Anyway, my courtesy car. I should be thankful that I didn't get something much worse, but it still isn't very good.
So i was meant to pick up my car from BMW last week, but they were running behind (yes, it has taken them 2.5 weeks to order two new front wings, and spray them). Someone was meant to call me on Friday to let me know when the target date was - they didn't and I've had enough of BMW at the moment so they can do the chasing. Last I heard they were only just receiving the wings on Wednesday, then they needed to primer, paint, laquer, blend etc so it'll be middle of this week by the time I can pick it up I think.
I've got a 64 plate Merc A200 CDI as a courtesy car, and I swear the only thing keeping me sane is the bluetooth streaming and the good MPG.
This particular model has a 136bhp 1.8diesel engine, ZF 7sp auto, with the visibility pack and....that's it.
My initial thoughts on picking up the courtesy car a couple of weeks ago were "Nice!". That has changed rather rapidly over the time I've had it. The main reason for it is, quite simply, the engine. It is so juddery, noisy and unresponsive.
Now, had I not had a car with this very same gearbox in, I would have been included to blame it. However, I know from the 320d I've had before that the gearbox is wonderful, when paired to the right engine. However, this gearbox and this engine simply do not work together.
When it is in "E" for "Economical" (standard driving to you and me), it trundles along quite happily, but when you are faced with a hill, and you are in 6th gear, the gearbox either does nothing and the car just doesn't accelerate, or if you push the throttle a bit more, it eventually changes down two gears and there is quite a lurch as it does so. I've worked out, to make this engine work with this gearbox, it needs to always be in 1 gear lower than what it is in.
This is not as bad as the delay when pulling away from junctions or roundabouts though. It's almost dangerous. You push the gas and the revs on the car rise for about a second or so, then it's almost like the gearbox catches up and hurriedly engages the torque converter causing an uncomfortable lurch as you pull away. This is all the time whilst you're desperately hoping that the Auto Start/Stop doesn't kick in. This brings me to the next problem with this car...
The technology. Don't get me wrong, I love car tech, from ABS to DSC and all those other little bits that are supposedly meant to make driving a car a bit safer and a bit better for the environment. But this car completely misses the mark. First of all, the auto start/stop WILL stop the engine if you stop the car for more than about 2 seconds. Which can easily happen in slow moving traffic. This means when you're in a 50 metres queue for a busy roundabout, the car can turn off it's engine and turn it on again about 10-15 times. This is infuriating. Not only do you get the horrible judder as the diesel engine switches off and on, you also get the 2 second delay it takes to start up and engage a gear. Again, you end up lurching everywhere. This is somewhat in contrast to the BMW auto/start stop which although had the problem where it didn't start the engine quick enough, it was much more selective and intelligent about when to switch off the engine. I've had it a couple of times where the Merc has switched off the engine literally just as i've stepped on the accelerator to get out of a junction into the gap. That 1 second delay really can make a difference!
The second piece of technology is the Collision warning/mitigation thing. Before I had this car, i thought this piece of tech was going to be wonderful. I mean, what's not to like about not being rear ended by some dosey bint who isn't concentrating? The reality is a bit different in this car. When you come close to *anything* it starts beeping at you. I recently have had it where the car has done a full on emergency stop as I've pulled up at a junction next to a car who was turning the other way out of the junction. Because I got within 2 metres of this other car, my car thought I was obviously about to smash into it, so has kindly braked for me. Unfortunately the only thing it did do for me is give me a heart attack.
Initially I thought the steering and ride were quite good. Unfortunately this has changed also. The steering is weighted and turns very crisply, which is nice, but it has absolutely no feel whatsoever to it. None. Nada. It really reminds me of a more weighted version of one of those 2004 type Vauxhall Corsas. It inspires absolutely no confidence at all and is completely artificial. The ride isn't bad though. Nothing to write home about, it's fine. The brakes are crap, they are either off or emergency stopping. It is very difficult to apply these brakes moderately.
The interior is generally quite good, inline with a VW Golf or BMW 1 Series, although my God, who thought mounting that sat nav screen like that was a good idea!?
There are a few good things to say about it though. It looks great from the outside, really nice and dare i say "posh"? The bluetooth music streaming works perfectly and the Xenon lights are good. The car also does very good MPG.
When comparing it to rivals, I'm sorry, but it just loses out to them all. For me the 1 Series is my favourite. The drive in the new one series is fantastic, the brakes are very controllable and powerful when you need them to be and the steering although not putting a Lotus Elise to shame, is much better than the Mercs.
The new VW Golf is also a very good shout, with it doing everything well, and I imagine a few grand cheaper than the Merc (and BMW).
The Focus, although the Focus isn't a 100% direct competitor to the A-Class, it still is much better to drive, which it really really shouldn't be considering the pricing difference.
I hopefully haven't been too harsh on the Mercedes, because it's not that bad, and I think if it had a proper engine in it, most of my grievances would go away. If you're reading this, just don't get the A200 CDI with auto box unless you hate good cars.
