The Mercedes-AMG CLA 35 sits one rung down from the high performance CLA 45 S, but does that mean it's no good at being a fun performance car? We put the CarExpert professional race driver, Chris Atkinson, behind the wheel to set a lap time and see where it places on our leaderboard.
Compare lap times: https://www.carexpert.com.au/lap-times/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=review&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=other-video
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Acceleration and braking figures 00:35
Initial impressions 00:48
Hot lap (no talking) 02:47
Hot lap debrief 03:56
Atko's verdict 06:29
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#mercedes #cla35 #review
Compare lap times: https://www.carexpert.com.au/lap-times/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=review&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=other-video
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Acceleration and braking figures 00:35
Initial impressions 00:48
Hot lap (no talking) 02:47
Hot lap debrief 03:56
Atko's verdict 06:29
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#mercedes #cla35 #review
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 Hey guys, Chris here from Car Expert.
00:01 We're back at Queensland Raceway, our test track.
00:03 Today, we've got the Mercedes-Benz AMG CLA 35.
00:07 Now, we've already had the A45 S on track,
00:09 which was pretty quick.
00:11 This is a step down in performance.
00:12 So, still a two litre turbo,
00:14 but only 225 kilowatts and 400 newton metres of torque.
00:17 So, I'm interested to see how far off this is.
00:19 Also, whether the dynamics of this bigger chassis
00:22 makes any difference at all.
00:23 I'm gonna do an out lap, see how that feels,
00:25 build up the speed and do some flying laps,
00:27 get a lap time, and then give you guys an overview
00:29 of what I thought about the car.
00:31 But first, let's test out the zero to 100 time
00:33 and also the braking performance of this car.
00:35 (car engine roaring)
00:39 So, my initial impressions,
00:51 steering wheel looks and feels great.
00:53 Love the dash layout.
00:54 It's amazing.
00:55 I actually really, really like the options on the dash,
00:58 how you can choose exactly what you want there.
01:00 I've got it set up for the track
01:01 with the rev counter, speed and gear,
01:04 but you can have G force,
01:06 all sorts of numbers all over the dash.
01:07 So, that's awesome.
01:08 Seating position is decent.
01:11 I do feel like I'm a little bit on top of the seat,
01:13 not in the seat.
01:14 And even there,
01:15 I just feel like I'm leaning over a bit straight away.
01:18 Engine feels really responsive.
01:20 As soon as you touch the throttle,
01:22 it cracks open, which is great.
01:24 Gear shift feels nice and crisp.
01:27 I've actually gone on the sports suspension setting,
01:30 not the hardest setting,
01:31 but the middle range one.
01:32 I feel like that's just the best compromise for this track.
01:34 It's a little bit bumpy
01:36 and I don't like those firm feedbacks you get
01:38 when you put it in sports plus mode.
01:40 So, that's designed for a really smooth track,
01:42 but everything else is in the top performance setting
01:45 that I could go engine, transmission, et cetera.
01:48 Steering feels decent.
01:52 It feels light,
01:53 but pretty precise at the same time.
01:57 Just would like a little bit more feedback
01:59 through the hand.
02:00 When I could feel the tire at the edge of grip there,
02:02 I just didn't have the feedback I wanted.
02:04 And as we build up the speed,
02:06 I think that feeling's probably gonna stay,
02:09 which is a shame.
02:10 Feels nice and stable too,
02:12 not too much roll.
02:13 Let's test the brakes out.
02:16 Nice and firm,
02:20 little bit long on the pedal,
02:21 but good firm stability under braking.
02:23 Like the chassis actually feels good under brakes.
02:26 I don't know whether we're gonna struggle
02:27 with traction at all,
02:28 'cause we've got the all-wheel drive system
02:30 and we're only 225 kilowatts.
02:32 So, I feel like we should always have good traction
02:35 and that's why I've gone traction control off.
02:37 I'm not too worried at all about that.
02:39 All right, let's see what sort of lap time
02:40 we can get out of this.
02:41 (car engine roaring)
02:44 (car engine roaring)
02:48 (car engine roaring)
02:51 (car engine roaring)
02:54 (car engine roaring)
02:57 (car engine roaring)
03:04 (car engine roaring)
03:12 (car engine roaring)
03:25 (car engine roaring)
03:28 (car engine roaring)
03:39 (car engine roaring)
03:46 (car engine roaring)
03:49 So, there you go.
03:56 60.31 was the best I could get out of it.
03:58 So, right there with the Audi S3,
04:02 not a bad time
04:03 and sort of in the middle of the leaderboard,
04:05 but a couple of seconds away from the A45 hatch
04:09 and a lot of that's performance in terms of engine.
04:13 Like the engine's a big step up on that.
04:15 This car by no means was bad, no major issues,
04:18 but just lacked in a few areas.
04:21 My biggest complaint is gonna be the seat.
04:23 And I mentioned that in the beginning
04:24 and I just moved around so much
04:26 and I couldn't place myself.
04:27 So, if you're gonna track one of these,
04:29 definitely go the upgraded seat option.
04:31 It's pretty much a necessity.
04:34 These ones are fine for everyday use,
04:35 but not great on the track.
04:37 Steering was decent, just a little bit light.
04:39 That's what I thought initially
04:40 and just lacked the feedback as well that I'd want,
04:43 but pretty precise.
04:44 So, that's good on a track.
04:46 I could place the car pretty well
04:48 and get it to move around.
04:49 I ran with both traction control on and off to try
04:52 and also the stability control off.
04:54 And the car does rotate if you get the rear sliding,
04:57 but has a slight tendency to understeer.
05:00 A little bit more even so than the hatch I'd say as well.
05:04 But if you drive at 90%,
05:05 it works really nicely, nicely balanced.
05:07 So, I felt like the all-wheel drive system worked really well.
05:10 I had no issues at all with traction
05:12 and it's not until you get to that 45 engine
05:15 that you really start to struggle for traction.
05:17 So, at this level of power, this system works great.
05:21 Engine response is great.
05:23 I did get caught out a couple of times
05:25 in the gear shifts just running out of revs.
05:27 So, maybe would have liked slightly wider gearing.
05:29 I just hit the rev limiter without even thinking.
05:33 I did like how there was a shift light
05:34 on the top of the dash and that was very useful.
05:38 It was more in the corners when I was upshifting
05:40 that I had trouble.
05:41 So, it's good to have that on the dash.
05:43 Like I said before, I love the dash layout.
05:45 Looks awesome, but also super functional as well.
05:48 Brakes were pretty good.
05:49 Just dropped away a little bit over the laps
05:51 and I felt like I was putting a lot of energy
05:54 through the front tyres as well
05:55 and just heating up that front left,
05:57 especially on this track
05:58 when there's so many right-hand corners.
06:00 Chassis-wise, it's actually quite supported, quite stable.
06:04 So, I like the damping of it.
06:05 It wasn't kicking off anything.
06:07 I could ride the kerbs nicely.
06:09 No bad side effects at all from the bumps.
06:12 Really well sorted out suspension and geometry-wise.
06:15 I thought that worked really well
06:17 and I think you quite easily dial it
06:19 between understeer and oversteer
06:21 if you wanted to mess around with tyre pressures
06:23 and things like that.
06:24 So, I think the ability to tune the car a little bit
06:27 is definitely there as well.
06:28 So, there you go guys, the CLA35 AMG.
06:32 Now, I'm not gonna lie to you,
06:33 it wasn't the perfect car on the track.
06:35 It did a decent time right up there with the Audi S3,
06:37 but missing the details I wanted,
06:39 missing the feedback.
06:40 And I definitely love that A45 engine
06:43 when we drove that earlier in the year.
06:44 So, not bad, a great car on the streets,
06:47 but maybe if you come into the track,
06:49 step up to the A45 or the CLA45.
06:52 My top three tips with this car are
06:54 just looking for the seating position to be a bit better.
06:56 So, I'd upgrade the seats to the AMG Performance seats
06:59 and that would make a huge difference.
07:00 I was moving around a lot in the car.
07:02 Be careful in the entry.
07:03 It's got the ability to understeer if you over-commit.
07:06 So, be calm there, nice and smooth,
07:08 get the car rotated.
07:10 And if you do turn the traction control off,
07:11 it can actually then send you the other way
07:13 into a bit of an oversteer.
07:14 So, be careful if you do that.
07:15 Thanks for watching the video, guys.
07:17 If you enjoyed it, hit the thumbs up button
07:18 and don't forget to subscribe and push that bell icon
07:21 so you get notified every time we publish a new video.
07:23 I'd love to hear your feedback
07:25 and also hear what else you'd like to see
07:26 out on the test track and see what sort of times we can do.
07:29 Thanks again for watching.
07:30 Hope you enjoyed the video.