The Mercedes-Benz CLA250 Upends The Traditional German Luxury Sedan (Part 2)

The suspension is more out of character. While the CLA has good body control under cornering, impact harshness is a problem. It’s bad on pockmarked pavement and worse on big bumps, where the CLA can and will bottom out. We can blame some of it on those 18-inch run-flat tires, which also contribute to a substantial amount of road noise emanating from the wheel wells, but the CLA’s short, 106.3-inch wheelbase is also at fault. If the typical Mercedes ride of, say, an E-class is like a high-end hotel mattress with a pillow top, the CLA is a sleeping bag on the floor of a youth hostel. There is likely an easy solution, as Mercedes fits the CLA with the European-market sport suspension as standard equipment. We suspect that American buyers will demand a softer setup.

While the CLA has good body control under cornering, impact harshness is a problem.

The typical light and fluid Mercedes steering feel is inverted, so rather than boosting assist to make a big car feel smaller, the CLA’s heavy helm stands in for more substance

They might also ask for better fuel economy. The CLA’s official EPA ratings are 26 mpg in the city, 38 on the highway, and a psychologically satisfying 30 mpg combined. We managed just 25 overall, and in six fill-ups we never saw our mileage crack 27. Mercedes claims that the CLA has the lowest drag coefficient of any production car at 0.23 and has equipped it with a stop-start system, which unfortunately operates with all the subtlety of an oompah band at Oktoberfest. But as with all cars equipped with small turbocharged engines designed to deliver impressive laboratory CAFE numbers without sacrificing real-world performance, a light touch on the accelerator matters more to fuel economy than any technology.

Inside, there are some nice touches. The CLA’s dashboard borrows heavily from the Mercedes parts bin, with the main instrument cluster and air-vent designs similar to those in pricier models. But there are also parts that are not so nice to touch, like the cheap plastic in the console between the seats. Keep your eyes on the road and you won’t have to look at that, but it’s harder to miss the standard 5.8-inch multimedia display screen. It sticks up from the top of the dash like something installed by your cousin who used to work at Mickey Shorr. Its LCD has a pixel density closer to a Lite-Brite than an Apple Retina display.

Mercedes must be hoping a low base price will entice shoppers who never imagined they might be able to own a Benz

All four high-backed sport seats (the rear bench has two integrated facsimiles of the front buckets) do look high-end, particularly at night, when their headrests emit mood lighting. Comfortable and supportive in front, they block the forward view in the rear, where it’s already cramped by a low roofline. The cockpit is cozy, but it’s a comfortable intimacy that reminds us of compact sedans from generations past.

We get it that this is not a big, imposing Teutonic sled with a powerful engine and a sumptuous ride. It’s not even a kraut-rocking handling machine with an unflappable demeanor. But that also means it doesn’t feel much like a Mercedes. Refinement is lacking. Doors don’t slam with authority.

The vehicle-certification label says the car was assembled in Hungary. Does this matter? Yes, it does, like substituting rice for barley in the brew house. Mercedes must be hoping a low base price will entice shoppers who never imagined they might be able to own a Benz. Also trusting that they won’t recognize what’s missing from this particular Mercedes experience.