Mercedes A220 AMG Line 2019 UK first drive

This is where the Mercedes A-Class range begins to get interesting, at least as far as keen drivers are concerned.

Below this A220 petrol option, there are only diesels and the duo of petrol derivatives powered by the frugal but decidedly unsporty 1.3-litre turbo four-pot that Daimler has recently developed along with Renault and Nissan. Above here, there is only the discretely sporty A250 AMG Line and the properly sporty Mercedes-AMG A35 4Matic – along, ultimately, with a replacement for the properly nutty A45 AMG, due to come later.

So what chance this car has the perfect, premium-worthy blend of everyday pace, efficiency and refinement, then, all offered at an appealing price? A decent one, on the face of it. Unlike the lesser petrols, the A220 gets all-independent suspension by default. It’s available in upper-level AMG Line trim only, and only with Mercedes’ seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox; but, factoring in those things, it’s only £640 more expensive than an equivalent A200 – which is less than half the price of Mercedes’ cheapest options bundle for the A-Class.

Going for A220 rather than A200 would mean accepting the difference an 18g/km CO2 penalty might make to your annual tax return; also, a four-group insurance group hike – assuming you pay for your own cover.

Cover up the badge on the bootlid and you simply can’t tell an A220 from any other A-Class AMG Line. The car’s two-tone 18in wheels offer the road a wider-section, lower profile tyre than you get on lesser-trim A-Classes, but the suspension tune is the same as you’d find on any other all-independent, AMG Line-trim example of the car.

Although Mercedes’ brochure describes the suspension of lower-end SE and Sport-trim models (complete with torsion beam) in the same terms as that of AMG Line cars (they call it ‘lowered comfort suspension’), wider test experience teaches that there’s quite a bit of difference in the ride and handling of these A-Classes. While the former have a softer and more supple gait that should play well to fans of comfort and isolation, the latter definitely feel firmer-riding and more sporting. AMG Line cars should therefore probably only be considered by drivers who want a dynamic cutting edge from their cars, rather than Mercedes’ more traditional comfort bias.

The A220 is a fine case in point. It has a ride that’s comfortable enough, but slightly busier over smaller lumps and bumps than you might expect it to be, and a touch noisier over coarser surfaces too. The car comes with a choice of four driving modes (Sport, Comfort, Eco and Individual), but none of them allows any adjustment of the suspension, since adaptive dampers are Mercedes-AMG the preserve of the A35 4Matic. The upshot is that, while the car deals with most road surfaces well, it rides more testing ones with a touch more lateral head-toss and vertical fidget than a really well-sorted hatchback might.