The original Mercedes-Benz A-Class (W168) has been on sale since 1997, during which it experienced an elk test rollover accident; The second generation, codenamed W169, has been on sale since 2004, but sales have been poor after its introduction in China; The third-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class (W176) was sold from 2012 to 2018, and domestic sales have increased significantly compared to the previous generation. The combined global sales of the three generations reached 3 million units.
The fourth-generation Mercedes-Benz A-class is codenamed W177, and the long-axle version of the sedan produced by Beijing Benz is Z177. Compared with the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3 in the same class, the domestically produced Mercedes-Benz A-Class can reduce taxes and fees, and the price competitiveness is stronger than that of the previous model, and the rear space of the sedan long axle version is more advantageous than that of foreign hatchback models.
The fourth-generation A-class has changed a lot in appearance, but it is not necessarily better than the previous generation, because the exterior design of the third-generation A-class is not outdated today. There are a lot of broken lines on the body of the third generation, and the three-dimensional sense will be stronger, and in the fourth generation, the use of broken lines is reduced, and the broken lines that can be seen are all necessary to have, and the large plane has become more, plus the size of the body has increased, from the visual point of view, the body size of the whole car will be much larger than the previous generation.
The fourth generation A-class is easy to cause controversy is the headlights, which are narrower and slender than the previous generation, and the same as the new generation CLS above, which is not bad on its own, but the connection with the front grille is very weak, and it looks like an independent element of the front of the car, which is not very coordinated. Mercedes-Benz A-class low-end models and high-end models have a big gap in appearance, low-end models use halogen headlights, the look will be poor, and the 16-inch and 17-inch wheels also lack texture.
The fourth-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class has eliminated the 1.6-liter model and replaced it with a 1.3-liter turbocharged engine codenamed M282, which was jointly developed with the Nissan Renault Group. It is actually the same engine as the overseas 1.4T, but according to the overseas displacement standard 1.33T can be called 1.4T, and it can only be called 1.3T in China. The low-power 180L is 136 horsepower, and the high-power version is 163 horsepower. The overseas 250 version has not been introduced into China, and domestic consumers who want to experience the 2.0T turbocharged engine codenamed M280 can only wait for the A35 or A45 AMG model.
The fourth-generation Mercedes-Benz A-class is still a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, but it was replaced by a Getrag 7DCT300, this gearbox has also been used on the Renault E-Space before, the overall smoothness and shift speed are very satisfying, and the stuttering and shifting action are not felt at all, and the experience of this wet dual-clutch is worth giving a good review.
This generation of Mercedes-Benz A is better than the previous generation at the driving level, the previous generation is driving, the gearbox action is relatively slow, the upshift is too active, the lower speed is to the high gear, and the output of the engine is not too timely, so daily driving will still feel a little powerless. Coming to this generation, the displacement of the engine has become smaller, but the power has been improved, except for a little weakness in the high-speed range, the acceleration of daily urban driving is no problem at all, after all, the zero hundred results of the high-power version can also run to 7.6 seconds.
The rear suspension of this generation of Mercedes-Benz A is divided into torsion beam and multi-link, and only the rear suspension of the top model will use four-link, and the rest are torsion beams. The adjustment of the suspension still depends on personal preferences, although the A-class looks more sporty, but in fact the tuning is still more comfortable, and it is not its strong point to take mountain road splits. Its ground clearance is relatively small, the suspension travel is not long, compared with the previous generation, the improvement in shock filtration is indeed not obvious, but compared with Audi A3, imported BMW 1 series, it still has obvious advantages.
The biggest selling point of this generation of Mercedes-Benz A is still in the interior, although BMW 1 series and Audi A3 in the same class are also called luxury brands, but after sitting in, you really can't find any luxurious feeling, and Mercedes-Benz A has made a lot of efforts in this aspect of the interior this generation, and there are many color options provided by the official, and it is no problem to surpass 1 series and A3 in terms of appearance. It's just that there will be a large gap between the high and low configuration models of this generation of Mercedes-Benz A-class in the interior, which depends on the individual's acceptance ability.
The screen of the instrument and the central control uses a through screen, the screen of the central control supports touch function, the low-end model only has dual 7-inch LCD instruments, and the high-end model has two 10.25-inch LCD screens. The system of the central control has been changed from the previous knob control to a trackpad similar to that of Lexus, and the switch icon is vibrating feedback, and the overall use experience will be a little better than that of Lexus. This generation of A-Class is the first Mercedes-Benz model equipped with the MBUX voice control system, which will support multiple languages, including Cantonese and Sichuan, but Chinese can only control relatively simple functions, and the best adaptation is English.
This generation of A-class standard axle version is 30mm longer than the previous generation, and the domestic rear wheelbase is 60mm longer than the standard axle version, reaching 2789mm, so the domestic A-class is more abundant in the rear space, at least adults will not feel cramped, and there is a proper margin for the head and knees. As for comfort, it is more intriguing, even if the length of the seat cushion is lengthened, it is still very short, although the shape is prominently designed, but the seat is low, and the support for the thighs is useless. Since it has a four-wheel drive model overseas, it will have a high bulge in the middle, and the rear seat is not suitable for three adults.
The fourth-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class received a 5-star rating in the E-NCAP crash test, with a score of 96 for occupant protection, second only to the Volvo XC40 with a score of 97 among the 2018 tested models.