The Mercedes Benz team have outdone themselves with the new A250. It really looks impressive With its long nose and big wheels . The new look attracted attention on the road, to such an extent that people stopping us on the road to get more information about the car.
Inside, the A-Class makes a striking first impression with its minimalist fascia design, digital instrumentation and quality surfaces. The standard seats are racy-looking items and the driver’s seating position is low-slung, banishing all lingering memories of the 1st- and 2nd-generation “MPV” A-Classes. There a generous range of adjustment on offer from the seat, too, but it happens manually (electric seat adjustment with memory is an R11 600 option). An extendable cushion is included (driver only). The Nappa leather-trimmed sports steering wheel is grippy and looks the part as well. Compared to the Audi A3 sportback , we are sure that A250 can give Audi a very tough competition.
The seats are covered with what Mercedes calls Artico/Dinamica microfibre upholstery. Looks the part, and the seats are grippy.
The A250 AMG Line is powered by the marque’s 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbopetrol engine that delivers strong peak outputs of 165 kW and 350 Nm of torque, the latter available from 1 800 all the way to 4 000 rpm. These figures are very much in line with what is offered by South Africa’s favourite, the aforementioned Golf (7.5) GTI, and consequently, the performance figures are similar, too. On paper, however, the Mercedes-Benz holds a slight edge, with a claimed 0-100 kph time of 6.2 seconds (compared with 6.4 for the GTI) and an electronically limited top speed of 250 kph. Indeed, this is not a slow car and, compared with its more traditional rivals from Audi and BMW, it’s significantly more performance-oriented.
And yet, it is a refined package too. The engine is mated with the brand’s 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, a ‘box that does a good job of slickly and swiftly selecting the optimum ratio during normal driving, and which also responds fast enough to manual inputs. But while it certainly delivers the shove and possesses arguably class-leading refinement, it does lack a little in the “show-off” department. Volkswagen’s vrrr-pha exhaust burbs are by now a desirable characteristic of the GTI, and by comparison, the A250 AMG Line sounds a bit… normal. Then again, the A250 AMG Line is not chasing the hot hatch market as overtly as the GTI; it attempts to offer a combination of swiftness and refinement, which it does very well.
The drivetrain is also pleasingly efficient (given its performance credentials and the manner in which it was driven during our test period). Mercedes-Benz claims a combined cycle fuel-consumption rating of 6.4 L/100 km, which you’ll probably struggle to match, but 8.5 L/100 km is a realistic figure.
The A250 AMG Line sells for R596 969 (August 2019), but most buyers are likely to spec-up their cars with a few extras. We’ve listed some of them earlier in the article, but you might also be interested in keyless entry and start (R9 000), heated front seats (R5 000), dual-zone climate control (R9 000) and a panoramic sliding roof (R15 200). A 2-year/unlimited km warranty and 6-year/100 000km maintenance plan are included.
The New Mercedes Benz A250 looks impressive
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