which will automatically maintain a certain speed and distance from the car ahead), auto steer (which automatically keeps your car within the lanes), lane change assist where you only have to use the indicators to indicate the lane you wish to switch to, after which the car will safely and automatically steer into that lane. Believe it or not, what this all means is that you can actually drive the new A-Class (on the highway at least) without touching the steering wheel. However, if you attempt to do a “Look mom, no hands” for too long, the car will proceed to give you audible warnings before initiating an emergency stop while keeping the car within the while lines. Genius right? The new A-Class can also be spec’d with active park assist which will automatically find a parking space and manoeuvre the car in said space without any input from you. Where was this car when I was doing my driving test?
Exterior Design – Trademark Mercedes Elegance
Before I say anything more, let’s begin by addressing the elephant in the room. All is well with the new A-Class’s exterior until you come around to take a peek at its rear, where the design eerily resembles that of a Kia Cerato Hatchback. Yeah, bask in all of that cringe. Fortunately however, you’ll be too preoccupied admiring the front to even get around to the back. It really is a stunner, one has to admit. The headlights are narrower and the bonnet (or hood for our American readers) features minimal detail and creasing and altogether give an aggressive but still elegant front face – expect some anxiety when one of these pop into your rear view mirror! Fans of the old car’s looks will be happy to know that Mercedes have kept the basic contour of the old car (low and sleek roof line and narrow side windows) albeit with some changes here and there. We can’t be too sure as to how the bread-and-butter models will look (predictably less dramatic), however Mercedes does assure us that the new A-Class will be have a 19-inch wheel option.
Powertrain Line Up
Unlike the technology found on this car, the A-Class’s engine line up is very simple to say the least. In the engine bay of the new A-Class, expect to find one of these three engines:
- A200
The entry into the model range comes with a 1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol engine mated to either a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission or a 6-speed manual gearbox. This peppy four-pot develops 120 kW and 250 N.m of torque which takes it from 0 – 100 km/h somewhere between 8 and 8.2 seconds. Fuel economy and emission figures sit at 5.1 litres/100 km and 120 g/km respectively for the dual-clutch transmission and 5.6 litres/100 km and 133 g/km respectively for the manual transmission.
- A250
The sportiest of all the models comes in the form of the A250 is armed with a 2.0 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol churning out 165 kW and 350 N.m of torque. All this power goes through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and 0 – 100 km/h is possible in 6.2 seconds. Expect a fuel consumption figure of 6.0 litres/100 km and emissions of 141 g/km.
- A180d
The one and only diesel model so far is the A180d and expect to find a 1.5 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel motor, developing 85 kW and 260 N.m of good ol’ diesel torque, all available way down the rev range, meaning that you don’t have to wring the engine through the rev range to get the best out of it. Again, you’ll find a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and a 0 -100 km time of 10.5 seconds. It’s clear that now you trade both speed and performance in the quest for efficiency – fuel consumption sits at a low 4.1 litres/100 km and you’ll be doing less harm to the environment as only 108 g/km will be emitted through the exhaust.
After everything, Mercedes does let us know that it will be bringing a 9-speed automatic transmission in the future, along with A-Class models featuring permanent all-wheel drive with fully variable torque distribution. Also, along with the new transmission and drivetrain, more engine options will be available in the future.
…But wait, there’s more!
AMG A45
Before continuing, I must apologise to all AMG fans who came here thinking that this article would detail specs of the upcoming AMG A45. Not much has been said about the next A45 actually. My best guess is that they’re still trying to figure it out themselves even though they haven’t left us completely blind with what to expect. Firstly, the new A45 will feature an all-new 4Matic all-wheel drive system which, I hope, will actually make the mini-AMG a lot more focused than the last one, which was a bit of a blunt knife really. The biggest news however, is the announcement by Mercedes that the new A45 will possibly have two models, one designed to be sportier and more focused than the other – so, like with the C63, you have a normal C63 and a C63 S where all the restraints are let loose. A45 and A45 S perhaps? All we know for sure is that Mercedes-AMG is doing this to make the AMG brand more accessible to a larger range of the population. Either way, it’s good news for the plethora of AMG fans out there.
Driving Experience
One thing that is to be noticed about the new A-Class is that it has done some growing and has matured in its transformation. Not only is the A-Class bigger in size, it’s more comfortable as well as adaptive suspension will be made available to all models, meaning that the ride will be more compliant than the outgoing car, which would get jolty at times. Although the ride is cushiony, response, steering feel and all the things that matter to a driving enthusiast are traded off in the pursuit of ride comfort and compliance. The A-Class would fare better on long trips than it would whenever the going gets twisty. Again, I guess the A-Class should be applauded for making such levels of comfort and sophistication accessible to a price bracket way below that of its larger and more expensive siblings. So if you’re looking for a sportier car, you can either wait for the A45 (or even ‘A45 S’) or go to that other German manufacturer whose name rhymes with BMW. Oh wait…
