Mercedes-Benz GLA: review

Mercedes Benz GLA: Review

The Mercedes-Benz GLA, driven finally after a long wait.

The test car was powered by a 2143cc diesel engine producing a maximum power of 134bhp and a torque output of 300Nm. For more information on specifications and equipment list, please refer the previous article.

Based on the A-class, the GLA is a much needed vehicle in the Mercedes-Benz India line up to fight the BMW X1 and Audi Q3 in the entry level luxury SUV segment. You won’t be wrong to think it is just a jacked up A-class. But when you see the car in flesh, you can see a variety of changes to distinguish it from the A-class. It gets strong, muscular shoulder lines to make it look more like an SUV. It gets a new grille upfront and black cladding all around, below the car. It also gets silver skid plates and twin exhaust pipes. Overall, the GLA looks stunning.

The interiors is similar to the A class. This means, there is plenty of high quality materials used. The car comes with a dual tone dash with classy air vents from the SLS. The COMAND screen looks like an after-market fitment though. The seating position up front is good and you get a better view of the road thanks to a higher seating position. Just like the A-class, the gear lever is on the steering column. This has freed up a lot of space in the centre console which has allowed Mercedes-Benz to introduce a few cubbyholes. The rear though is not as nice as the front. The seats are hard and the seat itself is a tad too upright. The headroom is not great thanks to the flowing design and the windows are raked up so there is less visibility. The panoramic sunroof though helps in making the cabin more airy. The floor is not flat, so seating 3 is impossible. Only small children can be put in the middle of the rear seat. You get a 12V charging point at the rear as well.

Coming to the way the car drives, with just 134bhp from the engine, it is under powered when compared to its competition. In city conditions, the diesel does its job extremely well. But on the highway, it is not sporty enough. The engine feels sluggish and it revs up to just 4200 rpm, which is disappointing. When revved, there is some harsh engine noise which is not pleasant. But then again, if you sportiness, you are better off with a petrol. The claimed fuel efficiency for the diesel shows it to be the most fuel efficient in the segment. In real life conditions, you can expect around 12kmpl in the city and 15kmpl on the highway.

The ride in city is good and small bumps get absorbed. It is only the larger and sharper potholes that come crashing through. There is very little wind and tire noise inside the cabin. But at speed, there is quite a bit on road noise accompanied by the engine noise and small bumps do make a loud noise and slightly bouncy on a road that has not been smoothly paved. The car is extremely stable, even at 170km/hr which gives you a lot of confidence when you want to floor the accelerator. The steering weighs up nicely and it is pretty accurate as well.

The power is sent to the front wheels through a 7 speed dual clutch transmission. In manual mode, the transmission is a bit slow to respond. But in normal drive mode, it does its job perfectly. It does not allow you to rev up to the redline at 4500 rpm. Instead, up shifts early depending on your driving. In normal cruising, it up shifts at an early 3200 rpm in interest of economy. When during sportier drive, it up shifts at 4200 rpm.

The GLA diesel is best suited for those who like to cruise in style. It is mainly targeted at those who want more style than substance in this segment. The absence of 4-wheel drive may come as a disappointment but for regular runabouts, this car will do its job without complaining. For Mercedes-Benz, the GLA is the right product to enter this segment with and increase their sales.

Mercedes-Benz GLA: Launch

Mercedes-Benz GLA Class

Until recently, the cheapest Mercedes-Benz SUV you could buy was the ML 250 CDI priced at 54.8 lakhs. This meant that Mercedes lost out on a lot of sales in the entry level luxury SUV segment which had only BMW X1 and Audi Q3 fighting it out. So, they finally have released the much awaited and the much needed GLA Class. I attended the launch at Akshaya Motors, Bangalore to get a first look of the car.

Design:The new GLA class looks like a crossover. Mercedes has deliberately not made the SUV look butch and rugged. Instead it looks like a slightly raised A-class with a new grill. The car sits on 18 inch 5 twin spoke light alloy wheels. The car has a ground clearance of 183mm which is enough but not good for SUV standards. To highlight the crossover credentials of the car, the GLA does not come with the 4matic all-wheel drive system. Interiors are similar to the A-class. It comes with a dual tone dashboard with ARTICO leather upholstery. You get a 421 litres boot space which can be expanded to 1235 litres with the 60:40 rear seat folded. You also get a 50 litres fuel tank with an additional 6 litres reserve. The car has a drag coefficient of 0.29.

Drivetrain:

The GLA will be available with two engine choices- a 2143cc diesel and a 1991cc petrol. The diesel has a maximum power of 134bhp available between 3600-4400 rpm claiming an efficiency of 17.9kmpl. 0-100 is dealt with in 9.9 seconds and it has a top speed of 205kmph. The petrol on the other hand has a maximum power of 181bhp at 5500rpm claiming an efficiency of 13.78kmpl. 0-100 is dealt with in 7.6 seconds and it has a top speed of 225kmph. Both engines have a torque output of 300Nm and they are mated to a 7 speed dual clutch transmission.

Safety:

The car comes with 7 airbags including dual front airbags and window airbags. You also get ABS, ESP, hill start assist, tyre pressure warning system, acceleration skid control (ASR)which prevents individual wheels from spinning, BAS brake assist which increases brake pressure during emergency braking, reversing camera with wide angle view of 180 degrees, adaptive brake lights which flash during emergency braking and attention assist.

Equipment:

The GLA comes loaded with paddle shifters like you get on the A-class, panoramic sunroof, cushion angle adjustment for both front seats, a TFT colour display 14.7cm screen which includes integral telephone keypad, Bluetooth interface with hands free function, operated via a multi-function steering wheel, Aux-in, USB, 12 loudspeakers which include a bass speaker and a 9 channel DSP amp, an optional 450W Harman Kardon surround sound system and a rear seat entertainment package that includes 17.8 cm screens with USB, SD card slot and AV-IN for viewing pictures, movies and playing video games.

The new Mercedes-Benz GLA is available in four colours- Red, Brown, Silver and White. With prices starting from 32.75 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) and a 3 year warranty, it seems to be a serious competition to the BMW X1 and Audi Q3 and a good package to increase Mercedes-Benz India sales significantly.

 

Tata Zest: Initial reactions

TATA ZEST

The Tata Zest was introduced to attract younger buyers into the showrooms. As far as I can see, it seems to be working. On my trip to the showroom, 80% of the potential customers were youngsters.

So, what’s so special about this car??

To, start with, Tata cars, as you know, are considered as boring and used mainly as taxis and their sales was on a steady decline. Then came the late Karl Slym. The Tata Zest and Tata Bolt were his brain child which he hoped would turn their fortunes around.

So, has it worked, the simple answer is, Yes!!
The car doesn’t feel like any Tata I’ve ever seen. Its way more advanced, and is a better weapon for Tata to fight its rivals. It may not be breath taking but it certainly is for a Tata, even though there were still a few issues with the build quality which we could make out especially when the doors closed. It’s a huge improvement especially when you consider the fact that it is still based on the old Indica. What surprised me was the amount of space available inside. My friend, a 6 footer found more than enough leg room and head room at the rear. The boot space is more than sufficient at 390 litres.

From the exterior, sitting on 185/60 R15 alloys, the car looks pretty good though the high ground clearance makes it looks a bit unusual. The car comes with new swept headlamps with projector lights and LED day time driving lights. The rear comes with wrap around tail lights. The interior features an all new dual coloured dash board design which a huge step ahead compared to the previous Indica and Manza.

The car comes loaded with features like touch screen infotainment, sms and notifications read out, 8 speakers for a surround sound effect, automatic AC, electronic power steering with speed sensitivity and active return function, ABS, EBD, corner stability control, dual SRS airbags, reverse parking camera and voice command recognition, which surprised me the most cause it actually worked. When I had to set the climate control temperature, it understood my voice command and adjusted the AC accordingly.

The car given to us was a brand new petrol car which had run only 150kms, delivered only the previous day but the drive was not more than just a few kilometres. The petrol car comes with a new Revotron 1.2 litre turbocharged engine producing 90 PS power at 5000 rpm and a torque figure of 140 Nm developed between 1750-3000 rpm. There is a bit of turbo lag which was noticeable. The main problem was that the engine overheated quickly. The diesel engine comes in two states of tune, 75 PS and 90 PS. The engine is the same Quadrajet diesel engine that powers many Tata cars. A 5 speed AMT transmission is available only on the 90 PS diesel.

Tata finally seems to have a car with which it can compete decently with. The Zest hopefully will revive Tata sales. For now, it looks like they have a winner on their hands.