2014 Mercedes CLA 45 AMG

SPECIFICATIONS

1. The most powerful 4-cylinder car you can buy, the CLA 45 AMG makes 355 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. 2. 0-60 takes just 4.6 seconds. 3. CLA models start at $29,900 with the CLA 45 AMG at $47,450.

PREVIEW

The 2014 CLA-Class is Mercedes-Benz’ first front-wheel-drive vehicle to be sold in the United States. While that might offend the MB faithful, most customers aren’t likely to care after laying eyes on one.

INTERIOR

The CLA’s styling apes the fast-back coupe look Mercedes-Benz claims it started with the larger CLS, but now made more attainable to the masses by being smaller. The design isn’t a complete copy panel-for-panel left to shrink in the dryer, but is most of the way there. The front shares themes with the revised E-Class and new S-Class, and in a busy parking lot, there’s a distinct possibility of mistaken identity. The back plays its own game with wider, more squared-off hips.

That severely arched roofline is easy on the eyes but doesn’t make the CLA easy to get into. The car from which it’s cribbed – the CLS – is based on the larger E-Class, which still leaves plenty of room for passengers. Not so the compact CLA… It is significantly tighter, especially if you or your companion are over six-feet tall.

The rest of the interior is stylish and modern, including the quintuple eyeball vents, center stack and gauge cluster. Materials are pretty decent, especially given the entry-level price the CLA will demand. A few cheaper bits revealed themselves during the drive through the twisty roads in Virginia: the lower part of the dash where it meets with the console can creak when leaned on during enthusiastic cornering. Overall, though, it’s a minor issue.

Cabin changes over the base 250 include seats with much more lateral support, more expensive trim pieces, and its shift lever sprouts from the center console rather than on the steering column – a traditional Mercedes trait, it looks awkward in the modern CLA.The 45 AMG is an entirely different experience. Visually, it has bulkier fenders, a lower chin spoiler, bigger air intakes and more up front, a trunk-lid spoiler, deeper faux air extractors and big quad pipes out back, along with unique 19-inch wheels.

UNDER THE HOOD

Two versions of CLA are coming: the CLA 250 and the hoon-friendly 45 AMG. The former uses a new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder found in products sold elsewhere, providing 208 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. Mercedes-Benz says it’ll hit 60 mph from rest comfortably under seven seconds with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Although the basic 2.0-liter turbocharged engine is the same between the two, nearly everything has been strengthened and enlarged to handle the radically expanded output. Power is 355 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, which are humongous gains over the CLA 250, and like the division’s famous V8s and V12s, the four-banger is hand-assembled by one technician at AMGs German HQ.

The seven-speed dual-clutch remains, although again significantly beefed up. Where the 45 AMG makes the most on its plebeian sibling is the addition of standard 4MATIC all-wheel drive. Although normally biased towards the front in regular driving to save fuel, the instant that slip is detected – or you put your foot down – and power automatically routes to the back axle, up to a max 50:50 split.