The CLA is the four-door saloon version of the A-Class, although Mercedes likes to call it a coupé because, y’know, marketing. It has the same 2729mm wheelbase as the hatchback and the same body stiffening, so fundamentally it is the same thing – so AMG wants the two to give the same experience.
There are, though, some subtle differences. The standard CLA already runs marginally wider tracks than the A, so its wings don’t have to be reprofiled as much as the A’s to accommodate the 45’s wider front rack, while its rear track remains a few millimetres wider on the AMG too, because the A’s five-door body can’t be pushed any wider.
The CLA also runs 10mm wider rubber, so 255/35 ZR19s front and rear rather than the A’s 245s, and with wheels that are 9.0in wide rather than 8.5in. More metalwork – this is 4693mm long while the A is 4445mm – means the kerb weight is 50kg more, at 1675kg, and the extra is all located low and to the back. I suspect, although Mercedes hasn’t said, that torsional rigidity is a touch higher on the CLA, too.
How does the CLA 45 compare to the A 45?
There are differences, but they’re pretty subtle. The driving environment feels the same – the CLA’s overall height is only 5mm lower than the A’s – so there’s the same overwhelming interior and no difference in the powertrain. My go in the CLA on a circuit was brief and they were sighting laps behind a pace car, so I can’t tell you what the extreme handling differences between the two are like.
But if you hop straight from an A45 and into a CLA45 on the very same stretch of twisting road, the differences can be spotted. The ride is a touch less deft and felt like it was a tiny bit more affected by camber and road surface changes and more inclined to hunt a tramline.
But we’re talking nths of degrees. The 0-62mph time falls by 0.1sec but economy improves (less drag, presumably), but it’s the same thing. On a circuit, have three laps at fast-ish pace in one, wait two hours and do the same again in the other, and I doubt you’ll tell them apart.
How does the CLA 45 perform on the road?
With a direct back-to-back comparison I suspect the differences are as more to do with the increase in tyre and wheel width as the extra weight, which, given that it’s sited low and rearward, should actually be no great hindrance to cornering balance.
In fact, given that it’s a bit lower, probably a bit more rigid and has a bit more rear weight bias, the CLA ought in some ways to feel like the better platform than the hatch from which to create a performance car. It isn’t one, though. If anything, the A feels like the original, from which all of the other styles will be drawn.
