Cla45 amg

[Styria]

Well, here is all you'll ever want to know about this 'flying machine". Pretty spiffy, isn't it ? Mind you, if Hyunday or Rio ever decide to manufacture a really "hot" version of their i30 or Rio, there may not be that much to choose from in the end. Don't laugh - watch the Koreans. Hyundai are already taking part in the World Rally Championship, and there will, eventually, nothing be stopping them from producing some sort of replica.

Mind you, it will take some doing to match the specs. of the Mercedes, but stranger things have happened - and don't fortget, Hyundai's advertising machinations are nothing short of being convincing. Regards Styria

http://www.windingroad.com/articles/reviews/review-mercedes-benz-cla45-amg/

 

[Afro107]

Not sure why, I think it will be a failure (the CLA class), much the same like C coupe and A class

Merc got CLA to rival Beemer 1 series but the fact that all the 1 series are RWD (unlike all the plain CLA's) will be hard to beat.
My daily driver has 155kW on front wheels only and it handles like it's on rails. That means no sharp turns, just goes straight .
I am sure Merc can make that much better but there is a limit of what you can do with the front wheels only

 

[Michel]

Not sure why, I think it will be a failure (the CLA class), much the same like C coupe and A class

Merc got CLA to rival Beemer 1 series but the fact that all the 1 series are RWD (unlike all the plain CLA's) will be hard to beat.
My daily driver has 155kW on front wheels only and it handles like it's on rails. That means no sharp turns, just goes straight .
I am sure Merc can make that much better but there is a limit of what you can do with the front wheels only

Have u driven a CLA?

 

[WGB]

I took a CLA 45 for a test drive just in case the new Mrs B in-waiting might get a car that I might be interested in driving on the weekends.

I was very impressed - as was the recently retired Deputy Police Commissioner in the passenger seat - by the quality of the drive and all it's little extras like the backfire on upshifts in sport mode and the general ability of the car.

I am sure it must be faster than my E500 but it didn't feel as fast.

I do like the AWD but what I would be worried about is general maintenance costs.

I keep my cars for quite a while and when the local agents can charge $800 to change the oil in an automatic I start to worry about the cost of routine clutch changes in a DCT box. I am not sure how long these clutches last in an M-B box but in a Maserati Quattraporte or an Aston Martin (such as my neighbour drives when it isn't "failing to proceed" ) they talk about routine changes at 40,000 km - seems a bit scarey to me.

In fact - I would have bought one on the spot but they can't deliver until Sep/Oct.

Bill

 

[Styria]

Hi WGB, Do you still have the little Honda Jazz ? Kelly may well consider using it, or have you passed it onto a family member ? Getting back to the Mercedes, I understand that the CLA45 AMG would be a fabulous drive, and there is nothing quite like the adrenalin rush that one can enjoy from driving a sporty conveyance. Yet however, just think of the restrictions the law lumbers you with - I remember a few months ago, I took off in a bit of a hurry from outside my home, and I got pulled up by the men in Blue wanting to know why there was tyre smoke - I had to tell him that it was black fuel smoke, and not white tyre smoke. I had mistimed the manual gear change on Gleaming Beauty.

Frankly, I suspect that the cost of servicing anything to bear the AMG logo would be frightening. Never mind their sporting prowess. Regards. Styria

.........and a car also needs to appeal to me on a looks basis - looking at the picture of the white car featured in the Winding Road magazine, could anyone really consider it to be a car that would turn heads ? In my opinion, the answer is an emphatic NO. I look at some of the C-Class offerings, and when viewed from a 45 degree angle, from the rear, with the swageline starting low from over the front wheel arch and rising high towards the rear, particularly on the two door models, the effect is one of ill proportion, and ungainly looking as if it has a collapsed front suspension.Mechanical and technical specs. notwithstanding, if some of the models did not have the three pointed star on their boot lid, you wouldn't look at them twice.

 

[Afro107]

Have u driven a CLA?

Nope.

I believe that cars like Astra 200ts, Golf R32 and other similar powerfull cars are 4 WD not by an accident, much the same like the CLA in AMG guise.

Why do I think CLA is doomed?
* Cause it's too big to be hot hatch.
* It it is not trully on par with 1 series BMW (RWD)
* It's significally dear to compete in cheaper equivalent segment

I had similar opinion on A class (mk1 and 2) and on C hatchback (original coupe) that was competing with BMW 3er compact. Both these are now bygone. IMO, unless next gen CLA comes with RWD... posh and trend cannot sustain production on long terms. Market is saturated with excellent and inexpensive Powerfull FWD cars for Merc fame alone to drive sales of CLA

By hey... this is just MY opinion... nothing more or less... no one has to agree.

all this does not mean the car is not fun to drive or it's build quality is bad. that part I do not know.

 

[Michel]

Nope.

I believe that cars like Astra 200ts, Golf R32 and other similar powerfull cars are 4 WD not by an accident, much the same like the CLA in AMG guise.

Why do I think CLA is doomed?
* Cause it's too big to be hot hatch.
* It it is not trully on par with 1 series BMW (RWD)
* It's significally dear to compete in cheaper equivalent segment

I had similar opinion on A class (mk1 and 2) and on C hatchback (original coupe) that was competing with BMW 3er compact. Both these are now bygone. IMO, unless next gen CLA comes with RWD... posh and trend cannot sustain production on long terms. Market is saturated with excellent and inexpensive Powerfull FWD cars for Merc fame alone to drive sales of CLA
By hey... this is just MY opinion... nothing more or less... no one has to agree.
all this does not mean the car is not fun to drive or it's build quality is bad. that part I do not know.

Somehow I don't agree with you on that point and without too much arguments (I think, you think, etc...), only time will tell.

However, I did drive the whole range of CLAs as well as a few 1-series. And although I am a bit biased towards MBs, I do like the 1-series, however, the 1-series M coupe is NO MATCH to and not even in the league of the CLA45AMG.

On another point, BMW has finally realised it needs to go front wheel drive with the release of the 2Series, which is FWD.

 

[Afro107]

Michel,
ofourse, time is the only true reference.

my response is purely to FWD vehicles of the CLA range of which I expect Merc will try to sell the most. If these cars do not sell...

I've seen the specs of 45AMG and it is, mildly said, amazing that they reached the 260kW from a 2 litre engine! Twin scroll turbo seem to be the miracle ingredient.
I thought that 2 series is rear wheel drive as standard...

 

[WGB]

Hi WGB, Do you still have the little Honda Jazz ? Kelly may well consider using it, or have you passed it onto a family member ? .

The little Honda was sitting languishing in the garage having an irregular outing but is now regularly used by Kelly.

It has never missed a beat althouigh I was in Esperance over the weekend and had a VW Golf 118tsi as a rental car and I think she has just fallen for it. Quite an amazing car for a 1.4 turbo but again I have a mistrust of DCT gearboxes.

Bill

 

[Styria]

The little Honda was sitting languishing in the garage having an irregular outing but is now regularly used by Kelly.

It has never missed a beat althouigh I was in Esperance over the weekend and had a VW Golf 118tsi as a rental car and I think she has just fallen for it. Quite an amazing car for a 1.4 turbo but again I have a mistrust of DCT gearboxes.

Bill

....and Bill, I hate to say it, Volkswagens. My son had a Golf at one stage with quite disastrous and expensive "normal wear and tear" problems - in other words, no warranty on worn out pads and brake discs, untold computer problems (warranty - lucky) that took God knows how many visits to the dealers, the Caddy has an atrocious reputation as openly discussed on radio programmes, so the specs. are good, the real life story perhaps a bit different.

I know the Jazz is no longer all that 'fashionable', but Daisy (Julie's car) has now done about ten thousand K.'s and has not missed a beat.She's a bit slow to get going, unless you use revs, but once on the move, especially on the open road, 110 is an absolute breeze on a LEVEL surface. BTW Sean, I know you're getting a Golf, so please forgive me. Regards Styria

 

[Oversize]

FWIW I think the A45 and CLA45 will sell like hotcakes! They're the most affordable AMG ever and I think they'll convert many to the marque. Hopefully they won't have reliability issues. AWD vs FWD is comparing chalk n cheese

 

[WGB]

I was reading in a recent Mercedes Enthusiast that they are considering importing into the UK a RHD version of the A250 4WD which would be a more real world choice for a daily runabout.

Bill