Mercedes-Benz CLA250: Just too little Mercedes? (CNET On Cars, Episode 36)

This thing. Okay this is one of the Mercedes too little Mercedes. On this guy act is taking a page from Eagles playbook. And top five fuel economy mint moral of the time objected to it. Because you have it. Available on the road and under the hood but also check yeah. Standard known for convenience and ugly is included and no it. It's all it's. Good day at the bottom line this CNET Hong Kong. And it's. Welcome to CNET on cars is all about high tech cars. That drive I'm Brian Cooley is that the student with the order they. But that super up to quality. Dad and at high priced that are part of the oil at 1980. LA is that prompting those way that a lot. Here here it. The other big story in luxury cars these days is small. Take a look at BMW don't leave breast I asked them Lexus. This CLA from Mercedes. And the nice thing about working the other into the market that you also working on a younger part of the market. And enable the arrest last buyers of tomorrow night. Car is part of what helped put Mercedes back so that popped as we closed down 23 agent and it's like to save it. All lines are not so much derived from the collapsed to one up brother but interestingly. Borrowed from the way upscale yet OLAP. It is kind of group B park across the aisle that real LS kind of stuff on the other hand they're very proud of this space. They play this game right off the content call the auto show circuit out of the way it does look pretty hot and it was what we saw it on that. And an outback you've got these sort of agree that old man. Quarters in the rear bumper at all and you'll hear that old man. I now the what will happen on this car is one of its strong points you get a good quality Mercedes via and here I think it's about the most modern looking. Cabinet which is good is that our age or younger audience that doesn't want a lot of wrote I don't think. And most importantly it's got the families steering wheel of the big part of the identity of the car. Ditto for the head unit and that sort of pop tarts toaster look at display would at all in vogue right now. As he he got the knob which has bush Dick and collect and you've got back and clear buttons on it simple streamlined and of course the German cars on the screen isn't doing this is Mercedes current command system the navigation as hard drive based. Eighty gigabyte of hard drive data on there but they've also got two gigabytes and aside from media you can put your collection on which never built. On this car we have serious satellite radio which also brings in traffic and weather but that's optional by the way I did into the audio displays good rich good use of meta tags they do get truncated dialing you do have all art in there but take a look at some of the sources in an FM with HD radio satellite radio resident is optional disk or six this. CD dvd at an optional pick the cardinal thank you does that mean gigabyte storage USB and it here I've got a media interface for iPod which is an adapter port because I've got an iPod Touch. Bluetooth calling it Bluetooth streaming by the way your standard on this car would have been nice cut some cards so that you pay extra for the streaming part. And then went over here at the globe to get the acoustic and activities being received apps. Streaming radio apps that you're serious weather and you can also under the web site URL you want to look at although not when you're driving. Is this whole system dogs well. This needs to be add up when I don't know what firmware change is gonna activity optimization. This is the mall a lot of and how Internet radio is over here stepped out from audio at all audio guys put it altogether. That navigation system like there is optional interestingly so as rear view camera and electronic machines in the article austerity program there when he left. They give it to you rate. But it got an iPhone consider these 600 dollar iPhone ride hit. Dealer installed and of the different interface than you've seen here for social media streaming radio and Siri voice. So what the drive control technology in this vehicle it doesn't have adaptive suspension until there's an elaborate control that here here here. All base which is kind of bloodied body for a car that aims so young and a lot of folks gonna wish they had a lever down here but look how much completely give up. To that is Smart is not. And of course you got paddles that go with a on the way down here is the eco mode that gives all on it. If you select it off it. The auto start stop technology which I'm okay with it because you know on this car if you're gonna see it's a little crunchy. And then down here he'll ask drive mode controls or manual. Efficiency. The efficiency of the nearest thing to a normal load this sported obviously support and the manual lets you hold your ships without the cards on the back but don't logic. Now all but they've let rear view camera aren't knowingly optional some other things are not that are kind of nice of the attention assisted. Figures that if you're drowsy alert to that standard on this car as is forward collision warning. And free breaking technology it does not have automatic all breaking. To stop a collision. At optional or standard level yeah. Blackmail us in the cavity of the optional question whether crafted panoramic roof but that's pretty small world of flat panel money enormous by today's standards but it's way bigger than. Sandra and it opens up a small haven't nicely which is good because it here in the backseat hate the person in the bluntly that there's at least that'll help her out. LEQ if he would go to view all nothing about it Andy Monica and Apple leader at this two liter inline. Turbo Borland direct injection of the word displays all the hits of modern motor design. But get real Mercedes in a couple of ways first of all it's sitting side settle in to ride the world we. Their personal wheeled drive parceled the American market also gonna be available though the all wheel drive area but this is how. Here's the number you've got 208 horsepower 258 foot pounds of torque because the twin scroll Turbo in the 3200. How do so get up to sixty in about six point nine seconds. Certainly respectable and the MPG numbers and I want at 638. You're getting it. All Japanese car territory with that and the transmission big debate one choice only seven speed dual clutch automated and when they developed in conjunction with this article to going out and buying it. We'll find out it was worth their effort. I've told you before I get into our view cart I don't look at it Backstreet in the wrong and why don't really know what the power train and when I got this one's. I thought it was could be solved with a automatic. Here's why. The diesel because there is kind of a course engine and there's that sort of lag Turbo diesel of course they'll war. But then content source after that. I thought it was an automatic. Because that gearbox is so civilized. And couldn't be anything else. That backpack instead of guys and the gas engine a highly rpm is Miller underlined so that magnetic don't like it diesel about compliment necessarily to a gas and put them back at this dual clutch transmission felt like a regular automatic is the hybrid. Doesn't load down here when you're an economy that cars lately it's buried under seven year all the time and the throttle response is like thumbs you go to sports and granted governor Coke actually asked. Finally the ride quality just isn't a Mercedes which may or may not be a good thing depending on your page you'll either hate how harsh it is more like the fact that it doesn't feel isolated from the road. I think a little too much support. Beyond that though all the other driving it was a great plug that engineering is well rated it very clear race showed they went into it on the shipping yourself. Our great on the car he does actually but it's real night. I'll get it right Garcia LA now you know they have one on this car. Under thirty grain well not all the time yet detonation is pushing 31 out there enough. But here's where things really leave the list of thirty the opportunity to go CNET. Start with the app. Panoramic roof for 15100 to premium package for 2300 if you automatic control heated seat that Harman car audio iPod interface things like that. Multimedia package according 300 more which includes two rear camera and the other niceties that iPhone arrived at 600 bucks at the dealer. Driver at this brings you adaptive cruise and the path that the wine bottle in technology and another point 500 if you want semi automatic parking nearly a grant for that. And if you wanna act but all of that people on the dash. And happy amber is app on your phone you can look at the car unlock the doors and things like that. That's a corporate behavior monthly page. Didn't even go as far as getting forty buck get MG door lock. I all live CNET ballot this guy's nor the 41000. Dollars but still very inexpensive adversely. I would wait up model year or anti regret that is the ride quality you need one more act on it. Maybe some of those drives profiles something in between he and support pleased but there's no mistaking this is the Mercedes and that a big part of them. It's. You can find our full review on average eighties CLA by the way it cars dot cnet.com. Vehicle who have their laser radar. Sonar and this cars don't matter is I'm looking at the road product that we do is drivers. Too often we're sitting there exit from the back of the tolerance one of us or worse. The Smartphone in our. But glance and games management is the key but they're so old technique. Of great interest to the smarter drive in recently. You simply put younger drivers an accident that roughly five times the rate the more experienced drivers the way their parents generate. And blues and read only accounts for about half the best. And it apparently has done a University of Massachusetts at Amherst to train young drivers of what they call rapid. This awareness and perception entering it basically turns peripheral awareness walk driving into crude sort of computer games awarding points that you see what's around. So the research program was trying to anything getting younger drivers you'll recognize these threats from many peripheral collateral area not just the link here to stay in front of the cost. They got the recognition rate of speed peripheral hazards up to about 65%. In young drivers compared to just 37%. In the untrained look it's. So hold Dodgers have to look similar issue. Has drivers get overly realize their reactions are slowly and they tend to slow down their driving and increases down quite a bit. As a result portal impact amongst seventy didn't. Year old go to quite dramatically from what I did go way up. The researchers here got older drivers who for example. In the area around the more they're making it turns out not just the area where they're pointing back. Here's the human esteem got older drivers decides in at a rate of around 83%. Up from an untrained 44%. It helped that this group was real receptive to the input they noted. Because they were all quite afraid of losing their driving privilege as they have a lot of Macs. It's it. This makes it incredibly. Portraits that. And I admit it is but the more about this battery or the more comfortable being keeps coming up. You gotta face the driving task is one that is not Linear of these lying on the roads suggest but that is a 360s. Gates de. It's one of the habits that drops away from many classes of drivers and oldest young and perhaps those that are just distracted or bored with the he then we all bear in mind it. Checked the cars to rezone it. What's going on it running a Linear what's going on around you and besides what's going on behind you and your mirrors or cameras technology. These are all areas that it pays. The double. This is the little digital. Up next we demystify how one of the dubious names technologies under the hood. When CNET on cars rolled around the. It's. It's. They delivered via an 890 vertical wound 214 pounds this could come into it like it's. It's. Got sold to solve anything could it's. To knock on the change and having very very flat so we got was a brilliant. Let me know say. Have I left much you can still use it as something telling me it's still fairly conservative doing the things I think you did yes it can get thanks. It's. By more from the X cart team of CNET UK at cnet.com slash extra its. Welcome back to CNET on cars from our home at the marine clubhouse the card do we react. Just north of the Golden Gate Bridge yeah they may have seen our recent video on the deal Mazda three and it was powered by something called sky active gasoline and that I think most people are pretty clear what kind active means it's an interesting aspect of technology get it leverages a lot of classic into the fundamentals so make for a great card that 101. This guy active technology basically capacity here fuel mixture to a much higher degree than you normally see in production gas engine car up to fourteen to one ratio which is built at front that's actually working on the level where it what's the big deal when you get a lot more out of bed and when you do that can make better use the people to get more power on the other hand against downside high compression engines wanna read yet need to spark knock in other words come bought the spark plug even those off. That causes all the problem of power durability and efficiency of the audience so what do you do first of all these. Create a very interesting exhaust architects. Where these long exhaust blunders very hot gasses away and blend of their on the Internet that's good because one tell their firing up podcast. Does that broke it into anything that builder which a lot of other headlines there and secondly they're using a heavy handed login as regards Daniel what can the end of her all about it to have hysterical built in the head and I have a spherical and in the buildup there appellate really compressed everything they're doing that but they also have a little well aren't that in the top with a bit of which allows them to contain the with a destination before it takes over the old don't want and I did using direct injection it was a lot of carmakers feeling but that have a lot of benefit here -- -- you very precisely the leader of adaptive as they are politically it's a big hit blown up early and because it can get it right the cylinder that gasoline is full because the didn't have to run down a hot and take water and hot intake port on its blade and facility that also help prevent that they don't market want that to happen. Bottom line multiplayer and a 15% improvement in both fuel efficiency is important you can sky active but remember the typical gas engine only brings about 30% efficiency from a gallon of fuel. Wasting the remainder has dissipated. So 15% better of them act isn't exactly game changing but it helps. Also the guy acted carpet is old west. What have their compression ratio dropped to do law beep certain things you want a concession being made so we can beat them regular gas. In a moment fuel economy myth Bebop. And CNET on cars continues. Yeah. It's. But it's. Click the talk a little bit more serious to regularly it's a little bit of seeming so it's not for the scroll I mean this has bid to join jet engine program. The pedal to the extension to reassemble the it also lets you go contracting in the back of the seat that had decent people to go on and this content or some coffee taste but it just play station that hateful. Well thank you tools to extend it. You can turn it pretty blunt and dad he doesn't also and he didn't Wear comfortable rather lovely. Something needs to post this. It she'll look champagne hold that in this talk comes with a booklet over the. I'm more from the X cart team of CNET UK at cnet.com slash next to it. Welcome back to CNET on cars I'm Brian Cooley here at the bigger image that comes from Rick in which yet. Their masses that hey Bryan I've been watching a lot of your videos lately that talk about cars having to overdrive gear I don't even know what overdraft victor's please explain. Happy to do so. Overdrive is very simply whenever your engine is turning slower than your actual real rotation. It's a very tall gear that typically accomplished in the transmission up your your virtual lock. It can also be affected by the final drive ratio of the differential in the rear wheel drive car let's focus on the transmission is that when you hear me talking about. When you get your bicycle let's say you go to top here you'll barely turning your pedal and the crank. But your wheels are spinning bastard you're really hauling. That's kind of an overdrive situation at the big tall cruising gear but it's not very responsive predicting sudden acceleration changes or climbing hills where you want to increase seat. You can buy it overdrive of the stack of cards. Go to the gear ratios if you dig down in there any of them that are below one point oh aren't overdrive extremely all here where the into the turning lord of the wheels. What you hear me talk about now our cars and having it be transmissions were seventh and eight are overdrive or nine B or eight or nine they're overdrive that's kind of unusable. Back in the day. Either port. If or six when you're only overdrive gear but we that nobody called lately. Overdrive becoming now popular that little pan. We never called top five we did recently topped five fuel economy yet. And I got so much great email from you with more fuel economy has so many of them out of the kind of do another top five more fuel economy emit these are yours. They're the top five that you came up again. And apply it up your tank but it's cool left side. I put this one glow because that your 150 you're probably never heard. Right if there was nuclear bomb drill. Now yet gasoline does the band when it won't give you about to present you were born level molecules it's been that nice degree that a sixty. Canada and Hawaii for example at temperature compensating gas pump because they've got a usually extreme want to. But for most about the different handheld out of brought here as we go from one of the cool things but thought gas stations don't store their fuel out of a driveway. It lives underground where temperature swings are Bartlett. Never before stir up your headlights. I also ranking list below didn't daytime running lights and all kinds of new laws and may driving with your life call almost illegal. Yes headlights do put a little wrong on the old crater to recharge the Jews and they hate the batteries but by most. Like the count Britain tiny fraction of one MPG lost. I went LED lighting proliferating. That's gonna get pioneer all the time. Number three turn off the air conditioning and this is really respect the idea here you're guilty JC put it off to reduce drag on the engine. And we went up to three miles per gallon its big sea you rolled out the window that. Well how it works depend a variety of tests by consumer reports car and driver in the oak ridge national labs tests have found varying results. That changed by this speed you're driving and the model of car bottom line here at the rule of month window that when you're around town. Air conditioning and windows up. When you on the freeway it. Tentative shut off your car at a red light. If it does save people which is why carmakers are installing automatic start stop systems but did you do this manually on a car that doesn't have that technology. Where are your starter right quick. And that's gonna cost you more than all the gas you'll say its all so many modern cars sense. When their stopped. In drive and the service break is depressed and they go into a low fuel flow vote anyway. Number one have to be people are more economical and I'm not saying they are strictly speaking yet the diesel get more out of a droplet of dinosaur agreed. What you have to pencil in a couple other factors the higher cost of low sulfur diesel that you let it averages several has the sense is more than gasoline. And the typical premium you pay to buy a diesel power train car. The long term savings are likely there but don't expect more lunch money in week one. Or even year one. But what are playing you wanna to adapt and get the jump off your roof and out your front. Car makers spend millions to improve their aerodynamic or even cut forty pound block a car's weight. And what are you gonna help you don't leave eighty pounds the crap in the trunk for no reason to leave back kayak tracks available all year. There's an improvement that low hanging fruit. Hope you enjoyed this episode thanks for watching. You know we're always looking to bring the gospel modern motoring to more people around here so if you haven't mentioned that you social networks lately. I appreciate any heated. We'll see you next time we checked. And okay. I. Okay good that.