Mercedes-Benz A250 Reviews

Mercedes-Benz is going to have a real go at plug-in hybrids in Australia, but is the new A 250 e, which offers maximum flexibility, a better choice for our conditions down-under?

There was a time when the idea of a hatchback as a family car would have seemed like doing hard time, but then we all downsized and today cars like Volkswagen Golfs and Mazda 3s are a common choice. We've put our test family into the latest and flashest hatch around, the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class, to see if it can cope with a typical two adults and two kids arrangement.

This is the Mercedes-Benz A 250 4Matic we wished for, but it won't be around for long.

Almost twins under the skin, the sporty hatches are poles apart on most scores, says Peter Barnwell. 

Paul Gover road tests and reviews the Mercedes-Benz A250 Sport 4Matic with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Craig Jamieson road tests and reviews the Mercedes-Benz A-Class with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch.

The new Mercedes A-Class is nothing like the old model. Gone is the quirky mini MPV styling and its place we've got something that looks like a proper premium small hatchback.

We turn the spotlight on the Mercedes-Benz A250 Sport and answer the big questions, including the biggest -- would you buy one? WHAT IS IT? This is the penultimate Benz A Class with a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine and front wheel drive. It's a practical five door hatchback and this one gets the ultra-cool diamond

For years, tuning house AMG has been fitting large, loud V8s into Mercedes and turning swanky buyers into tyre-shredding louts.

The $50,000 question. Neither BMW nor Benz has played here. Neither has had a properly hot hatch that could be got on road under the ludicrous luxury car tax without undue deprivation of luxury.These turbo Teutons start at -- or not much above -- the norm for a European quick compact such as RenaultSport's Megane or Volkswagen's Scirocco. Indeed the entry Mercedes-Benz A-Class and BMW 1 Series variants have never been cheaper. It's at $50,000, however, they warm up. Benz's A250 Sport is the range topper until September when the A45 AMG arrives to take on the BMW's 135i. The 250's true rival is the 125i.VALUEUnadorned, both cars start just shy of $50K. Optioned to the extent of our test cars they're just shy of 60. The 125i's $46,100 starting price is illusory. Manual sales are next to zero and BMW want all of $3077 for its eight-speed auto.That's $49,117 to the auto-standard Benz's $49,900. The latter includes bi-xenon headlamps, reverse camera, parking assist software and a panoramic sunroof. For these, the 125i buyer drops $4000.  Both gouge for metallic paint. It’s $1308 on the BMW, $1190 on the Benz.As driven, the Bimmer is $58,116 -- the balance of that sum reached with the sunroof ($2246); sat-nav system ($1385) and the M Sports kits which includes taut suspension, 18-inch wheels and negligible visual adornment ($5385).Our Benz is $59,060 before charges, the cool red-cut leather upholstery and lurid seatbelts being standard. The "COMAND" pack with eye level screen and multi media set up including voice control and digital radio is $2990.An AMG Exclusive pack which brings real visual lustre adds $2490 with the same sum again for the Driver Assist kit's array safety warnings. You're getting into a fully equipped, fast and fun prestige cars for well under the starting point of an interesting 3 Series or C-Class.TECHNOLOGYIndeed, in terms of sophistication these little luxury cars lose little except space to a full-size 5 Series or E-Class. Both engines are 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo with direct fuel injection. BMW uses an eight-speed torque converter (i.e.: conventional) automatic to transmit 160kW and 310Nm to the rear wheels. With all of the latter turning up from about 1300 revs, the 125i returns 6.2L/100km and 0-100km/h time of 6.4 seconds.The Benz's auto is of the twin clutch type (strictly speaking an automated manual, much like Volkswagen's DSG) with seven ratios to pluck its 155kW/350Nm for the figure of 6.6-litres in juice use and 6.6 seconds in the sprint. Drive goes to the front wheels.DESIGNNext to the lustrous 'look-at-moi' Benz, the BMW is a sombre Mormon. The barely discernible sports kit does nothing to lift it. Even the five-spoke 18-inch alloys somehow look undersized in a construct that remains visually and functionally awkward in its second generation.Unremarkable without, underdone within. This interior is worth 30 grand, not the double charged. BMW's much-vaunted dynamic advantage of rear-wheel-drive is a design dead end in a small hatch, the transmission tunnel rendering useless the centre rear seat. The other back pews are intolerable for anyone over average height. Not for nothing is this to be the last rear-drive 1 Series.By polar, shining contrast the Benz's cockpit could be that of a $150K sports car. It's one of the interiors of the decade to date, an outstanding interface of function and cool; sophisticated yet simple. In exterior terms there's hasn't been a more striking five door hatch. Each time you approach it will gladden your heart.SAFETYStaggering levels of front end grip and neutral handling are the best means of ensuring you never trigger the Benz's nine airbags. So it is with the BMW's intuitive and progressive driving character. Naturally both cars have the maximum crash rating.Unfortunately both have run flat tyres without a spare. The Merc has a proper colour reversing camera to the 125's dated colour coded proximity graphic. Only the former leaves no doubt as to when a child strays into your path. The BMW also lacks the Benz's digital speedo and blind spot warning lights.DRIVINGHere the 125i regains ground. With the crown of the 3 Series slipping, this has become the brand's default driver's car.Yet the expensive sport suspension is crucial to its full enjoyment, disciplining the ride without making it impossible as have previous combinations of M Sport and runflats. It's a tasty engine, one from which this intuitive transmission gets the best whether urban grinding or dashing from apex to apex.In Comfort mode, but particularly Sport, delivery is hot, strong and smooth in a way the Merc's twin clutch auto is not. That not the fact power goes to the nose is the Benz's shortcoming. In Eco mode it climbs the gears as rapidly as revs allow. In Sport it holds gears interminably. Manual selections made through the shifting paddles are too readily refused. It can be irritating.The ideal setting would be somewhere between Eco and Sport. So it is with the forthcoming CLA. We bet someone in Stuttgart is tweaking the software even now.It's almost a matter of indifference that front wheels have to steer and drive. The Benz is supremely sorted. The DNA of the AMG tuning arm is felt everywhere, not least through the tiller. If the ever terse ride is too a high a price to pay for body control of this order, try the cheaper A200.That said, the BMW's unadulterated steering feel — light at low speed, firm when needed — is delicious. Such trueness of feel made BMW's rep and the hardcore will consider this worth the compromises the 125i otherwise entails. But they will be alone.Mercedes-Benz A250 Sport4.5/5 starsPrice: From $49,900Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo petrol; 155kW/350NmTransmission: 7-speed twin clutch auto; FWDThirst: 6.6L/100kmBMW 125i Auto3.5/5 starsPrice: From $49,177Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo petrol; 160kW/310NmTransmission: 8-speed auto; RWDThirst: 6.2L/100km