Mostly The Badge
by Mike Grundon (10 May 05)

Don't mention the moose. They don't like it, you know. What Mercedes-Benz would prefer you to mention when talking about this second generation A-Class is the "Spherical Parabolic-Spring rear axle". Good, eh? And there - I've mentioned it.

Seven years ago, when the company put a bottom shelf in its range with this entry-level small car, its fame initially centred on a Scandinavian journalist's claim about stability problems. He suggested, more or less, that if you came upon a moose in the road and sawed on the steering wheel to avoid the ruminating jaywalker, you'd end up lying on your side in the road with the beast salivating thoughtfully from its pendulous muzzle into your left ear. The resultant remedial work probably put a better suspension system into the car than was originally budgeted for so that the marque's hard-earned reputation for safety remained intact.

This year, the second generation A-Class was launched with four petrol engines, three diesels, two body styles and those Spherical Parabolic-Spring rear axles with "new selective damping systems" across the range. And you know what? They're great. No, honestly - one of the first things to strike me after I picked up the A 160 CDI Elegance SE was how good the suspension system really was.

Pressing out smartly along rolling open A-roads and tighter-turning unclassifieds, I was impressed by the way it felt pliant on the straight and yet kept the upright single-box design car pretty flat though the long, sweeping curves. In comparison to the overtly aggressive Vauxhall Sport Hatch I'd just dropped off, it actually felt less swimmy on the fast curves. It was only later that I was let down when it grounded out on a particularly humpy, yumpy bit of back-road which nowadays rarely catches my test cars out. Nothing alarming you understand - just a disconcerting graunch.

This was a five-door version of the mini-MPV with middle-of-the-range equipment specification. The 160 CDI engine is the base diesel unit - two litres, four-cylinders, 16 valves turning out 82bhp and 180Nm of torque. It's nothing startling on the road, taking 15 seconds to reach 62mph and topping out eventually at a claimed 106mph. The upside is that it's officially capable of wringing an average 57.6 miles of motoring from one gallon of fuel. That means if you fill up the 54-litre tank at Plymouth you'll be well past Inverness before you run out.

This year's update of the A-Class works well visually and the little car looks a bit more purposeful than it used to. A narrower gaze from the headlamps, a steeper rake on the bonnet and windscreen, a corporate radiator grille and a few folds and creases to suggest a hint of bonnet bring it in from the chirpy school of mini-MPV design to the more conventional road-car look.

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