This car is a complete hoot to drive.
What do you call a car that is described as a compact utility vehicle yet drives like a full-blown rally car? Try the 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG for size.
The all-wheel-drive, four-door hatchback is tricked out with silver-trimmed, red-contrasting, stitched-leather Recaro racing seats, paddle shifters to manually drive the 7-speed transmission, a 2-liter turbocharged 335-horsepower engine, oversized brakes with red painted calipers, a wing on the hatch and 20-inch, blacked-out, spoked rims. It could compete with the Subaru WRX for sport driving fun yet falls into the compact SUV category.
I loved driving this car. The AMG suspension settings are stiffened from the base model, providing the firm sport-tuned ride. The steering is somewhat heavy, yet point the car where you want to go and it’ll happily comply. Select the sport mode setting to alter some of the shift points and make even more subtle suspension adjustments and you’ll be edging the GLA45 into a performance vehicle. Despite the robust steering feel, handling is delightfully nimble. What really sold me though was the snarling and popping exhaust note as the gears drop and throaty turbo rumble when you ask for quick acceleration. All those horses got me in and out of traffic with no problems and power to spare.
The cabin is well-crafted with red contrast-stitching throughout, and check out the crazy crimson seatbelts. The thick leather racing-styled steering wheel frames the two-gauge cluster and the controls are spot on in simplicity, yet look ?sophisticated. The aluminum-trimmed Recaro seats embrace you, offering side supports to keep you solidly behind the wheel as you head into the turns. The cabin doesn’t have the whisper quiet plush ride of the fleet leader S 550, but you won’t have to crank the excellent stereo to drown out the road either.
The GLA45 travels effortlessly on the highway, but don’t be afraid to hit the exit ramp. Although it sits higher than other similar sized cars it doesn’t lean on turns. The 4-Matic all-wheel-drive behaves like a two-wheeler, but gives you the comfort of keeping the car solidly connected to the road in less than ideal driving conditions.
The large infotainment display looks a bit awkward on the dash, but does not interfere with sight lines. It has multiple redundant controls including voice command, touchscreen and a mouse-like device.
It’ll fit four or five adults quite comfortably and the cargo area is more than you’d expect. Drop the seats to increase that capacity and your trip to the box store will be special.
Test this loaded $64,505 hatch against the Land Rover Evoke, Audi RS Q3 and BMW X1. It has all the characteristics of a sports car yet with a rated 23 city MPG of 23 and 29 highway it works wonderfully as a daily commuter. You can get into the base GLA45 for $48,300 and even as low as about $34,000 for the GLA250, but driving the fully tricked out AMG is quite a fun experience.
Around the Web
