SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get at home.

Unlike most car reports, what you read in these pages will not be a faithful reproduction, albeit slightly reworded, of what appeared in the manufacturer's press release. We look for background material, user experience and whatever else we can find that's beyond the obvious. Our guiding rule is that you will be able to tell that the car was actually driven.

*To read one of our archived road tests, just select from the alphabetical menu of manufacturers' names on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu that appears.

*Pre-owned: Our tests go back quite a few years, so if you are looking for something pre-owned, you might well find a report on it in here.

*Please remember too, that prices quoted are those ruling at the time the reports were written.


We try Mercedes-Benz’s Grand Little Adventurer; the 2014 GLA 220 CDI 4Matic

Image is everything

 Posted: 29 September 2014

Some might complain that the 'ship' was spoiled for the proverbial ha’penny-worth of tar. Others would argue that the company simply faced reality - target buyers of its two most powerful GLA mini SUVs – 220 CDI and 250 4Matics - aren’t really that interested in trail riding, so why bother? Image comes first.

Fact is that the car is well-engineered in drivetrain but a little short-changed in final execution. To explain: The 2.1-litre diesel chugs out 125 kW and 350 Nm, which is more than adequate for this little SUV. And its standard 7G-DCT twin-clutch automatic is not only brilliant, but was adapted to work perfectly with 4Matic all-wheel drive that comes standard with the top engines.

Components of 4Matic include the rear axle power take-off integrated into the 7G-DCT dual clutch transmission and the rear-axle gear unit with integrated, hydraulically actuated multi-disc clutch. This set-up allows fully variable distribution of drive torque between front and rear axles. Added benefits are a lower system weight than on competitors’ offerings and high efficiency.

It is also equipped with Downhill Speed Regulation (DSR) and an off-road transmission mode as standard. DSR is activated by a control button on the centre console and assists the driver on demanding stretches by maintaining a slow, manually selected vehicle speed within physical limits when driving downhill. This is done with the help of engine and transmission control systems, and by specific braking intervention.

Hill holder and off-road ABS are both built in, so we’re looking at a potentially nice little soft-roader that could go almost anywhere. Almost. Now comes that ha’penny-worth of tar I spoke about in Line One. Early pre-launch reports spoke optimistically of ground clearances ranging from about 150 mm (Sport) through 160 mm (Standard) to 200 mm (Off-road).

Come launch date, the reality was different; Sport gives you an unloaded ride height of 125 mm, Comfort (read 'standard') is nominally 140 mm and Off-road Comfort (why confuse the issue with similar names?) is given as 170 mm. That puts the standard car’s ride height into VW Polo hatchback territory. Colour me disillusioned.

The GLA product specialist at MBSA produced the following numbers in response to my request for confirmation: 134 millimetres at maximum load for standard springs, then add 33 mm front/ 22 mm rear for a fully loaded off-road setup. These tie in with 140/170 as given above.

In fairness, I took the GLA onto the rookie trail with its humps, hollows, loose gravel and stone, and it worked well. Steering carefully around anything larger than half a standard, South African, house-building red brick, the car dealt with gritty surfaces and loose shale comfortably. Rippled surfaces on provincial dirt roads didn’t disturb it at all, although another rough road with embedded small stones caused some vibration because the suspension is inherently European-firm despite its standard 60-profile tyres. Conclusion: give it clearance to match that of a typical urban SUV and you’ll have a car worthy of its press releases.

But back to its true city-car persona: It’s typically Mercedes inside with electric parking brake (auto-off), the wand-like shifter on the steering column, conservative, black-over-black ambience, the C-S-M drive mode selector, paddles to select gears manually, mechanical adjusters for both front seats, smart black leather and suedette upholstery with red stitching and the big square central display for whichever function you have chosen to look at.

There are more than enough small stash places and a decently sized glove box. We found the hand book in the boot; under the floor board with the warning triangle, towing eyelet and monster amplifier for the optional Harman Kardon sound system. No spare – tyres are runflats. That’s another reason to stay away from rocky roads.

On asphalt, its natural environment, it loafs along at about 2100 rpm in seventh gear at 120 km/h, the 7G-DCT ‘box shifts smoothly without flare or fuss, it pulls strongly and handling is always predictable and sure-footed. Standard safety kit includes seven air bags, ABS brakes with EBD and EBA, ESP, acceleration skid control, attention assist, pre-safe, cruise control, collision prevention assist and tyre pressure monitoring.

Rear seat passengers over six-feet might gripe about head-, knee and foot room because it’s marginal, especially with the optional two-part sunroof fitted. The foot well is rather deep and doorways are narrow, so they will grumble some more when climbing out. Like its CLA sister, it was built for typical small dark Germans rather than big blond ones.

Getting practical, the seatbacks fold completely flat in 2/3:1/3 configuration, two sets of ISOfix mountings are provided and it’s fitted with three belts and as many head restraints. Passengers will appreciate the repeater vents at the rear of the console and the 12-volt socket. Smokers are welcome too; there is an ashtray. What looks like a pull-down armrest is a dummy –a working one will cost you an extra R1500.

Finally, what do I think of it? It’s a nice little Mercedes provided you have small friends, but rather optimistically priced at just over half-a-million before accessories. With decent ground clearance, it could almost have been worth it, though.

Test car from MBSA press fleet

The numbers
Basic price including CO2 tax: R515 031
Engine: 2143 cc, 16-valve, four-cylinder turbodiesel
Power: 125 kW between 3400 and 4000 rpm
Torque: 350 Nm between 1400 and 3400 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 215 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 6,8 l/100 km
Tank: 56 litres including 6 litres reserve
Cargo: 421-1235 litres
Payload: 480 kg
Warranty and Maintenance: 6 years/100 000 km

Our launch report on the GLA range is here


Take it easy: She's a test engineer

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously.