2019 Mercedes Benz A Hatchback Coming to Canada. CONFIRMED

[killramos]

I am unimpressed with the materials in my Lexus. But your rc is a bit of a different class.

[heavyD]

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^ everything except the cheap buttons is fixed by putting AMG on the trunk.

And honestly, isn’t the hardware all out of universally praised E class anyways? So how cheap can the buttons be?

I’m actually pretty interested in one, except that it’s a bad complement to my C class and would be more of a replacement as a DD than anything.

How good is the handling going to be? It’s not like the AMG CLA 45 is a great handling car as an M2 will run circles around it but I get it that AMG's are the Dodge of German automakers as their cars are more about straight line monsters than corner carving.

[killramos]

I don’t think the handling in a CLA is bad for an awd car?

Depends what you are expecting from it I guess?

[rage2]

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How good is the handling going to be? It’s not like the AMG CLA 45 is a great handling car as an M2 will run circles around it but I get it that AMG's are the Dodge of German automakers as their cars are more about straight line monsters than corner carving.

That's news to me. Haven't really heard anything bad about the CLA45 handling aside from the first year cars with the rock solid AMG suspension, and complaints were that it just rode too tough. Fixed with 3rd year cars and adjustable damping.

I wouldn't have bought my GLA45 if the handling was crap, that's like my top priority in a car.

[Buster]

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How good is the handling going to be? It’s not like the AMG CLA 45 is a great handling car as an M2 will run circles around it but I get it that AMG's are the Dodge of German automakers as their cars are more about straight line monsters than corner carving.

Lol


"Randy Pobst put down the quickest laps of the day. “I don’t know if I have ever driven a better-handling car,” he said as he got out. “I love it that much.” Randy went out of his way to extoll how well the rear-wheel drive AMG GT S was able to put the power down to the track’s surface, and with a sense of bewilderment said, “It felt like it had downforce—like it was all-wheel drive.”"

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/merce...t-drivers-car/

[rage2]

To be fair, his comment is legitimate 10 years ago. Prior to the W204 C63, AMGs only cared about straight line speed.

[heavyD]

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Lol


"Randy Pobst put down the quickest laps of the day. “I don’t know if I have ever driven a better-handling car,” he said as he got out. “I love it that much.” Randy went out of his way to extoll how well the rear-wheel drive AMG GT S was able to put the power down to the track’s surface, and with a sense of bewilderment said, “It felt like it had downforce—like it was all-wheel drive.”"

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/merce...t-drivers-car/

Oh come on. You picked their lone dedicated sports car.

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That's news to me. Haven't really heard anything bad about the CLA45 handling aside from the first year cars with the rock solid AMG suspension, and complaints were that it just rode too tough. Fixed with 3rd year cars and adjustable damping.

I wouldn't have bought my GLA45 if the handling was crap, that's like my top priority in a car.

I never said handling was crap. For a fair bit more money it's just not going to handle as well as cheaper cars like say a Civic Type R or Focus RS. RS3 is similar although if you get the larger front wheels/tires it does improve things a lot.

I don't dislike the cars as with MB you are paying for usually the best engines and interiors in the class.

[killramos]

You talk about value for money after bringing up the M2 as a comparison

[heavyD]

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You talk about value for money after bringing up the M2 as a comparison

Where did I bring up value for money? You are confusing performance/value with value/money which is two different things as there's not a lot of value in any luxury car as they all nickel and dime you for equipment that is standard on lesser cars. That said the Stinger is great value for the money but I don't want one.

[Buster]

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Where did I bring up value for money? You are confusing performance/value with value/money which is two different things as there's not a lot of value in any luxury car as they all nickel and dime you for equipment that is standard on lesser cars. That said the Stinger is great value for the money but I don't want one.

And you're confused in comparing a dedicated sports coupe to a compact sedan.

The a/gla in amg trim have been universally praised for their handling. Mb does not make a competitor to the m2.

Honestly... I just don't think you're well informed on the topic.

[rage2]

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I never said handling was crap. For a fair bit more money it's just not going to handle as well as cheaper cars like say a Civic Type R or Focus RS. RS3 is similar although if you get the larger front wheels/tires it does improve things a lot.

Well you sure sounded like you did comparing it to the Dodge of German automakers, and how it's all about straight line speed.

The M2 is a better performing car than the CLA45, and clearly more fun to drive. No surprise there, but it's not like they're worlds apart. The 2 cars are close in every performance metric. The Civic Type R loses in a straight line, and keeps up in the corners compared to the 2 Germans so I found it funny that you'd bring that up into the discussion. To be fair, Civic Type-R isn't an actual competitor to either Germans, but there's a lot of value for the money and can run with the big boys, even though you didn't bring up value for the money.

Overall I'm just confused by your posts haha.

[heavyD]

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And you're confused in comparing a dedicated sports coupe to a compact sedan.

The a/gla in amg trim have been universally praised for their handling. Mb does not make a competitor to the m2.

Honestly... I just don't think you're well informed on the topic.

I believe it is you that is confused as you brought the dedicated sports car ino the argument not me. Going back to the beginning I'm skeptical that an AMG badge is going to turn the A class into a great handling car that's all. I think I'm well informed. Very well informed actually. I think there's a major MB bias in this forum and that's fine as you guys love your car and the brand. I just can't associate as I'm not a brand guy so I feel I'm more objective.

[killramos]

All of the people you are talking to have owned quite a spectrum of cars over the years.

Saying we are all biased for currently driving Mercedes cars is about as logical as pointing out that as a Golf R owner you are probably biased against the A45. Maybe a number of us landed on AMG for an objective reason? I would buy from a car from another brand if they made something I wanted at a price I was willing to pay

You are the one who seems to be reaching from every angle to call down the A45?

I agree with Rage, much confusion.

Personally I have had a Golf GTI, a BMW M235i, and now a Mercedes C63. I also have a Mustang and a Lexus suv in my garage, used to have a Toyota FJ Cruiser as well.

Does that make me a Mercedes brand whore?

[rage2]

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I believe it is you that is confused as you brought the dedicated sports car ino the argument not me. Going back to the beginning I'm skeptical that an AMG badge is going to turn the A class into a great handling car that's all. I think I'm well informed. Very well informed actually. I think there's a major MB bias in this forum and that's fine as you guys love your car and the brand. I just can't associate as I'm not a brand guy so I feel I'm more objective.

Fair point. I'm pretty brand loyal (mostly because MB rewards my loyalty with great incentives) but I'm also pretty objective and will get swayed to other brands here and there if the deal is right. I tell it like it is, M2 is an awesome car, and is better than anything AMG puts out in the same segment. The M5 closed the gap on the E63S and are pretty close as well. I don't think what you're seeing is bias, but more so that AMG overall are making much better cars than they did 10 years ago and now not only competing with its peers, but beating them more often than not. It's not just beyond that's preferring MB's and AMG's more, the whole upscale German car market has shifted that way in the last 4 years.

At the end of the day, it's a great time to be a car enthusiast, if you don't mind turbo lag haha. That'll change once I get my hands on my hybrid AMG though.

[shakalaka]

I personally have no brand loyalty per-se. That being said the brand I've owned the most amount is happens to be BMW. Notwithstanding that, I feel like Mercedes certainly has way more (not always better) options that they offer in the AMG-quasi AMG segment vs the M. At least for my liking, I see more Merc options that are a possibility for me than BMW. I just keep sticking with the latter because its the only way I can feed my sickness of swapping cars often without having to declare bankruptcy. However, if at some point I do run the entire term or get an opportunity to get out of a BMW, I will look at all other brands for sure. In fact after being on the 5th one in a relatively short period of time I am almost bored of BMW.

[heavyD]

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Fair point. I'm pretty brand loyal (mostly because MB rewards my loyalty with great incentives) but I'm also pretty objective and will get swayed to other brands here and there if the deal is right. I tell it like it is, M2 is an awesome car, and is better than anything AMG puts out in the same segment. The M5 closed the gap on the E63S and are pretty close as well. I don't think what you're seeing is bias, but more so that AMG overall are making much better cars than they did 10 years ago and now not only competing with its peers, but beating them more often than not. It's not just beyond that's preferring MB's and AMG's more, the whole upscale German car market has shifted that way in the last 4 years.

At the end of the day, it's a great time to be a car enthusiast, if you don't mind turbo lag haha. That'll change once I get my hands on my hybrid AMG though.

I agree with this as I feel we may be close to the golden age of performance cars as it's like the 90's again but cars are much, much faster. I'm not a baller like some of you as even though cars have been a passion of mine I've always had a mental hurdle when it comes to spending $60k+ for a car. Now I'm middle aged and my house is almost paid off I feel it's time to stop messing around with the mid/lower tier cars and I've been looking at RS3, CLA 45, and M2. I don't like dealing with dealers so it hasn't been fun as for me as many know base prices on some of these cars are worthless because they are missing features you get standard on lower class cars so when you option them out prices become scary for a person like me. Anyway sorry for sidetracking the thread as we can go back to topic.

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I personally have no brand loyalty per-se. That being said the brand I've owned the most amount is happens to be BMW. Notwithstanding that, I feel like Mercedes certainly has way more (not always better) options that they offer in the AMG-quasi AMG segment vs the M. At least for my liking, I see more Merc options that are a possibility for me than BMW. I just keep sticking with the latter because its the only way I can feed my sickness of swapping cars often without having to declare bankruptcy. However, if at some point I do run the entire term or get an opportunity to get out of a BMW, I will look at all other brands for sure. In fact after being on the 5th one in a relatively short period of time I am almost bored of BMW.

When it comes to styling I've always gravitated to BMW but I find their current interiors disappointing especially after sitting in a comparable MB. Audi is in the middle.

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All of the people you are talking to have owned quite a spectrum of cars over the years.

Saying we are all biased for currently driving Mercedes cars is about as logical as pointing out that as a Golf R owner you are probably biased against the A45. Maybe a number of us landed on AMG for an objective reason? I would buy from a car from another brand if they made something I wanted at a price I was willing to pay

You are the one who seems to be reaching from every angle to call down the A45?

I agree with Rage, much confusion.

Personally I have had a Golf GTI, a BMW M235i, and now a Mercedes C63. I also have a Mustang and a Lexus suv in my garage, used to have a Toyota FJ Cruiser as well.

Does that make me a Mercedes brand whore?

No it wasn't my intention to offend everyone. Many of us here have been around for a while and have burned through a lot of cars. Myself included. I just feel of late there seems to be a bit of a bias.

[Xtrema]

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No, the buttons on the new A are unique as part of the MBUX package. It'll eventually make its way up to all the other classes though up to the S when it gets MBUX.

With that being said, Mercedes is really good at making cheap materials look expensive. I never realized how cheap the Mercedes buttons and switchgear are until I bought the RC-F. Totally different league, everything in the Lexus just feels expensive to the touch. For example, Mercedes would use a plastic knob painted silver with a machined texture, Lexus would have a knob that's crafted and machined from a solid piece of metal. Probably costs 10x as much to manufacturer, but looks the same in photos. Only notice it when using it, but really, doesn't bother me at all.

I think Mercedes interiors are horrible for anything under $100K until the W205 came out and anything that got major redesign afterwards.

There are a lot of pieces now feel like solid metal instead of painted plastic. Door handles, paddle shifters, steering wheel, etc are nice and metal. But painted plastic pieces (mostly HVAC buttons, windows switches, vent knows) are plenty not better hidden than before.

BMW still got the worse interior material in the biz for anything with a starting price under $70K.

[Tej.S]

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I agree with this as I feel we may be close to the golden age of performance cars as it's like the 90's again but cars are much, much faster. I'm not a baller like some of you as even though cars have been a passion of mine I've always had a mental hurdle when it comes to spending $60k+ for a car. Now I'm middle aged and my house is almost paid off I feel it's time to stop messing around with the mid/lower tier cars and I've been looking at RS3, CLA 45, and M2. I don't like dealing with dealers so it hasn't been fun as for me as many know base prices on some of these cars are worthless because they are missing features you get standard on lower class cars so when you option them out prices become scary for a person like me. Anyway sorry for sidetracking the thread as we can go back to topic.

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When it comes to styling I've always gravitated to BMW but I find their current interiors disappointing especially after sitting in a comparable MB. Audi is in the middle.

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No it wasn't my intention to offend everyone. Many of us here have been around for a while and have burned through a lot of cars. Myself included. I just feel of late there seems to be a bit of a bias.

Exactly what do you think you're trying to accomplish here? We all know there is no such thing as humility on the interwebz!

[Buster]

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No it wasn't my intention to offend everyone. Many of us here have been around for a while and have burned through a lot of cars. Myself included. I just feel of late there seems to be a bit of a bias.

I don't think you offended anyone - nobody here has their identity tied up in a car brand. You just made a bogus claim and got called out on it. It happens.

[heavyD]

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I don't think you offended anyone - nobody here has their identity tied up in a car brand. You just made a bogus claim and got called out on it. It happens.

Ha ha ha.