GLA-d to meet Mercedes’ new crossover SUV

Prices for the Mercedes-Benz GLA start from €36,800

In 2012 Mercedes-Benz set its sights on younger drivers and completely overhauled the Mercedes-Benz A-Class in an effort to entice them to the brand.

The redesign took it from the ‘I can’t believe it’s a Mercedes-Benz’ butter box category to a very attractive prospect indeed.

Now the German car company has added a crossover to the A-Class range in the form of the Mercedes-Benz GLA.

Built on the A-Class platform, it’s an impressive looking compact SUV, rugged and muscular with sculpted lines and a sporty look about it.

Inside too carries a sports theme. The cabin is beautiful, everything feels really solid, premium and luxe.

It feels right from the moment you sit into it – everything is well proportioned and within easy reach.

The cabin is spacious and the Artico/Corumba sports seats in the GLA 200 CDI Urban test car were very comfortable.

The cabin in the Mercedes-Benz GLA has a quality feel to it

Legroom is great in the front and recessed seat backs mean that rear seat passengers close to the 6ft mark would be comfortable – just two adults though.

The sophisticated feel of the cabin is enhanced by the stitched leather trim on the doors. The dashboard, meanwhile, is of the flat variety synonymous with Mercedes-Benz.

A multimedia screen sits atop the centre console, but it’s not a touchscreen, it’s operated by a joystick located between the front seats.

Infotainment is well catered for via radio, CD, USB and Bluetooth streaming. The sound from this system is excellent but it doesn’t seem to show your volume level, which could lead to a blast of music if the piece starts off low.

The screen also doubles as a brilliant reversing camera. This is a €571 option and there aren’t any parking sensors.

Given a choice, I’d have preferred cruise control though, which also doesn’t come as standard.

A panoramic electric sunroof was a welcome, but pricey, optional extra in our test car. It costs €2,196.

This crossover has quite a broad rear end, which means the boot is a decent size. The rear seats can be easily lowered to make the boot bigger – and they lie flat.

There are also quite a few storage cubbies in the cabin, with two cup holders between the front seats, a covered armrest storage unit and decent sized door bins which hold bottles upright. The glove compartment is quite small though.

The test car was a six-speed diesel manual with an electric parking brake and stop/start technology.

The boot in the Mercedes-Benz GLA is a decent size

Our route took us through city streets, in a high rise city car park, on the motorway, around winding country roads, and up the mountains.

It’s not particularly fast and I wouldn’t call it exhilarating to drive but I really liked the Mercedes-Benz GLA.

It’s lovely and smooth in the city, if quite pedestrian at the lights. Once you get out of second gear though, it’s quite pacy and it reaches 120kph on the motorway with ease.

We did a lot of uphill driving in this car and its uphill acceleration is impressive, as is the solid hill hold assist.

I’m generally not a fan of electric parking brakes so I was quite anxious when I found myself in hillstart situations on unfamiliar steep roads but I needn’t have been – the car stuck like glue to the road and easily took off.

It was also quite fun and handled well on the mountains, with just a smidgen of body roll and understeer. The suspension was impressive.

With a 2.1litre 136bhp engine, our test car wasn’t underpowered, but I think it would have been even more fun with a more powerful engine.

One thing I didn’t like about its design is the rear visibility. The GLA has small side and rear windows, which, coupled with high rear headrests, makes it difficult to see out the back.

Overall, I really liked it though. It is a head-turner, it’s nice to drive, it’s economical and it makes you feel fantastic.

The Mercedes-Benz GLA is available now with a range of petrol and diesel engines. Prices start from €36,800. The test car I was driving costs from €41,357 and includes extras such as the panoramic sunroof, metallic paint, the Light and Sight Package and the reversing camera.

Tech Spec
Engine: 2.1-litre 135bhp diesel manual with Start/Stop
Acceleration: 0-100kph in 10seconds
Maximum Speed: 205kph
CO2 emissions: 119g/km
Combined fuel economy: 4.5l/100km
Annual road tax: €200

Visit the Mercedes-Benz Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.

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