Oh look, a small fast four door German car, I like those

"E90M3" (e90m3) 05/28/2018 at 14:43 • Filed to: unnecessary car shopping with E90M3, Unnecessary Car Shopping

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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is a car that has intrigued me for a while; truth be told, the CLA-Class has intrigued me since its release in 2013. A Mercedes that started under 30k did sound appealing, especially given the fact that I ended up really liking the B-Class I had a rental in Germany. I was eating lunch at my computer seeing what the Carmax near me had, when I saw they had a CLA45. I immediately scheduled a test drive.

First impression, it is a hansom car, especially with those wheels. The low roofline helps appearance; however this does cause you to sacrifice rear head room. I sat in the rear seats and my head was touching the head liner and I’m 5'9". There wasn’t a space issue in the front, but I wouldn’t want to spend a long time cramped in the back. The back seat in my 328i is more useful, and it’s an actual coupe. Wouldn’t be bad for kids, but not for adults.

I then popped the hood to see what tiny engine AMG had managed to get 355hp and 332 ft/lbs of torque from.

Pretty impressive numbers, and according to the internet, it should propel the CLA45 AMG from 0 to 60 in the same time as my E90 M3. The test drive confirmed that this little engine is indeed potent. I’m more used to my naturally aspirated cars and this was a change. Like most turbo engines I’ve come into contact with, it had a mountain of torque low down but ran out of steam at the top end. That said, the CLA 45 is very quick. I found myself looking down and realizing how fast I was going. There really isn’t any complaints about power, I mean you can almost always use more, to a certain point.

I just left the transmission in drive and didn’t use the paddles. No complaints here, felt like a normal automatic. Shifts weren’t too brutal or intrusive. Given more time, I probably would have played around with the paddles and seen how the box reacted to manual inputs.

I was neither impressed nor displeased with the steering. By no means was it bad, but neither was it electrifying. The first time I drove a 911 I got why people raved about the steering, it is simply fantastic; the weight and feed back is spot on. I didn’t hate the steering, but neither did I love it. What I think I’m trying to convey is that it didn’t really add anything to the driving experience, but then again it didn’t take anything away. I did take an offramp at a faster than recommended speed and it handled it no problem.

The CLA45 has four wheel drive and I couldn’t really tell apart from the fact that it takes off very well from a stand still even in the rain. I didn’t get to really chuck it into any corners, but at no point did it feel like it wanted to understeer.

So I guess the real question is, would I buy one?

There have been some cars I have become enthralled with after a short test drive; 911 turbo, 997 Carrera S, C63 AMG, E92 M3. This was not one of them. It was a nice driving car that I like the styling of, but I just don’t want one. If I wanted a small fast Mercedes from Carmax, I would spend !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > E90M3 05/28/2018 at 14:50

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I wonder if how much better it rides by comparison with the CLA 250 that my wife test drove. That suspension was quite rough, and combined with a weak engine and Mercedes pricing on options, the CLA 250 was off the list quickly.

Nibby > E90M3 05/28/2018 at 14:51

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AWD =/= 4WD.

haven’t driven an AMG one but the CLA250 was terrible. poor build quality, cheap interior, fit and finish was sub-par, seats weren’t good, the interior is cramped, handling was so so, just felt like a cheap car.

E90M3 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 05/28/2018 at 14:51

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It did seem to ride kind of rough, I don’t really notice things like that because the M3 isn’t exactly the softest riding car. I did spec a CLA250 the other day and even with the few options I would want, it was still 37k.

E90M3 > Nibby 05/28/2018 at 14:53

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I will say the trim on the drivers seat controls fell off at some point and had been glued back on.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Nibby 05/28/2018 at 15:10

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Oh yeah, I forgot about the interior lack of quality (it has been 4 years since driving it). So disappointing. Got a better car pretty much loaded for much less by ending up with the Mazda3 with the 2.5L.

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > E90M3 05/28/2018 at 15:31

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Is THAT the JKM truck?

E90M3 > BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo 05/28/2018 at 15:55

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Maybe.

Vicente Esteve > E90M3 05/28/2018 at 15:59

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Used C63 ALL DAY over this.

Spanfeller is a twat > BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo 05/28/2018 at 17:54

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BM2, plis.


I’m dissapointed you didn’t mention the blue crosscabrio in the background

Kar Wai Wong > Spanfeller is a twat 05/28/2018 at 18:01

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OH MY DOUG HOW DID I MISS IT TOO?

Spanfeller is a twat > Kar Wai Wong 05/28/2018 at 18:08

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Poydite, seychas!

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > Spanfeller is a twat 05/28/2018 at 19:15

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GIB CARIBBEAN PEARL CROSSCABRIOLET

boxrocket > E90M3 05/28/2018 at 20:14

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Ugh, too small. I’m 5'8" and even with the front seat all the way back and wheel all the way forward, I still feel like I need a shoehorn to get in and out, and wish there was padding on the top of the door jamb. Quality is definitely non-luxury (our CX-5 feels better assembled and superior materials, which should embarass M-B).

If these came on a coupe and didn’t look like a Micro Machine version of a CLS/S-class, and all of the above looked less like cockroaches and soap bars, it might pique my interest. As it stands, the E-class remains the only semi-obtainable M-B that moves the throttle even a little.

E90M3 > boxrocket 05/28/2018 at 20:47

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This as a true coupe would be sensantional. The interior didn’t amaze me, but then the last AMG I drove had an interior that was falling apart, so that’s my standard.

404 - User No Longer Available > E90M3 05/29/2018 at 08:38

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These days I associate this car with these hideous things, along with the Lexus RX and Toyota Corolla.