2017 Mercedes CLA Test Drive Review

Performance – The 2017 Mercedes CLA gets the same 2.0-litre petrol and 2.1-litre diesel engines. The variant we tested had the petrol engine. The powerplant unleashes 183 PS of power along with 300 Nm of torque. Mated to the engine is the same 7G-TRONIC gearbox that we’ve been seeing since quite a while on various Mercs. The petrol CLA has a top speed of 235 km/hr while 0-100 km/hr comes up at a notch below 8 seconds. The diesel engine is the familiar unit we’ve seen on some other Mercedes cars and we’ve always liked the oil-burner.

The engine is free-revving & sounds really nice too; transmission is quick

The petrol engine is super refined. Driveability in the city is stress-free and low-end performance is pretty good. Things get even better post 1500 RPM when the power surge starts to increase. Power delivery feels smooth all the way up to 6000 RPM without the CLA losing its beat. The mid-range is punchy and there is some steam left even at higher RPMs. At high speeds, the gearbox does a great job but it feels a bit confused at city speeds. Also, it has a tendency to upshift very early and the solution to this is to switch from Eco/Comfort to Sport. Sport mode lets you explore the full potential of the car and the exhaust sounds sweet near the redline.

Driving Dynamics – The suspension can tackle most craters on our roads without taking a beating but the ride is a bit on the stiffer side. The ground clearance of 160 mm is decent enough but you might have to tackle some nasty speed breakers sideways. The steering is light at low speeds. Once the speeds increase, you can feel it weighing up. However, we would have liked the feedback to be slightly better. A trait common with Mercs, the brakes are brilliant and the CLA does no drama on hard braking. It is also very aerodynamic and this stability during high-speed straight line runs and aggressive cornering is splendid.