GLA45 Test Drive x 3
05-31-2015, 12:46 PM
#1
Track Day
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Dallas
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GLA45 Test Drive x 3
Like many on this forum, I looked at the Audi SQ5, GLA45 and even a 435i xdrive before settling on a Macan. There's already a 991 C2S cab in the garage, so I didn't need another true sports car, but I also couldn't drive a Lexus RX350 either, not even the F Sport version.
I drove the GLA45 about 4 times for a total of 3 hours, here are my thoughts:
Looks: It's a good size and has about as much space as I need with one child on a daily basis. But I've also used an RS60 as a family car. The hatch is helpful. The 20'' wheels look good. Skip the rear wing, too '1/4 mile at a time'.
Inside: Build quality is down. Lots of hard plastic. No leather dash. The Recaro seats are great however. The dash layout is functional, that's all. There is little insulation to the roof, doors and pillars. You get a hollow sound if you tap the roof and such to the point the entire cabin vibrates.
At road speeds- the NVH is horrible. There is road noise, tire noise, and a ton of wind noise at the A-pillar. Just driving around external noise permeates the experience. The engine is more noise than a harmonic melody. The transmission doesn't help matters and it all leads to a lot of noise that ruins the driving experience. Commuting in this car listening to NPR as I do, would be awful. Blasting Dave Guetta drowns it out, but I shouldn't need earphones just to drive a car.
Engine: It's loud. It's not harmonic. But it has very little lag, a whiff really. It pulls hard, the no great crescendo of power like with old turbos, the power builds fairly linearly. Gas mileage was usually 19 mpg on my test drives. Would be mid 20's I'd guess on the highway.
Transmission: This is where most journalists get things wrong. The hesitation from a start is not turbo lag. If you floor it from a start, you get 4-mississippi's before anything happens...the car simply does not move. If you feather the throttle at 30 percent, it pulls aways slowly and you can floor it after about 10 feet. I went on an hour test drive just to sort out this point. Regardless or manual mode, sport or econ- you cannot pull off quickly from a stop. I'm not sure if the tranny tries to pull off in second and flooring it confuses it for a second and it switches to first- but there is 4 seconds of hesitation regardless of what you do.
At speed the transmission shifts well. There is a delay between pulling the shifter and a response, so upshifts have to be timed, but it works well enough.
Overall, the car works well as a CUV. Yes there is some torque steer. Yes it's a FWD-biased Haldex, but the handling is on point with the standard, not the AMG Driver's Package transmission.
However, an assault on the senses from road, wind and tire noise ruins a great, lightweight and tossable ride of a car. And as-built at $65k, it's inexcusable.
Macan S: In contrast, the cabin is quiet. Reverbrations don't shutter through like a rental Kia. You can pull away quickly from a stop without issue (this is a huge issue and potentially dangerous). The PDK shifts more sharply than that of any Porsche, excepting the GT3...maybe. It's a more comfortable experience and less of a sensory assault. Even with the base, non-PASM, non-air suspension it rides well.
I drove the GLA45 about 4 times for a total of 3 hours, here are my thoughts:
Looks: It's a good size and has about as much space as I need with one child on a daily basis. But I've also used an RS60 as a family car. The hatch is helpful. The 20'' wheels look good. Skip the rear wing, too '1/4 mile at a time'.
Inside: Build quality is down. Lots of hard plastic. No leather dash. The Recaro seats are great however. The dash layout is functional, that's all. There is little insulation to the roof, doors and pillars. You get a hollow sound if you tap the roof and such to the point the entire cabin vibrates.
At road speeds- the NVH is horrible. There is road noise, tire noise, and a ton of wind noise at the A-pillar. Just driving around external noise permeates the experience. The engine is more noise than a harmonic melody. The transmission doesn't help matters and it all leads to a lot of noise that ruins the driving experience. Commuting in this car listening to NPR as I do, would be awful. Blasting Dave Guetta drowns it out, but I shouldn't need earphones just to drive a car.
Engine: It's loud. It's not harmonic. But it has very little lag, a whiff really. It pulls hard, the no great crescendo of power like with old turbos, the power builds fairly linearly. Gas mileage was usually 19 mpg on my test drives. Would be mid 20's I'd guess on the highway.
Transmission: This is where most journalists get things wrong. The hesitation from a start is not turbo lag. If you floor it from a start, you get 4-mississippi's before anything happens...the car simply does not move. If you feather the throttle at 30 percent, it pulls aways slowly and you can floor it after about 10 feet. I went on an hour test drive just to sort out this point. Regardless or manual mode, sport or econ- you cannot pull off quickly from a stop. I'm not sure if the tranny tries to pull off in second and flooring it confuses it for a second and it switches to first- but there is 4 seconds of hesitation regardless of what you do.
At speed the transmission shifts well. There is a delay between pulling the shifter and a response, so upshifts have to be timed, but it works well enough.
Overall, the car works well as a CUV. Yes there is some torque steer. Yes it's a FWD-biased Haldex, but the handling is on point with the standard, not the AMG Driver's Package transmission.
However, an assault on the senses from road, wind and tire noise ruins a great, lightweight and tossable ride of a car. And as-built at $65k, it's inexcusable.
Macan S: In contrast, the cabin is quiet. Reverbrations don't shutter through like a rental Kia. You can pull away quickly from a stop without issue (this is a huge issue and potentially dangerous). The PDK shifts more sharply than that of any Porsche, excepting the GT3...maybe. It's a more comfortable experience and less of a sensory assault. Even with the base, non-PASM, non-air suspension it rides well.
06-03-2015, 06:20 AM
#3
Good write-up. To me, the GLA is an utter POS for what I used to expect from M-B, in ride quality, interior design and quality, and especially exterior design (the adjectives I hear people who are.... or were.... M-B fans, are hilarious in clever synonyms for "embarrassing").
On M-B boards, long time drivers of upper range models are horrified when they get them as loaners (some pretty funny threads). A sad reality to M-B moving downmarket, allowing dilution to force lack of focus, and lowering the perceived quality of what one could expect from a brand bearing "the Star" (which now comes bigger and hilariously lit up if you want it.... typically as and predominantly on the crude entries that are getting lousy reviews in lack of upholding brand values).
The CLA and GLA have had so many quality problems, they were scored extremely poorly (at least the twin CLA) by several ranking benchmarks, as well have already started dragging M-B's initial quality through the mud (huge decline yoy, some putting them towards the bottom of the entire car industry).
Definitely not a fan here, lol.
On M-B boards, long time drivers of upper range models are horrified when they get them as loaners (some pretty funny threads). A sad reality to M-B moving downmarket, allowing dilution to force lack of focus, and lowering the perceived quality of what one could expect from a brand bearing "the Star" (which now comes bigger and hilariously lit up if you want it.... typically as and predominantly on the crude entries that are getting lousy reviews in lack of upholding brand values).
The CLA and GLA have had so many quality problems, they were scored extremely poorly (at least the twin CLA) by several ranking benchmarks, as well have already started dragging M-B's initial quality through the mud (huge decline yoy, some putting them towards the bottom of the entire car industry).
Definitely not a fan here, lol.
10-06-2016, 02:35 AM
#4
Instructor
I recently test drove the GLA and was disappointed by both the size and the transmission. I'm 6'2" and I simply couldn't see out the front windshield very well. And, with the seat fairly far back, it really became a 2+2 or a 2 seater hatchback with the back seat down. It was just too small.
And then there was the transmission. I've been driving a BMW X3 3.0i manual for the last 10+ years, so this was my first time back in an automatic. I found the acceleration, particularly from stop, very erratic. Glad I tried it, but not for me. Sure is sexy though! My X3 only has ~60K miles on it, so I'll probably hold onto it a while longer. Definitely thinking about a Macan/MacanS though.
-James
Seattle, WA
And then there was the transmission. I've been driving a BMW X3 3.0i manual for the last 10+ years, so this was my first time back in an automatic. I found the acceleration, particularly from stop, very erratic. Glad I tried it, but not for me. Sure is sexy though! My X3 only has ~60K miles on it, so I'll probably hold onto it a while longer. Definitely thinking about a Macan/MacanS though.
-James
Seattle, WA
