Hi all I've now had the FL A250 Sports for about three months and done 1,500 km, I thought I'll share some highlights and lowlights (yes there are a few) with Forum members. Unfortunately I am unable to make any direct comparison to a pre FL model because my drive in one of them was only a 20-minute test drive. I can however make some comparison to my wife's BMW 125i convertible (Straight 6 - 160kw, 270 NM, natural aspirated) and my previous Saab Vector 93 (154kw, 300NM, turbo) in power, comfort and handling. My A250 comes with leather seats with memory for front seats, leather dash top and 19" AMG wheels as options.
Highlights include:
a) Damn this thing can really reach 100kmh from start very quickly (after my 1,500 km run-in of course) without you even knowing you are there. It feels a lot more faster than the two other cars. The Saab has bad turbo lag. I was unable to feel this on the A250 if there is any.
b) I like the over-run exhaust 'fart' in Sport mode and I am glad the exhaust sound is not a one note sound in comfort mode either. It is not too loud but can still be heard in the cabin. Louder if you had the back seats down in both comfort and sports mode. Have not tried Eco and will not try unless I am about to run out of fuel and there is no petrol station near by. Unfortunately I have no idea how my car sounds like outside. The Bimmer is much louder and attracts attention when driving off traffic lights with a low exhaust growl but with no blips/fart when I downshift or upshift like the the A250. I have always met a large number of drivers who are keen to race me at the lights because of this loud exhaust.
c) Selecting driving dynamic when the mood suits me. Under the Individual setting I have everything in comfort except for the engine, which is in sport with no eco stop start. I am in Comfort setting driving in peak hour and Individual off peak. The engine is so alive and willing, ready to sprint close to the RPM red line before it changes gear when in Sports. It downshifts at a higher rev as you slow down and gives you the whole rev range when you put your foot down from stand still.
d) Gears seem to shift up quickly in comfort mode but not as quickly with downshifts so the manual gear change is handy if you want some shove.
e) I have finally found a suitably comfortable driving position after two months of continuous adjustments. Still feeling my way with the positioning of the lumbar support though. Perhaps this is a case of trying to get use to the lower seats especially coming from the Saab. No problem with the Bimmer though.
f) As everyone with an A250 on the Forum can attest, the handling is brilliant with hardly any body roll, like the bimmer but unlike the Saab.
g) The sound of the suspension when you go over large road imperfections is more muted than the Saab but less muted than the Bimmer.
Lowlights
a) Hmm gear change - In sport setting it can labour too long in 3rd gear but not in 1st or 2nd. I do feel the occasional need to manually shift up so it does not 'drag' on for too long.
b) I had a problem once with the gear change when I was making an uphill left hand turn, it did not shift down and when I manually shift down a gear it hesitated and gave a big clunk sound. It sounded confused and finally when the gear engaged, it was still sitting on a higher gear than I wanted. This was in comfort mode. This might not have happened if I was in sports mode. In the interest of saving fuel, in Comfort setting, the gear is eager to shift up to the 7th gear quickly and you can sometime feel the engine labouring on especially when I am only doing about 60kmh on a suburban road. In Sport mode, it would stay on 4th or 5th which heightens the sense of eagerness from the engine, which I like as the engine spins around 2500 to 3000 rpm.
c) The ride is not hard but I do feel the 'hardness' when I go up and when I go down a 2cm road hump. On the same road hump, I almost would not feel the hump in the Bimmer. The Saab suspension is softer and only very slightly better than the Mercedes. The Bimmer is the most comfortable of the three.
d) Road and wind noise can be heard in the cabin as if coming through the door edges. It reminds me of an old Hyundai Sonata I once sat in. It is even more obvious in the wet when the wheels travel over puddles. I can clearly hear the 'swish' sound as the right wheels travel over the puddle. In this respect, both the Bimmer and the Saab are much quieter cars (Bimmer has run flats). Similarly, the wind noise at high speed is louder than the Saab. Surprisingly, the Saab is actually a quite a quiet car. The Bimmer is noisy with its run flat tyres and convertible top so it is not a fair comparison.
e) There is the occasional keenness to move forward from start when in Sport and I had experienced this a number of time during sharp turn e.g. doing u turn and in stop go traffic.
f) The back gets dirty very quickly - around the rego plate area. The side skirts under the door also gets pretty dirty easily and my leg tends to hit it when I leave my seat.
g) Engine is quick revving however I suspect it probably sounds louder outside than when I am in the car. Like I said before, I have not heard my car from the outside but I suspect the high revving engine noise would over power the sound from the exhaust. I remember hearing a CLA250 speeding off at the light and all I could hear was this high revving engine sound rather than the exhaust you would normally hear from say a V6 equipped sports car. I have heard the CLA45 and its exhaust sounds louder and more obvious than the engine sound when compared to the A250.
So that's it for now. Other bits I love about the car include its looks (a first hatchback for me), its interior styling (red stitching in some but not all places), its safety, its technology, no complaints about the stuck on tablet as it looks like an Ipad (without the obvious bezel) and the comfortable highly adjustable front leather seats. The interior looks like a proper german design car - simple, unique to Mercedes, a bit industrial but sporty all at the same time. Yes plastics are everywhere but it is no E class so you pay for what you get.
Whether the A250, which is also the first Mercedes Benz I've ever owned, will convince me to trade up to another Mercedes, time will tell though if I have a chance now, I might consider the new and very stylish C 43 coupe which is over the $100k mark. Yes I can only dream...
