The Mercedes CLA is essentially an A-Class but a little bit too clever and complicated

TODAY I’m reviewing the Mercedes CLA. And I like it. Not of all it, mind. I’m not quite sure who decided we need 64 ambient lighting colours.

Or four controls to do the same thing. Or a “wellness coach” to encourage us to inhale and exhale and be calm. Not now, mate. I’m driving in the middle of Storm Lorenzo. I’m just trying to stay alive.

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Then there’s the over-enthusiastic driver assistance tech that wrestles with you when you change lane without indicating. Or brakes sharply. What I’m trying to say is, Merc is perhaps guilty of making cars that are undoubtedly brilliant but a leeetle bit too clever and complicated.

Which is a shame because, apart from the tech overload, the CLA is a great choice for mile-munching junior execs. I’m not saying all tech is bad. The adaptive cruise control which reads speed limit signs and slows the car automatically will save your licence.

And the massaging seat setting which kicks in randomly on a long journey to soothe old bones is very pleasing. But do we really need air vents that glow red or blue when you adjust the heating? Not really.

Now perhaps I should spell out that CLA is essentially an A-Class with a swoopy coupe-like roofline and four pillarless doors. Which means it is less practical but more stylish and therefore more expensive. It’ll certainly hold its own against other Ramada Inn repmobiles.

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Note. The A-Class family now also includes the CLA Shooting Brake (estate) and there’s a new GLA (junior SUV) on the way, too. From the front seats, everything in the CLA is much the same as an A-Class ­— including that crowd-pleasing Odeon-sized dash.

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As are the four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines. But crucially, the CLA rides better. That’s because it uses a more sophisticated suspension (multi-link rear axle) than most A-Class models (torsion beam) and has a wider track and beefier anti-roll bars.

For now, the CLA 250 is the fastest, most powerful version punching out 224 horses. It can box off the 0-62mph sprint in 5.8 seconds.

Fastest, that is, until the hot AMG 35 arrives in the next few months. I chalked up more than 600 miles pinballing around Britain in the CLA 250 and it was smooth and refined. And relaxing. Even without the wellness coach.

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