What is it like to take a drive in the most emotional car in the Mercedes-Benz compact range? Nobody could better sum it up than one of YouTube’s top car experts, MrJWW. Subscribe to Mercedes-Benz on YouTube:
In my book, this is an abbreviation for cool-looking automobile. you may know me as the guy on the internet that likes to share special cars. mercedes-benz have sold 750,000 units since its launch in 2013. these new cars have improved in both sportiness and intelligence. which has an iconic, modern design and safety technology they have also added gesture control and
New driving settings that are specially adapted to the sporty character of the cla. so when you’re around a car that’s this good-looking, you might notice the reduced lines and that makes it look incredibly graceful. but also this has enhanced its sporty and elegant coupé character. so, we’ve got this stretched, elongated bonnet line with two power domes the first
Thing that hits you is the prominent diamond radiator grille. speaking of amg line, what you get is more defined front and rear aprons, we also have this distinct gt rear end with a tear-off edge, they’re actually split and there’s a functional purpose, because when i open the boot, they come up with the boot, and it really is a testament to the great engineering and,
Importantly, aerodynamic work of the guys from mercedes-benz. in fact, it has resulted in a drag coefficient of just 0.23. but in theory, if a cyclist were able to wear the skin of this cla, you might notice that the doors are in fact frameless. and this adds a sort of minimalistic aura to the car. the cla offers the sportiest driving characteristics of all the models
Three of the key features that are worth mentioning, because they all make it sit on the road more solidly, the one i’m sitting in right now is the 250 4matic with 165 kw and 350 nm. from eco, to comfort, to sport and even individual. this allows you to individually control up to four parameters. you’ve got transmission, the engine, the steering and the suspension.
But you need to think of this system like a friend you can lean on. it just gives you a lot of confidence through the corners. particularly when you’re flowing at a higher speed. and if all of that wasn’t enough, we even have an adaptive damping system. but what it’s doing in actual fact is adjusting the suspension in real time. and that would contribute to why
I am surprised at just how good this thing feels gliding across the road but also when you throw it into a corner. and allows you to exploit and make the most of every road you find yourself on. and what that results in is also massive traction and, once again, you can just plant your foot in any gear and it just squats and goes. and what that allows me to do is give
Mbux a more complex command. and i can pre-configure it to load up the navigation, for example. because when i reach out to interact with the screen, and as i get closer – look at that – a menu just pops up and knows that i want to interact with it. it’s very cool. and the same thing happens down here on the touch pad. there is a 360° camera embedded in the
Car, scanning your movement. so, if you dive down into the favourites section of the menu, to both the passenger and the driver’s v-shaped gesture. for example, if i wanted my gesture to result in a shortcut to the sat-nav, and the passenger might want to – i don’t know – jump to the radio quickly. it’s amazing because what i’m seeing is a live view of the
Actual road in front of me. but superimposed on top of that is all of the information i need. but what i really like is actually how precise the turning indicators are and tried it once in – i don’t know – difficult traffic situations, when it’s dark outside, i’m able to use gestures again to turn off and on the reading light underneath the rear-view mirror.
Phenom! and the same can be said for the reading light on the passenger side. now that it’s dark, is the new full-colour head-up display. all of the information you’re gonna need while you’re driving directly in your line of sight, which allows you to keep your eye on the road at all times. which is the perfect opportunity to discuss the new multifunction steering
Wheel. so, on the left and right of the wheel are two touch control buttons and they correlate to the two 10.25-inch high-definition screens in front of me. so, the left one, appropriately, correlates to the left screen, and that you can interact with just like a smartphone. you just swipe easily and intuitively up-down, left-right sat-nav, music, etc. but what i really
Like is that you’re able to customize the interface to your choosing. so, think about being able to rearrange the applications another great feature is the wireless charging functionality. so, just by placing my phone in this area down here in the central console, it literally starts charging. of course, with the new adaptive suspension system, when you find yourself
On those gorgeous winding roads. for the first time, the cla is able to drive semi-autonomously in certain situations and that’s because mercedes-benz brought driving assistance systems and functions for example, we’ve got active distance assist distronic, which automatically controls the car’s speed and the distance to the vehicle ahead. in addition, it uses
Map data to make automatic speed adjustments another very handy feature is the active steering assist. this programme helps to keep the car centred in the current lane by observing road markings or the path of the car ahead. it even can assist you directly by braking the wheels on one side of the car. active braking assist can issue early warnings and initiate braking
When a possible collision is detected with vehicles, riders or even pedestrians. its camera and radar systems are able to detect dangerous situations. besides the coupé, mercedes-benz also offers a shooting brake version of the cla. so, in comparison with the cla coupé, you’ll notice that but of course, beauty is one thing but practicality is another and that’s
Ultimately what the shooting brake is all about. and more comfortable for shoulders, head and elbow areas. you now have four centimetres of greater head clearance. which you can conveniently open with a hands-free system. now, the opening of the boot is 20 centimetres wider than its predecessor they’re evidently intelligent and in the case of the shooting brake, the
Chassis balance just encourages you and gives you lots of confidence but still, my all-time favourite function and feature of this car is being able to literally just talk to it, through the mbux system. the way that you can just give it a command and it reacts almost like a human now, i don’t know about you guys – and i don’t know why mercedes-benz call it the cla.
But in my book, this is an abbreviation for cool-looking automobile. so, if you’ve come this far through the video, the chances are so, you can click right here to visit the mercedes-benz website as always, guys – thanks for watching, i shall see you next time.
Transcribed from video
MrJWW’s First Review of the New CLA (2019) By Mercedes-Benz
