pl8ster
December 31st, 2014, 10:22 AM
I can sum up the experience in just two words: TURBO LAG
I don't get the point of the car even in non-AMG trim; it looks like an Impreza with less cargo-carrying capacity for twice the price. The seats are nicely-bolstered (so much so that it's difficult for a 40-something man to make a graceful exit) and the 200-mph speedo with carbon fiber insert is optimistic but cool. The nav screen looks like someone glued a small tablet to the dashboard and is comically cheap-looking for a Mercedes. I'm very surprised they couldn't do any better than that. If I'm going to spend $50-60k on a car with navigation, I want it to look different than something I might have cobbled up using a dashboard tablet holder from Pep Boys.
But the turbo lag is the big nope with this car. 26-odd pounds of boost will create that, I guess, but it feels far slower than my TSX at around-town speeds. It reminds me of how the carb in my '82 Wagoneer would cause a delay in acceleration that always gave me pause (pun intended) when preparing to turn across a busy street, except in the case of the GLA45, the delay ends with 355hp coming on all at once. The good news is that acceleration-wise, it's the quickest car I've ever driven (sorry, Phil/Drew/Nick), with 0-60 coming in four-something seconds. It's the true "push you back in your seat" kind of power. Definitely not well-suited for around-town driving, although it is fun to scream away from a stop. I could definitely see this car being a lot of fun in the twisties, though I only had a few minutes' time and didn't get to really evaluate the handling.
It's cool - in a Jalopnik kind of way - that the financial case for building a pointless car like this can be made, but if I had to buy a new vehicle with 300+ HP and AWD, I'd just save $12-18k (giving up about 50hp in the process) and get an STi.
I don't get the point of the car even in non-AMG trim; it looks like an Impreza with less cargo-carrying capacity for twice the price. The seats are nicely-bolstered (so much so that it's difficult for a 40-something man to make a graceful exit) and the 200-mph speedo with carbon fiber insert is optimistic but cool. The nav screen looks like someone glued a small tablet to the dashboard and is comically cheap-looking for a Mercedes. I'm very surprised they couldn't do any better than that. If I'm going to spend $50-60k on a car with navigation, I want it to look different than something I might have cobbled up using a dashboard tablet holder from Pep Boys.
But the turbo lag is the big nope with this car. 26-odd pounds of boost will create that, I guess, but it feels far slower than my TSX at around-town speeds. It reminds me of how the carb in my '82 Wagoneer would cause a delay in acceleration that always gave me pause (pun intended) when preparing to turn across a busy street, except in the case of the GLA45, the delay ends with 355hp coming on all at once. The good news is that acceleration-wise, it's the quickest car I've ever driven (sorry, Phil/Drew/Nick), with 0-60 coming in four-something seconds. It's the true "push you back in your seat" kind of power. Definitely not well-suited for around-town driving, although it is fun to scream away from a stop. I could definitely see this car being a lot of fun in the twisties, though I only had a few minutes' time and didn't get to really evaluate the handling.
It's cool - in a Jalopnik kind of way - that the financial case for building a pointless car like this can be made, but if I had to buy a new vehicle with 300+ HP and AWD, I'd just save $12-18k (giving up about 50hp in the process) and get an STi.