DRIVEN: New Mercedes-Benz A200 sets new benchmark

My title as Road Test Editor means I spend a lot of time with a car on a more data-base driven level than on an emotional one.

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I get to plug proper road test equipment into the car and then run it to get the performance-based numbers that petrolheads love to argue over.

No emotion, no choosing favourites, just the facts the best I can present them.

And by default, this normally means the car in question is a high-performance derivate that warrants this kind of scrutiny. This week things were a little more chilled. My ride of choice was the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

The more powerful AMG models will follow, but for now you can choose between the A200 and A250 Sport. And I had the model that ultimately allows you entry into the brand, the A200.

Man for an entry level car, it looked more than the part, with the same black-trim-on-white look you see in these pictures.

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As is the norm with every new model now introduced in the modern era, the A-Class has grown a little by being 120mm longer, 16mm higher and 6mm wider, but 20kg lighter.

And in the quest for ever better efficiency, which every manufacturer is under pressure to keep improving to save the planet, the car is the aerodynamic leader in its class with a Cd figure from only 0.25.

What this number is, in a nutshell, is the drag coefficient of the car, which translates into how easily the car cuts through the air.

The more brick-like your car, the more drag and the more power you need to do the same speed compared to a car with less drag.

Using more power means using more fuel and that translates into more money.

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I used that non-petrolhead word, efficiency, and have even touched on aerodynamics. So, despite the aggressive looks, the A200 is not a 2.0-litre turbocharged GTI killer, and never was, that’s a job for the A250 Sport.

The A200 runs a 1.33-litre turbocharged petrol engine which generates 120kW of power and 250Nm of torque with a slick shifting 7G DCT dual-clutch transmission doing duty.

This provides for more than enough go for your everyday drive and I enjoyed cruising around the suburbs and on the freeway in the car.

With a claimed fuel consumption of only 5.2l/100km it is perfect for this job.

I never quite got to this claimed number – my number was in the high 7s, but I didn’t exactly take it easy and my wife only has two driving speeds: too fast and too slow.

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With the tradition of technology transferring down from the state-of-the-art, high-tech, S-Class, the interior is not only bigger with increased shoulder, elbow and headroom, it is modern and jam-packed with technology that was unthinkable in an entry level model not so long ago.

And then you get MBUX, a new multimedia system that learns and adapts to suit the user through artificial intelligence, so the more you interact with it, the more car becomes just like you.

In addition, MBUX offers intelligent voice control with natural language com- pre – hension.

By using the phrase “Hey Mercedes”, you can adjust the air-conditioning, send a text message or find the quickest route to where you want to go.

Scary, but it is the future. I guess you just hope the previous owner wasn’t in a bad mood every day, or the car wakes up in the morning in a bad mood either.

At a base price for a Mercedes-Benz A200 of R499 000, would I buy one?

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No. But that is not because it wasn’t good – it was brilliant, I just like my coffee with a bit more caffeine in it.

My wife and teenage daughters, on the other hand, were in love with the car and they are its target market in my humble opinion.

They’d have one in a heartbeat.

Likes

• Aggressive black on white styling for an entry level Merc.
• Modern in every way you can think of, and then some.

Dislikes

• I didn’t look, but I am certain the options fitted cost more than the cheapest new car in SA.
• The women in my home were constantly stealing it away from me.

Verdict 

• As far as compact hatches go, I think Merc has set the new benchmark with their latest offering, but be prepared to pay for the full package premium status.

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