Vehicle review: Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class

This impressive new Mercedes is an energetic, sporty drive – but it does take a bit of obtaining utilised to, writes motor reviewer Tim Barnes-Clay.

Often a pair of new shoes feels just right.

No blisters ever seem and they soon turn out to be your go-to choice of footwear.

Initial discomfort

Other people lead to you a small discomfort at very first – but, after worn in, you really feel as though you’d by no means sauntered in something else.

The Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 AMG Sport I drove was really significantly in the latter category.

It took me a although fine-tuning the seat to give me the greatest driving position. I then had to adjust the steering wheel numerous times – and then get the lumbar help proper.

For the initial day I just couldn’t nail it and, squirming uncomfortably, I was convinced this auto wasn’t for me.

Adjustments required

But, by the second day of my week with the Merc, I felt it was created with my name on it.

Some auto seats just need a rapid twiddle here and there and you are all set up. 

I consider the CLA’s sports seats with integral headrests simply take some receiving used to.

They’re sculpted in a curve-forward position, and make you really feel like your head needs to go back far more – despite the fact that that could have been me being fussy on the day the auto was delivered.

An outstanding machine

Anyway, adequate of the seats and my hair-splitting: let me clarify why, on the whole, the CLA is an excellent piece of German machinery.

Aesthetically, its proportions and dynamic design and style give the compact 4-door saloon-cum-coupé an unmistakable look.

The vehicle’;s striking attributes include the bonnet embedded in the front end with energy-domes and a diamond-appear grille.

The light modules and LEDs behind the headlamp cover glass have been arranged in such a way as to create a characteristic “flare effect” for the daytime driving lights and indicators.

‘Energetic and youthful’;

This light signet defines the car’;s energetic kind and shapes a new, youthful Mercedes face.

The width-emphasising rear end exudes muscle and athleticism, featuring an interplay amongst convex and concave surfaces.

The gently sloping roof contour and the pronounced, hallmark curvature of the rear window, offer the CLA 250 AMG Sport with a coupé-style character from the rear, too.

The exterior’;s progressive, sporty appearance is continued inside the Benz.

Much more seating problems

All trim surfaces are galvanised in silver shadow, resulting in a cool-to-the-touch metallic finish.

The instrument panel incorporates 5 big round vents and there’s a prominent totally free-standing display screen that attributes a black piano-lacquer-look front panel with a flush-fitting silver frame.

In the back, the seats, as soon as again, turn out to be a sticking point.

They are cramped for adults and not even the ideal match for 2 child seats, but my 8- and 5-year-old coped without too considerably squabbling.

Spacious and precise

On the plus side, boot space is good for this type of auto.

On the road, the CLA 250’s turbocharged 4-cylinder engine rocks for most circumstances.

The automobile has excellent grip when pushed via corners and its 6-speed automatic transmission climbs and descends excellently under pressure.

Especially noteworthy is the Mercedes’ direct steer method, which gives precise feedback in comparison with conventional power steering.

Safety hasn’t been overlooked either, with several driving assistance systems supplying assistance and lowering your workload behind the wheel.

Normal-fit characteristics include drowsiness detection and radar-based collision prevention help with adaptive brake assist, which assists to safeguard you from collisions from a speed of only 4mph.

Pros & cons

• Design √


• Steering √


• Grip √


• Security kit √


• Rear seats X

Rapidly facts

• Max speed: 149mph


• -62 mph: 6.6 secs


• Combined mpg: 42.8


• Engine: 1991cc 4 cylinders 16 valve turbo petrol


• Max. power (bhp): 208


• Max. torque (lb.ft): 258


• CO2: 154g/km


• Value: £33,440

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Vehicle review: Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 – First Drive Review

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 interior

2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4 – First Drive Review

Vehicle review: VW Golf GT

Volkswagen has created a number of improvements to its classic Golf. You may not have believed it achievable, but the greatest just got far better, says Tim Barnes-Clay.

Some vehicles are all incorrect. They’re ugly, uncomfortable or just basically awful to drive.

The VW Golf isn’t a single of these. It is amongst the ideal. Seriously.

‘Like a fine wine’;

For any person that’s been beamed down from Pluto, the VW Golf is a compact auto made by the German manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across 6 generations.

The Golf Mk7 utilizes the exact same platform as the third-generation Audi A3, SEAT León and Škoda Octavia.

It was announced in Berlin in September 2012, ahead of a public launch at the 2012 Paris Auto Show and won the Automobile of the Year Japan Award 2013-2014, the very first time it was awarded to a European item.

The Golf is like a fine wine and only gets better with age.

Altering with the instances

Positive, there are enthusiasts who appreciate the Mk1 and Mk2 models a lot more than any other. I was there once, owning 2 Mk2s.

As significantly as I nonetheless appreciate them, wants modify – and now there’s no way I’d trade the GT 1.4 TSI 150 PS DSG I had on test for a classic 1970s or 80s Golf.

So why is the existing VW Golf so great? Properly, it delivers precise handling with higher levels of ride comfort and driving pleasure.

Indeed, the Golf’s steering now offers much more agility in dynamic driving conditions, while making sure higher-speed stability, and easy manoeuvring in the city.

Choose a profile to suit

Also, the Golf is available with driver profile selection tech, which makes it possible for you to decide on from 4 modes – Eco, Sport, Regular and Individual.

And with a direct-shift gearbox (DSG) fitted, there’s a fifth alternative, Comfort.

A DSG box is great because it is in contrast to a traditional automatic transmission.

Twin electronically controlled shafts manage gear selection, constantly anticipating your subsequent shift.

This provides you fast, smooth gear adjustments and lively handling with unbroken acceleration.

Impressive engine

Under-the-bonnet technologies is superb.

My test auto had the TSI engine with active cylinder management, which entails the temporary shutoff of the second and third cylinders.

This means the engine can decrease fuel consumption by over half a litre per 100 kilometres.

Even with 2 cylinders, the 1.4 TSI runs just as quietly and with low vibration as with 4 active combustion chambers.

As a lot space as you require

Inside, the front seats go back fairly a distance, benefitting taller drivers, like me.

Surprisingly, this doesn’t influence on these in the back a lot: rear legroom is good for a medium-sized hatchback.

There’s decent space for luggage, too, with a low sill to make loading effortless. 

In the cockpit, the centre console is angled towards the driver, giving you less difficult access to auxiliary controls.

High-tech safety

Gadgetry contains a touchscreen technique as normal.

It operates with finger gestures that will be familiar if you’re a smartphone user.

Functions also consist of DAB digital radio, auxiliary inputs (which includes USB), Bluetooth phone preparation and access to car trip info.

The newest Golf has a quantity of reassuring safety aids too.

Pre-crash protection

Normal is the multi-collision brake mechanism.

This automatically halts the automobile following a collision, to lessen kinetic power significantly.

There’s also a pre-crash technique which detects the possibility of an accident.

It pre-tensions seatbelts and closes the windows and sunroof, leaving just a small gap, to ensure the best achievable protection from the airbags.

Now do you see why it is one of the greatest motors on the market place?

Pros & cons

• Handling √


• Kit √


• Safety √


• Fairly costly X

Quickly information

• Max speed: 134 mph


• -62 mph: 8.2 secs


• Combined mpg: 60.1


• Engine: 1395 4 cylinder 16 valve turbo petrol


• Max. energy (bhp): 148


• Max. torque (lb/ft): 184


• CO2: 110 g/km


• Price: £25,265

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Vehicle review: VW Golf GT

2016 Jaguar F-variety Manual and AWD – Initial Drive Review

2016 Jaguar F-variety Manual and AWD – Initial Drive Review

Car review: New Mitsubishi Shogun

If you are looking for an off-roader than can actually deliver beneath pressure, the revamped Shogun fits the bill, says motoring journalist Tim Barnes-Clay.

In 1982 Mitsubishi Motors Corporation launched a brand new breed of automobile: a 4×4 which was difficult sufficient to go exactly where others feared to tread, however which enjoyed the sort of sophisticated specification much more normally associated with top-finish saloons.

A lot more than 30 years later the Shogun is a living legend.

Bold new look

The 2015 Mitsubishi Shogun has a bold new front finish, distinguished by a deeper much more integrated grille and chic LED daytime running lights.

The design alterations for this year represent a progressive evolution of the tough-hitting Japanese off-roader.

Naturally, the Mitsubishi keeps its go-anywhere, self-assured and powerfully constructed presence.

This is characterised by its brief front overhang, upright windscreen, powerful higher flanks, flared wheel-arches and rear-mounted spare wheel.

‘Enormous and intimidating’;

These are all important Shogun styling cues that underline its mud-plugging aptitude.

Indeed, standing subsequent to the Shogun tends to make you feel fairly small.

The car is massive and appears rather intimidating to drive.

But when you haul yourself into the cabin, turn the crucial, pick “Drive” from the automatic gearbox and get rolling, any unease evaporates.

Take care on bends

By no means is the brute often a delight to drive on the road although.

Sure, it’s straightforward to point the Shogun down a motorway and remain there, but any cross winds do knock you about a bit.

That is no surprise as it is a tall vehicle – and because of that you can also neglect tearing about bends on nation roads, unless you like lots of lean.

As an alternative, the new Mitsubishi Shogun is about muscle and ruggedness.

The best-of-the-variety lengthy wheel base SG4 model, on test here, pulls like a train with its 3.2-litre, 194bhp, 4-cylinder diesel engine.

Reputable in rough terrain

It accelerates from -62mph in 11.1 seconds and best speed is 112mph.

Far more importantly it has low-ratio gearing and a differential lock to make confident you have got the best possibility of obtaining it out of even the most challenging of non-tarmac circumstances.

The Mitsubishi Shogun is not only a giant of a 4×4, its cabin feels solidly screwed together and comes crammed with luxury characteristics.

As properly as improved sound deadening, SG4 trim brings leather seats, Bluetooth, a tyre pressure monitoring method and a 5-speed automatic gearbox.

Comfy and spacious

Staying inside the cabin of the Shogun, its multifunction show has reams of details available.

This includes a barometer and an altitude gauge, indicating that this is a vehicle that has motoring capability stretching way beyond a farmer’s field.

The seats are comfy and supportive, and the huge glass region offers 1st-rate views of the road or rugged ground around you.

Rear seat space is colossal, and load capacity appears immeasurably large.

Optional 6-seater

A third row of seats can be popped up as well, turning the Shogun into a 6-seater.

This is hassle-free if you are taking a group of buddies into the rough or you’ve got a posse of kids you want to drop off at college.

Away from the a lot commented luxury soft-roaders, heavy-duty workhorses such as the Shogun have carved out a special niche in the market exactly where capacity and dependability matter initial and foremost.

Given that a value reduce in July 2013, sales have gone from strength to strength.

With its new design and enhanced specification, the Mitsubishi Shogun now offers even greater value for cash.

Pros & cons

• Pulls well √


• Off-road potential √


• Spacious √


• Visibility √


• On-road manoeuvrability X

Quick details

• Max speed: 112mph


• -62 mph: 11.1 secs


• Combined mpg: 33.2


• Engine: 3200cc 4 cylinder 16 valve turbo diesel


• Max. energy (bhp): 194


• Max. torque (lb/ft): 325


• CO2: 224 g/km


• Value: £37,489

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Car review: New Mitsubishi Shogun

2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600 1st Drive Review: The Lap of Luxury Defined

Initial Drive Assessment

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Driving and becoming driven in the lap of luxury.

Daimler is proud of its Mercedes-Benz S-class: The luxury sedan is not only a technology leader, it also outsells the Audi A8 and the BMW 7-series combined. What a contrast to the Maybach 57 and 62, which launched in 2002 and then languished largely unchanged for a lot more than 10 years. Based on the W140 S-class, the Maybach was already somewhat outdated even when new. And its sales were a disappointment—which we know simply because the firm unwisely revealed sales projections that the auto eventually missed by a margin roughly the size of the Grand Canyon.

In creating a hyperluxury sedan this time around, Daimler played it safe—and in the method it designed a much much better car. The new Mercedes-Maybach S600 is a Mercedes-Benz S600 with an further 7.9 inches of wheelbase and an unprecedented level of equipment. It will price just over half as significantly as the preceding Maybach, which retailed for $ 379,000 in 2013, although there will be an comprehensive possibilities list to bring its price way up from the roughly $ 200,000 base price.

Taken for a Ride

Even even though the new Mercedes-Maybach S600 is shorter than the old Maybach 57, and as a result far more maneuverable, it delivers a lot more room in the rear passenger compartment. The launch occasion for the press was created so we could invest ample time back there, since this is how several buyers will encounter the automobile. Both rear seats recline like business-class seats on an aircraft, and together with extending footrests, they make it effortless to work, watch a film, or simply fall asleep. Daimler claims it offers the quietest rear passenger compartment of any automobile in production. We believe it. However, we also believe that Daimler requirements to take a challenging look at the rear-seat entertainment program, which is slow and fiddly.

Powered by the familiar 6.-liter twin-turbo V-12, a 36-valve engine rated at 523 horsepower and 612 lb-ft of torque, the Mercedes-Maybach accelerates with alacrity. The organization claims a -to-60-mph time of 5. seconds. Preserve pressing the pedal, and a feeling that reasonably approximates a corporate jet at takeoff continues up to the 155-mph limiter.

There is no mistaking that this is a large automobile, yet the driving encounter is hardly diverse from that of a regular S-class. Our test car was equipped with an air suspension that reacts to camera-scanned road-surface data. Mercedes-Benz has refined this system to a outstanding level because our knowledge with a prototype, and it is very apt at recognizing speed bumps. But it is not totally unfallible, so we would discourage the chauffeur from sailing over speed bumps at highway velocities. It may possibly catch 4 in a row, but the fifth 1 could send the valuable passengers and their silver-plated champagne flutes flying.

Maybach-Exclusive Touches

Besides the aforementioned champagne flutes, Maybach-exclusive interior attributes contain bespoke wood trim inspired by the S-class coupe as effectively as hand-stitched leather on the door panels. A complete-length center console with deployable function tables is optional. For all this, even though, Daimler could do more to differentiate the Maybach from the typical S600. The vehicle was rushed to market place on a tight schedule, and it would benefit from a couple of far more Maybach-specific characteristics.

The changes to the exterior are rather a lot more convincing. Aside from the additional length, the front and rear fascias are primarily based on these of the regular S-class (which absolutely everyone foregoes in favor of the AMG package in the U.S.) but get an added dollop of chrome. The greenhouse is restyled with a rear-quarter window in the C-pillar, an nearly Bentley-esque flourish. And there are exclusive colors and massive 20-inch bowl-shaped aluminum wheels that are not available on any other S-class.

Buyers who miss the space of the old Maybach 62, fear not: At the Geneva auto show, Daimler will launch the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman. But no matter whether you go Pullman or not, the upper-luxury segment has just met its new technologies leader—after all, it is primarily based on the S-class, itself a technology leader.

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