By: Dave Abrahams
Stuttgart, Germany - Mercedes-Benz has waved its makeover wand over the A-Class hatch, with minor styling tweaks, an extended line-up and, for the first time in this class, selectable drive modes.
The magic begins with a diamond grille over a new, more arrow-shaped front bumper, closely derived from the original 2011 Concept A-Class, LED headlights (standard on the A45 AMG, optional on the rest of the range) and new tail-light clusters above a revised rear bumper that incorporates the dual tailpipes.
It continues within, with new materials, finishes and colours (including new two-tone beige and black leather in the Exclusive package), a sporty, 'tubular' instrument cluster with improved dial graphics and a new, eight-inch free-standing, frameless infotainment display (now featuring Apple CarPlay and MirrorLink for intuitive smartphone integration) - standard on Sport and AMG Line models, optional elsewhere.
The range of seat-height adjustment has increased to 60mm - that's standard across the range - and ambience lighting with a range of 12 colours and five dimming levels, which is an extra-cost option on all A's.
MORE MAGIC UNDER THE BONNET
There's also a limited AMG Petronas-liveried Motorsport Edition, with light-green highlights on the front and rear bumper trim, and on the rims. The sports seats are trimmed in a mix of black leather and Dinamica microfiber, with light green inserts and green contrast stitching.
There's more magic under the bonnet, starting with a new entry-level, 1.5-litre A180d SE model, rated for 80kW at 4000 revs and 260Nm from 1750-2500rpm, with a nominal fuel consumption of just 3.5 litres per 100km, a 0-100 sprint time of 11.3s and 190km/h flat out.
The 2.2-litre A220d gets an extra 5kW (up to 130kW), and it's also now available with all-wheel drive.
The A250 AMG two-litre turbopetrol has been boosted from 155kW to 160, and is now available with manual transmission, while the 7G-DCT dual-clutch variant now has launch assist for hot take-offs.
On A-Classes with (optional) adaptive damping, the selector switch allows the driver to choose between Comfort and Sport modes, with the movement of each wheel individually modulated according to body movement, steering angle, steering speed and yaw rate.
The Dymanic Select function, standard on all models from the Comfort Line upwards, resets engine, transmission, suspension, steering and air conditioning settings to your choice Comfort, Sport, Eco and Individual settings.
A45 AMG 4MATIC
The 'bad lad' of the A Team, with 280kW and 475Nm, has been tweaked with revised gear ratios, aerodynamic fine-tuning and the new selectable drive modes. It'll hit a hundred from standstill in 4.2 seconds - 0.4s quicker than the previous model.
The Dynamic Select switch on the A45 offers Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Individual settings as standard, while a new optional Dynamic Plus package adds a mechanical front axle locking differential, sport suspension with adaptive damping and a fifth, "Race" driving mode.
The new A-Class will be released in South Africa early in 2016; prices, as always, when they get here.