Mercedes CLA vs Mercedes A-Class Sedan Review - What's the difference

Hello and welcome to a comparison video on the cars dot Coz A youtube channel .

Normally , when we do a comparison video , we compare two different cars from two different brands that are competing in the same segment for your money .

And then I ask a bunch of questions , answer them myself and help you decide which one to buy for this video .

My colleagues asked me to compare the new Mercedes C L A to the new Mercedes A class sedan .

And at first glance , I'm not exactly sure how these cars are different .

So let me tell you about this .

The A class sedan .

Wait , no , that's wrong .

No , I'm in the black car .

This is the C L A .

You're gonna have to forgive me for being a bit confused because from where I'm sitting , the dashboard is identical .

So yeah , that's same , that's same .

Steering wheel is the same .

Screens are pretty much the same .

So yeah , it's easy to make that mistake .

So what is it that separates these two cars ?

Well , it's not the engine , the gearbox or the chassis because those are identical in both cars , 1.3 liter , four cylinder turbocharged petrol engine in these cars .

So even though it says 200 on the back , you only get a 1.3 .

That is just how the world works these days .

Sorry about that .

You're just gonna have to , you know , move past it .

The C L A is the slightly more expensive , one of the two , it's about 37,000 rand .

More expensive comes in at 5 70 .

But if I'm honest , this is a pretty good little engine .

Don't buy this engine if you're looking for a nice engine sound because you're not gonna get that here at all .

But with 100 and 20 kilowatts , 250 nuisances , this is a pretty potent little power plant .

See what I did there .

Alliteration .

In summary , I think when it comes to the refinement of this vehicle on the road , Mercedes Benz have done just enough to justify the Mercedes Benz badge on the nose .

I think it rides pretty well on the highway , rough surfaces starts to feel a little bit wooden , but overall I'm pretty happy with the ride quality in both cars where it starts to get a little bit more interesting is how these cars differ in terms of style and exterior design and into the A class sedan .

We go and it's the white one in case you're , you know , trying to tell the difference between the two cars in this video uh for 533,000 rand it is the cheaper of the two .

It's pretty well respected for that price .

Although in our particular test unit , this one doesn't have seat coolers , so I immediately like it less .

Ah .

Oh .

Oh my God .

Oh my God , see cooler .

Ah , yeah .

Oh , that's good as I mentioned in the black car , same engine , same gearbox , not much to talk about there .

But one of the key differences between these two cars is that the C L A has a wider track front and rear .

So basically the distance between the two tires is wider , front and rear on the C L A and that should improve high speed stability and handling during cornering .

But are you really going to notice , are you really going to push your C L A 200 or your A 200 that hard that you start to notice a difference in handling in the corners ?

I don't really think so .

So let's just discount that .

Let me take you through the exterior differences between the two cars .

This should take about eight seconds .

I'm joking a bit more than that , have a look at the headlights of the A class and now have a look at the headlights of the C L A .

There is actually quite a distinct difference .

This one sort of drops down at the bottom and you get an extra led on the bonnet of the C L A .

You get these little bonnet razors which make the car look a bit more purpose .

And then if you stand here , the grill of the A class leans backwards and the grill of the C L A leans forward and it all sort of combines to make the C L A look a little bit more aggressive .

Let me come to the back of the car and if you look at them for about six minutes , you will be able to tell that the tail lights are different and there is a slight difference in the shape of the boot lid and we're done .

That's it .

That is , those are the differences .

This is the interior of the A class sedan .

I did check when I got in its definitely the A class and it is confusing because the dashboards are the same .

But before I tell you about them , I'd like to interrupt myself and tell you about the shirt I'm wearing , which you can buy right now on send to Metal dot Shop .

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Back to the interior and I would describe it as banging .

That's a word I learned from the youth recently .

This is the best interior in the segment .

It really is .

It makes the BMW S interior look very boring .

And I think Merck have done a great job at it , but let me show you something seem to turn the car on this car is the car I wanted to show you because it's broken .

It says over there restraint system malfunction .

Consult workshop sounds a bit serious .

I think they might want to look into that and talking about these screens .

If you don't pay a bit of extra money , you don't get this nice big wide screen in front of you .

You get a little one which looks a little bit cheaper .

I thought I should point that out .

But overall though , I am pretty impressed , I think at this price point , this is the best interior you can get .

Another aspect I should point out is the difference between the rear seats of these two cars .

So in the back of the A class sedan , if you've made Ashley Oldfield , get up at four in the morning to come help you drive cars around and he needs a nap .

He'll actually have a bit more space in the back of this car .

That's because of the taller roof line .

It's a bit more headroom and as it turns out , there's a little bit more knee room as well to a .

So now comes the difficult part of my job , which one of these cars should you buy ?

And I gotta be honest , I really can't see the point of this a class sedan .

Yes , it has a little bit more rear leg room , a little bit more rear head room .

But is that enough to sway your decision .

I think the C L A is a much more appealing car .

I mean , I had my uncle on set this morning and you were standing next to the two cars .

You didn't even notice this , a class sedan and maybe it's the paintwork of the C L A but it is lower , it is wider , it just looks a little bit better , a little bit more expensive and there's just less than 40,000 rand between these cars .

And I think if you're spending over 500 K on a car financing , 40 grand is not gonna make a huge difference in your monthly installment .

So which one should you buy ?

I'd have the C L A and I think you should too because as someone said to me , this , a class sedan is basically Merck's version of a Toyota Corolla and that's not very appealing .

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Thanks for watching .