Starting at $29,900 the Mercedes-Benz CLA250 is the brand’s first front-wheel drive offering in the United States. You can option the CLA250 with 4Matic all-wheel drive, and even step up in performance to the CLA45 AMG model.

The CLA is styled heavily with the brush of the popular and much more expensive CLS four-door coupe. Bringing its fast roof line and rounded rear silhouette to the entry point makes for an aspirational theme that carries through the entire CLA experience.

While it retains much of the CLS broad brush the silhouette is assuredly scaled down. The car sits on its tires like a front-wheel drive sedan in stance, losing the long reaching front hood and short deck feel of a rear driver.


Our tester was optioned with the larger 19” twin-spoke wheels which come with more aggressive summer compound tires and the panorama sunroof. In addition to heated seats, this brought our total price to $33,385 including destination.

15-mercedes-cla250-16The cabin comes standard with MB Tex vinyl sport seats which are near as pleasant as leather hides. Design of the dash is remarkably simple with a floating screen for the audio and driver information. The instrument cluster is classic Mercedes-Benz two dial and down to business.

Material quality is good and expensive feeling in some areas, and a bit lower rung in others. While the aluminum trim itself is genuine it looks like coach class and hard plastics rear their ugly tap in places like the door rests and console.

Center stack controls are good however, following the brand’s ethos with white on black buttons that are easy to use on the go. As you make your way down to the console, a single knob style puck controls your audio and infotainment screens.

Missing from the console is a shift lever. It now resides on the steering column in the form of a toggle switch that does the job. I do miss the tactile feel and sensibility of a shift lever you can rest your hand on though.

The standard audio system is adequate in terms of sound quality and I find its screen a bit basic looking with its black on white radio dial and menu controls. Using it is also not as intuitive as we have found in Audi’s MMI or other brands.

15-mercedes-cla250-11Rear seat space also comes in as adequate. That sexy roof line and low door openings makes for a gymnastic experience getting in and out. And when you are there, the front seats are ever present at your knees. It’s the cost of compact.

Its cabin has the true feel however of a Mercedes-Benz. The smell, the aura and the comfort you get here is every bit what the brand has stood for. Seats straddle that perfect line between too hard and too soft, staying just right all day.

The optioned panoramic sunroof was a nice touch, bringing a good deal of light to the otherwise dark interior. Trunk space is what you would expect in the compact segment, a bit truncated by the rounded shape of the rear quarters.

Under the hood is a 208 horsepower 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mounted transversely to a seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission. Both are a first for Mercedes-Benz here in the States.

The powertrain offers up a pleasant power curve delivered well through it’s robotic manual transmission. In sport mode it has well orchestrated rev-matched downshifts going into corners and has your gear right there for you on the way out. I love it.

15-mercedes-cla250-4The EPA rates the CLA250 as tested at 26 mpg city, 38 mpg highway and 30 mpg combined. In our week of testing with it we achieved a tank average of 34 mpg which is a bit above as promised which is good as it requires premium fuel.

With front wheels being guided by MacPherson struts and electric power steering and rear wheels held down by double wishbones and trailing arms, the CLA250 makes it way down the road with contemporary hardware.

The chassis provides that riding on a slab of granite feel Mercedes-Benz has always been known for, but without the sluggish ways in corners. This car has an athletic feel and a sharpness which was welcome, and not often found in domestic or Japanese brands.

Under full power the front-wheel drive CLA250 does exhibit a dose of torque steer that still feels out of place to me in a Mercedes-Benz. The good news there is that if you step up to the 4Matic all-wheel drive it eliminates virtually all of it.

In the end game you can compare this car to the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series. But you are shorting yourself at this price if you don’t also consider this against sedans from Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler or the Japanese.