They took criticisms to heart, and vow to make it right.
Mercedes-Benz’s present-day contender in the burgeoning luxury compact segment, the A-Class, has been the subject of great criticism through its lifetime, particularly as far as its ride is concerned. The ride quality is borderline-unacceptable, and offers very little in the way of driver involvement despite that, leaving many wondering what the intended purpose of a busy, uncomfortable ride was.
It seems that the complaints, levelled by customers and critics alike, have not fallen on deaf ears. Merc’s testing chief for the compact car division, Jochen Eck, revealed in an interview with Autocar that in response to criticism, the next-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class will be offered with two different suspension setups, depending on variant.
“We knew we had to improve the ride. The whole class has moved on since we launched the old model. We’ve spent a lot of time tuning the pushing and kinematic properties of both systems to get the result we were looking for. The added torsional rigidity of the body structure helps a lot, too.” — Joechen Eck, Testing Chief (Compact Cars), Mercedes-Benz AG
Standard across the board will be a MacPherson strut up front, but the rear is where things get heavily revised. Entry-level variants will receive a brand-new torsion-beam suspension setup, while higher-end variants will utilise a heavily-updated version of the 5-point multi-link system found in the present A-Class. This mirrors the strategy employed by Volkswagen with its Golf and Beetle, which both use torsion beam rear suspension for less-plush models, whereas higher-rung units get complex multi-link setups.
Further differentiating higher- and lower-end models will be the steering setup, with more expensive models getting a variable ratio unit (again, like the Volkswagen Golf), or a fixed-ratio unit for more inexpensive variants. The rack itself has been pushed backwards in the chassis as well, allowing for the new A-Class to retain easy drivability without sacrificing involvement.
“I think enthusiasts will like it. There’s more on-centre precision, but it doesn’t come at the expense of off-centre sharpness.” — Joechen Eck, Testing Chief (Compact Cars), Mercedes-Benz AG
Further, Eck revealed that a ‘sports chassis’ option will be available with the new A-Class, lowering ride height by 15mm, though that’s done predominantly in the name of style. To that end, the A-Class can now accommodate alloys up to 19-inches in diameter, as well as an adaptive suspension setup, the latter undoubtedly to aid with the discomfort that will be felt by passengers in a car with 19-inch alloys.
The torsional rigidity of the A-Class, something mentioned earlier, also helps in reducing the NVH (or Noise, Vibration, and Harshness) levels in the car, improved further by more extensive use of sound-deadening foam in the construction of the car. And the last bugbear of the A-Class, rearwards visibility, has also been addressed, with thinner B-pillars and larger rear windows.
“The predecessor model was good, but I think we’ve managed to move the game along. It is more grown up, you could say. It now meets the expectations of a Mercedes better than before.” — Joechen Eck, Testing Chief (Compact Cars), Mercedes-Benz AG
The new A-Class is expected to be offered with everything from 1.2-litre to 2.0-litre turbo petrol engines, featuring automatic start-stop across the range, and with cylinder deactivation on higher-end models. The hot A 45 AMG model is expected to pack the largest turbo-petrol of them all, tuned to an insane degree, and offset with a 48V mild-hybrid system that’ll help with fuel economy. A full-EV variant is expected to arrive in the future, along with a plug-in hybrid too.
The next-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class will be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March next year, where we hope to glean more details on an all-new entry-level AMG model, the A 35, too.
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