I was expecting much more to be honest. I test drove a CLA 45 AMG with less than 20 miles, the car is located at Mercedes Benz of Tucson and is white with black wheels.

Having driven/owned a C63 stock(later on with MHP headers and tune) and having driven the E550 coupe twin turbo I must say that driving the CLA was weak. You have to gun it to the floor to get the CLA to move and accelerate. It is "fairly" quick only if you gun it .

The C63 and E550(bi-turbo) have an avalanche of torque on the tap, you hardly touch the pedal and the car moves instantly. The blip noise from the CLA 45 AMG exhaust is as annoying as it can get, not a sexy sound at all. This is another topic in which the V8 sounds much better hands-down

The 14' E550 have $7000 off incentive from USAA, the CLA has $500 and I can't even get one. Not only the allocations are limited but the production/demand is maxed out meaning that there is no much margin for dealer profit thus no attractive discounts. All I can say is go and test drive all 3 cars and compare them. The CLA looks very nice though, I test drove the standard seat and not the Recaros, they felt good though..

what were you expecting from a 4 cyl? you are comparing it against 400-500hp V8 cars

I completely DISAGREE with everything you say…I have driven every vehicle you mention and you could not be more incorrect. The V8 Bi-turbo has much more noticeable turbo lag than the CLA 45, you pin the bi-turbo accelerator and it takes a good second to spool before the rush of torque comes on…..M133 engine in CLA 45 with twin scroll spools instantly

I have no idea where you come from when you say you have to pin the CLA 45 to make it move….I touch my accelerator even in comfort mode and the car goes….and yes exhaust is SEXY on down shifts……go hate somewhere else

What about the weight? that doesn't count?...interesting miss....

I dunno. I'd describe the throttle response in my C63 as instant, which is no shock as it is an NA car. However, driving the E550 sedan I noticed that the throttle response was very sharp with virtually no lag (one of the benefits of a biturbo/twin-turbo design).

Still itching to drive the CLA45. I'm sure it will feel quick and enjoyable but I'm not expecting it to really compare with the performance of the 6.2L. I love the ability to wind out the tachometer past 5,500 and have the car pull just as hard, if not harder, than it does lower in the rev range.

Edit: I just now saw that you accused a member with 1,516 posts of "hating" and then told him to go somewhere else. That's ridiculous.

He is 100% without a doubt entitled to express his opinion of the car after test driving it. This isn't just a forum for heaping praise upon the CLA45 with no criticism allowed whatsoever.

It doesn't matter if he likes your car; what matters is you like it so there's no need to force your opinion onto someone else.

Ya dig?

No I don't "dig." I am not forcing my opinion on anyone, you are correct this is an open forum to discuss anything. Obviously I am biased as a CLA45 owner. But when someone says "I must say that driving the CLA was weak"….yes, of course I am going to take offence. What would happen if I said that on a C63 forum…….

^^ It is all good. It is just an exchange of opinions. I am sure that we will have more people giving their feedback. I don't want to engage into anything negative. Changing the subject, this car is very hard to buy, the allocations are very limited. I just happened to be able to see and drive one from a person that ordered one and backed up in the last minute due to financial reasons. It surprised me that it had $12000 in options but no Recaros..

All I'm saying is you shouldn't take offense to it. It's just one man's opinion.

The CLA45 has put up the numbers to prove that it's not a weak performer. Can't dispute numbers.

A lot of the E90 M3 owners laugh at the C63 for being a heavy pig of a car but I don't lose any sleep over it or get riled up.

And I think you could have made your point about disagreeing without telling him to "go hate somewhere else."

Just my 2 cents.

^^ Maybe the way I chose my words are not coming the right way here. The car felt quick but I had to put the pedal to the metal to get it going (I am not exaggerating). I should have predicted CLA 45 owners disagreeing.

I agree with this. Even my 1991 Vr-4 running 15PSI FEELS much faster when the boost kicks in. I also feel that the CLA45 has ZERO lag and the power feels smoother since you don't get that big boost kick. With a few mods this CLA45 will be really fast.

Whenever you have a car that is well sorted, suspension, handling & power it will always feel under done because it is so competent. If a car feels really fast it is usually lacking one of the afore mentioned characteristics.

A sorted car always feels easy to drive & consequently slower but it is usually not - from my personal experience . The stop watch is the true indicator-
not seat of the pants.

I drove my CLA45 at full throttles these 2 days and I have to agree with C63newdude. The car seems weaker than I expected, I guess all the impressive acceleration numbers are benefited from the launch control system. From my butt dyno, CLA45 is a mid 5sec car from 0-60mph without launch control. On paper, CLA45 can run similar numbers with 6.2L E63 but I can tell you the E63 pulls a lot harder and it can run low 4secs 0-60mph and mid 12s 1/4mile without launch control. (was just reading Road and Track Feb, 5-60mph takes 5.8sec which means launch control shaved at least 1.5sec for 0-60mph and 1/4mile time.)

As for turbo lag, it's minimal consider the amount of boost it's running and response it very quick but still not the same level as N/A engine. I have no problem with the exhaust note, it does have a character of it's own.

Handling is where the CLA45 shines, it could destroy C63 in any twisty roads and I am comparing with my old C63 equipped w/KW V3 coilovers.

Overall, I am happy with the car, maybe I am just too used to 500hp+ and thought the CLA45 should be as fast based on all the acceleration numbers from car magazines.

it's a hell of a looker I'll give it that

Its all good, no harm done, everyone has their own opinion. I retract my 'hating' comment

Enabling launch control is where things really get fun! =)

Having driven numerous E55's (and owning one), c63's, e63's, and tons of other fast vehicles, I'll say the CLA45 is not earth shattering in terms of acceleration. But it does make me smile, on a daily basis, while giving me 29mpg (on my last tank), 4 season driving (its snowing here in NJ and the CLA loves it), and not requiring new tires every few months (my E55 and C63 went through tires like underwear). Its a very happy little car…not the axe murderer. Im sure with a tune it will be very potent. Add a larger turbo down the road and it will be a force.

I think it is fair to say this isn't the fastest car out of the box and I think people had their expectations a little high out of the gate anyway. However, like many AMG's this car I'm sure has been designed to bring smiles to faces and it seems that it does that quite effectively. I really can't compare driving experience because I haven't driven one.

However, here is what I'm looking for. Everyone keeps talking about the potential of the car. I agree that on paper it seems to have quite a tempting platform. Then you run into how much boost it is pushing out of the gate and how much more that turbo can reliably handle. Then you have the issues of fuel capacities/air/turbo/tranny/etc... I'm not sitting here saying that things wont be good and I am certainly rooting for the 45 to be one of those cars that doesn't take much to be a big turbo monster. However, I don't think this car is going to change the rotation of the earth on that OEM turbo.

I'd love to drive one though. Not a huge fan of the design and these soft edges that most manufacturers are going to but I can live with it.

Nice to see people really jumping on these cars. Hope someone really opens up their pockets to make a jaw-dropper.

IMO it looks like this car is going to max out at around 430-450 HP on that stock turbo. I like the design of this engine and it looks like a turbo swap wont be a huge job. I am concerned about that water to air intercooler. I have never used one before and I wonder how much power/boost that bad boy can take. I would hope that this built engine and tranny can handle a good amount of HP. I mean its 20effin14 and this is high performance german engineering....my 91 poorly designed 3000GT can handle 600 HP before things start to fall apart. Unfortunately my pockets aren't deep enough to throw a big turbo/injectors/fuel pump/ecu and pray that things don't blow up. For now I will stick to a tune and BPU mods.

Isn't it direct injection? 450hp is an insane amount of power for a 2L 4 banger especially for an oem turbo.

Even though its 2014 some things get too complicated for their own good and some older engines are more notable for being bullet proof than newer engines.

I think you are right. 450 is an insane amount of HP for a BPU 4 cylinder car.
You are looking at 400-415 with the tune.
15-30 HP with a turbo back exhaust / NO CATS
5-10 with a Intake possibly

I am sure the intake and exhaust are not very restrictive (considering they are AMG designed parts) so I am unsure how much HP we will get from upgrading them.

I found a spoiler and body kit that removes 2000 pounds from the curb weight, adds 5000 hp and 4000 pounds of down force at 5 miles an hour.

I picked up mine this weekend and I love it. To each their own though.

I wanted to love the CLA45 but found the driver leg room to be too cramped. I couldn't get comfortable in the car and relax my right leg. Way too cramped for me.

I was considering other cars in the same price range. Audi S5, BMW 435xi and the CLA45 AMG. The first one knocked off my list was the CLA45.

Test drove it twice - both times I just couldn't get comfortable. I don't mind that its a small car... but the legroom, I found, was super cramped.

Wound up with the Audi S5...

This is a good point and I will also look over. I hate narrow. Just feel clustered with elbow room and etc. Cars like the TTRS is small but I get more elbow room more than my Mustang 302LS. My old S2000cr I've sold immediately due to the elbow and leg room.

I love the look of the CLA 45, the engine is very impressive. For a 4banger with a turbo the acceleration is crazy and it is very fun to drive. The engine holds a world record for the most powerful production 4 Cylinder in the world and that is very impressive!

However the CLA lacks quality on the inside, the size is useless making it nearly impossible for comfort or transporting passangers, It makes the W203 C32/C55 feel like a full size car. The price tag is way too much for what you are getting I feel.

If you want a big car, buy an S-class