The Mercedes Benz A200 - Beautiful, but shame about the ride

It's the month of Ramadan and I have been doing what I do best during this period. What I do best is nothing much at all as when you're fasting, doing nothing is the best thing one should do. Unproductive it may be but I believe that if you do not move, you do not burn so much calories and therefore do not need to consume more sustenance until it is time to break fast.

But sometimes you do need to go out and get some chores done. One chore is trying out the newly launched Mercedes Benz A-class. The A200 to be precise. 

Prior to its Malaysian launch I was eagerly awaiting its arrival as this, in my opinion at the time was a premium hatchback that the Rigval Reza household could try acquire in the near future. It had all the swoopy, sexy looks that you would never ever find in a Volkswagen Golf shopping trolley or even an Audi A3. It was also completely cool to drive if you're a man unlike a Volkswagen Beetle. It was also a Mercedes Benz. This meant that it was usually more reliable than a BMW or a BMW Mini over here in tropical Malaysia. It was therefore a car I was looking forward for a test drive.

And so I did.

Getting into the A200 you first realize that a lot of switchgear comes from the Mercedes Benz B-class. The SLS aping vents, switchgear and dashboard design has been imported from that car and made to suit a lower riding conventional hatchback. This is totally unlike the previous generation of A-class, which was in my opinion the ultimate auntie car. It really was. I have an aunt who owns one and that alone speaks volume. 

Now getting back to the interior you will note that the audio controls beneath the vents look like they came from the slightly more expensive C-class, this is a good thing and the buttons are nice in feel. You'd appreciate this as every time you get in and start the A200, the first thing you need to do is get rid of the start-stop function that the car has to make it Eco-friendly but an irritation in any big city stop-start traffic. I personally am used to this as the same feature is in my current Mercedes c-class. Anyway, it is when you go even further down the center console that you'd notice the plastics down here are not the soft touch, very premium, very Mercedes-like quality unlike further up. You can feel the air conditioning controls are flimsier than what you'd expect and the cubby hole covers are slightly cheap in feel. You wouldn't notice this if you came from, say a Honda CIvic, but if you came from something in the same category, you'd notice this. 

You start the car by turning a key. Mercedes is still pretty traditional and there is no start button stuff here. The park brake is now a tiny switch above your right knee and the gear stalk isn't placed on the center console but on the right side of the steering wheel. Very logical as everything is now within reach of your right hand. Of course occasionally you do reach down for that nonexistent gear lever now and then. You have pedal shifts if you want to do some shifting yourself. We'll get to that shortly. 

Now the interior of the Malaysian specified A200 with an all black interior. Even the roof lining is black. Hence it can get pretty gloomy and claustrophiobic at the back when coupled with the sloping rear windows. Legroom is decent at the rear by the way. From the driver's seat the visibility is not good and maybe this is why the A200 gets a reverse camera to compliment the usual park sensors that come with a Mercedes these days. Once on the move it isn't so bad.

The A200 is powered by a 1.6lliter turbocharged engine that makes about 154bhp and 250nm of torque. It is coupled to a 7 speed dual clutch gearbox that has three modes, economy, sport and manual (which you change gears using paddle shifts), which drives the front wheels. It rides on something Mercedes calls comfort suspension and 18 inch wheels using 225/45 series types. The types specced here are Continental run flats. I do not like run flats and we'll get to that later. The drivetrain basically has to pull 1395kgs around and so far, with its arresting looks and on paper the Mercedes Benz seems to have all bases covered. Or not?

But playing Top Trumps and actually driving the darn thing are two different things altogether.

Being a Mercedes Benz, the A200's driving position is pretty spot on. Everything is within easy reach and pretty well thought out. What isn't so well thought out is the 7 speed DCT or dual clutch transmission/gearbox that the car uses. In economy mode shifts are leisurely and you feel like its a typical and therefore slightly relaxed Mercedes tranny. In sports mode it goes all boy racer and holds a gear for too long a time. It is only good for a nice windy B-road or for Sepang. It feels rubbish around town and in traffic as it holds a low gear for too long a time. Manual is acceptable in my books as it allows you some control over changing gears. It isn't as quick shifting as a Volkswagen DSG transmission but it is acceptable in my opinion. I am of the opinion that Mercedes decided to keep it conservative because while the Volkswagen box is sweet and peachy, there have been issues as regards its reliability.

Performance is average for something with slightly over 150bhp and 250nm torque. I suppose the engine is still tight and needs some kilometers to loosen up. It's either this or the fact that the A200's gearing is slightly too long legged for its own good. The acceleration of 8.3seconds is achievable, but the engine doesn't pull as strongly as I would like something with that amount of torque.

Now comes the disappointment. The car rides like its on rocks for shocks. The A200 comes with comfort spec suspension and 18inch runflats. On smooth surfaces all is well but once things start getting bumpy it gets bad. The car may have good body control but over any ripples and bumps it gets pretty jarring and on larger potholes you feel it crashing into them. To put things simply, the A200 rides like a brick. There is no give whatsoever and unlike the best suspension setups, which allows some 'breathe' to the chassis (like how Lotus like to say it) this A200 does not. It is so unyielding that one may feel like they have been beaten up by a berserk mountain gorilla if they had been driving for more than a few hours on slightly bad B-roads. In a Mercedes Benz, this is actually disappointing as these cars are renowned for providing an effortless drive instead of one that makes you feel that you're in a 300bhp rally special.

Now IF this A200 had 300bhp then the suspension setup would warrant such stiffness. It doesn't. This is the issue here. It has only 154bhp. A Peugeot 308 turbo has about the same horses and it does not have a rock hard ride. A Volkswagen Golf GTI has slightly over 200bhp and rides better than this. This car rides like a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII that has 280bhp or a Subaru Impreza WRX STI S204. It does not make sense for Mercedes to send this car for sale with a ride that is as stiff as this for its entry level model.

If this were the A45 AMG, it would be perfectly alright but since this isn't the A45 or even an A25, I want some semblance of comfort for an entry level (premium) ride like this. The sales pitch thrown by Mercedes Benz stating that this isn't a Mercedes like no other and those used to the normal Mercedes Benz would not like this car is utter crap because of the examples stated above.

One solution to this problem is to remove those run-flat tyres and run normal tyres. It may calm the ride a little but I would actually want the A200 to be specced with 17inch wheels which would automatically come with a taller profile tyre. This was done to UK spec cars, and over there, one can order the A-class with 16inch wheels to 18inch wheels as option. So far, Mercedes Benz does not allow such customization and it's actually sad that they don't.

Of course, they don't really need to. The car is selling like hot cakes due to its looks. I have to say that ride aside, this is one of the nicest looking hatchbacks that money can buy. As this is Mercedes Benz's first effort in coming out with a typical hatchback (instead of the previous A-class which was more mini MPV than hatch) there are some glaring faults as I've stated herein. So if any of you are interested, especially if this car is not meant for you but for your wife or as an urban roundabout, take it for a longer than usual test drive over rough roads and see if it suits you before making a decision. At RM198,000 before insurance, the Mercedes Benz A200 isn't exactly a cheap car to purchase on a whim or fancy. I certainly won't do so for the moment and I'd wait for this car's first model update or facelift. I hope they'll sort out the ride by then.