Three days with a C117 GLA
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Joined: Nov 2015
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2013 C250 Sport
Three days with a C117 GLA
I've been driving a C117 (base for the CLA and GLA) for the past three days as a loaner and so far I'm happy with my C-Class choice.
Key obervations:
Key obervations:
- The interior of the W204 has more style/class to it. Even my kids said our car was fancier. It's a bit more w205 like with some of the materials being a little nicer. They thought the screen looked out of place and the ac vents were weird looking.
- The 2.0 turbo is very loud but in a fun way. It sounds like another car is passing you on the right side. The notes of the engine, turbo and exhaust are all distinctive.
- E mode and S mode are a bit more defined with this engine/dual clutch transmission.
- E mode is actually usable and won't make you feel stuck in the sand. Sometimes it uses D2 and sometimes D1 for starts.
- S mode can be a little too aggressive for everyday driving and gets stuck in lower gears. It also downshifts really loud with turbo blow off. One time it downshifted so much there was a hard bang and I thought someone had rear ended me. I've read other reports of this. So it seems Mercedes is following a trend of wacky transmission behavior.
- I've come to like driving in in E mode and using the paddle shifters for aggressive driving. It's like S mode on demand.
- There are some ergonomic issues. Some of the buttons and controls are harder to find. The C-Class just fits.
- The backup camera is a thing of beauty! I could drive around town backwards at nighttime with the windows covered, lol. Makes me realize how absolutely terrible the W204 backup cameras are. It's a crime against consumers that Mercedes charges more than $5 for it.
