This vehicle will seat five adults in comfort, with more head-, shoulder- and legroom than any rival, and still provide ample boot space. If only Mercedes had resisted the temptation to revert back to mid-80’s levels of meanness with the equipment, we’d need an extra three stars in this section to properly acknowledge its achievements.
The mid-spec Elegance SE test car wasn’t especially plush: it had cloth seats and no sat-nav, yet it still had £3040 worth of extras fitted. Some of them represent technology not seen on cars in this class before, like the superb bi-xenon lights that swivel. But it’s difficult to take seriously the £110 demanded for steering wheel reach adjustment and the £80 you need to get front under-seat storage boxes.
One option worth having is the £240 Easy Vario Plus system. This buys a front passenger seat that folds flat (by pushing the backrest fully forwards) or can be removed, and a rear bench that can be partially removed and stowed under the boot floor.
Cabin materials are miles ahead of the old car’s. Soft-touch plastics and robust switchgear mark a return to ’80s-like Merc quality levels. This said, it was difficult to regulate the temperature with the manual air conditioning.
Small cars don’t come any safer than this. Adaptive front airbags, side airbags and seatbelt tensioners are standard, rear airbags are an option and the benefits of the high driving position are obvious in the event of a side impact.
Anyone thinking that a £26,000 A-class will hold its value is kidding themselves. The old A-class had a hard time convincing people of its merits and it’ll take some time for this car’s superior quality to have an effect on used prices. Even so, the guides estimate 51 per cent of value will be retained after three years.
It’s frugal too. We averaged 31.3mpg even with some hard use, rising to 37mpg on the touring route and it never dipped below 17mpg, even during sustained hard use at the test track.
