MDMercedesGuy

You mean BMW with its "I think I'm retra... Oh wait, I'm not a retractable screen that just put of the dash?"

They all suck compared to a proper built in screen or a retractable one like the pre facelift W204s.

Ps - check the spelling in your sig. There is no z in Mercedes

livestrong191

Yo!! Son $48K for CLA45 AMG, thats crazy. Thats C250 P1 and AMG wheels for that price. I knowwwww you signing up for that little dul-lup of power and putting your name on the list for that price $$$

MDMercedesGuy

No thank you. I'm quite happy with my paid in full $45k rear wheel drive with a longitudinal mounted engine and self supporting hood C250.

livestrong191

I hear you bro. I never buy new( 14 % hit right of the bat when you drive off the lot) so I will wait and see.

Acapulco Bill

MB's idea is to not lure current or future C Class owners, but the Honda, Toyota, Chevrolet and Ford owners. Here are the latest CLA45 pix from yesterday's New York Auto Show:

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2014-...new-york-2013/

It is not a question of cutting costs, it is a question of a manufacturer's ability to meet it's global MPG and emissions goals, very strict in the EU. If 2 million CLA's are built in it's first iteration, and using a rod instead of two gas or silicon filled springs would add 2 pounds more, that is 4 million pounds added to Mercedes Benz' total weight to accelerate, move, start and stop. How much fuel does that take every day, driving, starting, stopping? So every bit of non-essential weight savings on a CLA250, means more CLA45's or even C63's can be produced.

You lust after a W205 C63? Well probably wont have the 6.2L naturally aspirated engine, but just the environmentally legal permission to produce one for 2015 depends in using a rod in the CLA. We should be grateful that MB is brave enough to make the "right" choice.

Myself, I will keep my W204 for a while, getting the horrible 7G transmission fitted with new valve bodies and TCU, plus a Kleemann ECU tune to bring my C300 to near C350 levels of performance, as soon as the warranty finishes next year.

It's my children who are thinking of selling their Bimmer's to buy a CLA. That is exactly the market segment, along with the millions who have never even driven a non-Japanese or American vehicle, that Mercedes Benz (and Audi with newly-announced 2015 A3 Sedan), are trying to tempt in the small hot-sedan class.

I will be actually able to drive a CLA250 Special Edition in a few days, and will let MBworld members know about the experience, also comparing it against the three BMW's still in the family.

livestrong191

My friend come on stop with this Oh MB save world with better MPG. Gas/Petrol in America is per gallon not liters so wayyyyyyy cheaper than the rest of the world and by saying so I do not want a ROD PROP to hold my hood up when I pay close to $50K for a car. Talk to India and China who use more oil than anyone else in the world before we go with OH MPG suck. If I wanted Prop Rod I would get me a Kia or a Honda oh!!! WAIT they do not have Prop Rods because they trying to be upscale like MB and Bimmers. To me its a down grade . We will see the US versions soon and go from there. Oh the guys who buy honda`s and Kia`s will not upgrade to a $30K MB CLA because if they did`nt do it before when the C-Class was $30K a few years ago they not going to now.

Acapulco Bill

Some would view the above post as cynical and selfish. We will see when our grandchildren face huge challenges as the ice melts, the oceans warm and the climate changes. Besides being out of petroleum.

Pray for the day when current performance can also give 80 MPG, mentioning also that the CLA250 will give near C350 performance because it's lighter and has a dual-clutch transmission, not the horrible 7G POS. Current speculation is that the CLA250 will be a full second faster than a C250, 0 to 60 MPH, and the steering is better also.

livestrong191

I think you need to travel way more to the far east and see how the rest of the world lives to understand how good you have it and how little of a carbon foot print you leave vs people living in china and India and other Overpopulation countries, then come talk to me about selfish. Just saying you making this Bold statements about MPG`s and you drive a C300 but Mercedes is not investing alot of money in electric cars , hell they got a F1 team and make AMG`s that burns gas and chews up tires and you know what if we did not like that we would not buy them BUT people like it and they keep making them and we keep buying them.

Acapulco Bill

Agree entirely, and every little step towards efficiency and sane use of irreplaceable resources puts us all closer to eventual sustainability. Perhaps one should begin a thread about the horrible electric steering in the W204, which saves a full 0.1 MPG over standard hydraulic through weight and energy requirements, besides being numb and, frankly, life-threatening. "Spare the rod, spoil the child"

MDMercedesGuy

It may be quicker, but it is because it is lighter weight and with a different powertrain. Part of why I buy MB products is the fact that they don't try to make the car as light as possible.

It's also putting its power down through the wrong wheels. As far as speculation over the steering - everything I have read and heard criticizes it, so I will believe it when I see it. Very few manufacturers can provide good steering feel and balance through a FWD chassis. I love MB to death, but since the days of recirculating ball steering they have not been known for good steering feel, and I have no confidence that they will perform some miracle with the CLA. I'm also quite alright with that... they didn't need to change a damn thing.

Unless this thing can maintain the neutral balance of the RWD W204 and oversteer when provoked like a RWD W204, it's hardly going to best it in the dynamics department.

Sportstick

Which is why we need to be a bit patient and assess the A3 (fwd/awd) and 2 Series (rwd/awd) to understand the new state of the art for premium German brand vehicles at the $30,000 price point, a newly developing segment. Somehow, I have a feeling the inevitable R&T, CandD, and MT road tests won't have the CLA in first place overall, but that's just a hunch, and I am going to wait and see.

Acapulco Bill

Lighter... the Pagani Huayra and McLaren P1 are certainly hundreds of pounds lighter than the CLA250. While unsure of their crash ratings, the A, B, and now CLA use the novel sandwich floorpan which affords high safety with reduced weight. In a front end crash the engine and drivetrain are designed to absorb energy and deflect under the passenger compartment, leaving the cabin intact. This is another advantage of the transverse-mounted configuration for FWD Mercedes.

Of the 10 vehicles in the family, 1 is AWD, 4 are FWD and the rest RWD. It's the FWD cars that get three times the average use and the others. Remember the main market segment for the CLA are to get mid-size FWD Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, Hyundai and Chevrolet owners into a Mercedes at relatively similar price points.

In about 8 months an AWD option for the CLA will be available, and the CLA 45 AMG will also be AWD, although the latest info is that AWD mode will only be enabled during acceleration or driving dynamics detection (e.g. avoiding understeer, AWD strives to be neutral), again how many Camry, Civic, Focus, Fusion or Accord owners EVER in their lifetimes wish they could force their cars into oversteer? Can a C250 be provoked to oversteer?

So as Sportstick points about the upcoming competition, CLA is all about producing an attractive and well-performing Mercedes at prices that gouge into distinct market segments, and the W204 and upcoming W205 will offer a different experience albeit at a higher pricetag. Mercedes isn't looking to kill C-Class sales.

Now if only the C250 had the BMW 328i's steering, cornering, HP, acceleration, transmission, fuel economy and overall performance... I'll take the ROD in exchange for that, thanks.

MDMercedesGuy

I'm all for FWD where it makes sense. It makes sense in this class because of the market they are trying to capture, but until the numbers/ reviews and actual seat time are in, I am dubious that it is going to offer the driving experience Mercedes is known for.

I'm strictly speaking RWD/FWD here - hence the mention of CLA250 and not the CLA 45. I'm not a fan of AWD (hence my purchase of a C250). Your point about appliance owners not wishing their cars to be able to oversteer is valid, but for those that bought a Mercedes for something other than the looks or badge it hits home.
Quite easily. Remember that it has more torque than an M272 in a C300. That's why I used it as a point of comparison.

Does this mean you'll be trading your C300 in on one soon?

*shrug* I'll take Mercedes' reliability, heritage and refinement any day of the week.

I just went to lunch in a colleagues 3 day old 328i about an hour ago and found it to be rough and grating with a poor ride. I was stuck in an E90 328i for 2 weeks earlier this year while my C was in the body shop, and I can't understand why anyone would pay what BMW asks for one of those.

livestrong191

All i have to say is you are missing the Mark once again. Ask ANY honda, kia, Toyota, Nissan driver why they did not pick a Mercedes and every single one will say be cause of maintance cost and parts cost and MPG`s. Now us that do drive these great cars CARE about a ROD Prop and qaulity and style and engineering in a $48K car and not so much about the extra $2.00 extra cost using premium gas or $299 services every X amount of miles. Alot of cars styling starting to look like KiA`s like the New BMW 4 series and I am afraid MB is moving toward the downgrading the quality of car and cheaping it up which would push current MB guys away from the CLA

MDMercedesGuy

Which would beg the question that has been asked here a few times - how many people are going to downgrade (not a bad thing - just a different class of car) to a CLA from a C? I know of one person doing it - and they are going from a 2008 C300 to a CLA45

I know for myself, I plan on replacing this C with an E or perhaps an S when the time comes in a few years. I can't see going down in features, comfort or refinement.

hyperion667

my opinon is the A class bothers me: looks to much like a Matrix.....
but the CLA I do like with the exception of the way they have the screen
popping up from the top of the dashboard.....

Cleanbenz

Went to the dealership today and it still isn't possible to build car because option pricing and actual set in stone car price is is not official. I have my build sheet and some of the options have prices but they may still change. My salesman and I are estimating roughly $58,000.00 for the car I built. I took every option but Distronic and Parking Assist

SaphGreyC63

I would get parking assist. Never thought I would need it, it came with my C and I absolutely love it. Can't imagine going back to a car without it. That's just my two cents.

Cleanbenz

Really? I'm a pretty good parallel Parker so it didnt really seem necessary to spend the extra money. I actually said no to it before finding out the cost, maybe I'll see what it costs. My salesman did day Distronic is $3000...um no thanks

TexFinn

Okay... I have to confess that I haven't followed the CLA development and its potential competitors that much, but when you guys talk and compare here things about the CLA to those of Toyota, Honda, Kia, Chevy, Ford etc., isn't that slightly far fetched?

Which models from those manufacturers are considered as competitors to the CLA? Or are these references just a product of MBWorld?

Sportstick

What defines "competitor" for you? Some people just sweep up everything that's the same price, while other more sophisticated analyses use consumer cross-consideration data from syndicated research. In reality, the likely primary competition for price/content positioning will be Audi A3 and BMW 2 Series, although if you interviewed the eventual CLA buyers, you will find a wide array of "second choice" cars they might have otherwise purchased. But, none of those, including the brands you mention, will be primary competitors for all practical purposes...however, they may be "source of sales", that is, folks will leave some of them behind to move to an affordable Benz.

livestrong191

Some folks here are saying the CLA is trying to capture the Toyota, Honda, Kia, Chevy, Ford crowed by the lower price point and edger car and there are some here like me are saying while YES the CLA is a sexy and nice car for the price point but Yet the quality of the CLA is diminished greatly with cheaper materials and using Rod Hood Props instead of brackets to try and reach a younger audience and ones who have never been in a MB before that understand the class, engineering, the MB way

TexFinn

Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of ways to define a competitor, some more scientific than others. Otherwise all these consumer research companies and a lot of even marketing guys would be out of work.

But yeah, since I'm just a simple old guy, I was thinking mostly just from the price/size point of view. I can't see any of the brands having too much to offer even at the "starting from" price point of the CLA. My hunch is that similarly sized models at those mfgs top out well below the CLA's "starts from" price even fully loaded.

But what do I know...

Sportstick

New Autoweek arrived. Review of new (smaller) Honda Accord EX-L with Nav. $30,790 base MSRP. There are comparable cars from the other Asian brands.

TexFinn

Downsized Accord? Interesting...