Search: More on the Mercedes A160 Blue Efficiency SE
Price: £18,005 (five door)On sale: Now
0-62mph: 10.9 seconds; top speed 117mph
Average fuel: 46.3mpg
Standard equipment: six airbags, trip computer, ABS with brake assist, Electronic Stability Programme with acceleration skid control, electric front/rear windows, electric multi-adjustable drivers seat, climate control, body colour and heated electric door mirrors, chrome strips, 16-inch alloys, adaptive brake lights, hill start assist, six-speaker radio CD with Bluetooth, exit lights in front doors, auto-dim rear-view mirror, tyre pressure loss warning, remote central locking.
Downsizing all the talk
With an eighth of a million sold, the A-Class might be titchy but it's a big number in Mercedes-Benz's showrooms. And with downsizing all the talk now, you'd be right to have a close look at the latest revamp, not least for the green significance of the range's new eco label - Blue Efficiency.
11% boost to MPG figures
It's hardly the snappiest term to slap on your new model, but Blue Efficiency refers to a broad range of engineering and design tweaks to help stretch your visits between the pumps. On the A160CDI diesel option, the term spells an 11 percent boost to mpg figures (to 64.2mpg), thanks to an efficient particulate filter and such tweaks as lower rolling resistance tyres, a weight-loss plan, smoother bodywork and cannier energy management.
Key to that is a stop-start device that ensures you don't waist fuel idling in still traffic. Simply leave the gear in neutral, put your foot on the brake pedal and the engine instantly nods off, waking up the moment your right foot leaves the brake.
Some petrol options now share the BlueEfficiency label though, including the A170 tested here, complete with stop-start kit. Not so long ago, a stop-start engine was viewed as an eccentric if not dangerous innovation. Drivers failed to trust that the system would come back on when suddenly required and the experience could certainly be angst-ridden when waiting for a gap in the traffic to turn right.
Hopefully Mercedes' adoption of the approach - calculated to boost your mpg by up to 9 per cent - shows the idea now has more mainstream approval. In the flesh, it really does work seemlessly, particularly with such a smooth and quiet petrol engine at found here. Indeed, tickover is so quiet you end up checking the rev counter just to be sure the engine has actually stopped.
Other innovations?
Innovations to this generation include active park assist, which costs £550 but takes the world of electronic parking onto a new level: you just line up the car and the system measures the space and (if it fits) steers the car automatically into it, provided you apply gentle throttle and stop when urged. Less ultramodern add-ons tested here include metallic paint, at £350, and leather upholstery, for £1,950 - presumably it wouldn't be hard to find an aftermarket car couture specialist who could radically undercut such a premium.
On the road
Clearly how green the A170 Blue Efficiency is will come down to your own driving style. What impresses here is the refinement and manners Merc manages to pack into such a small wheelbase. On the motorway, it glides serenely and behaves with all the grace you'd expect from a large saloon. Such velvety progress might encourage heavy-footedness though - and if you do drive with disdain, a low-30s mpg is inevitable.
Indeed, I found that pottering on shorter journeys and keeping to optimum speeds for efficiency made little effect on the readout - 35mpg being the average, so that 46.3mpg claim may well be permanently confined to the paperwork.
Beyond that, the A-Class faces some fairly tough questions. It's certainly a keenly executed effort, with fine, if not meticulous, attention to the instruments, seating and switchgear - check out the multifunction steering buttons; they're the best in the business. Yet what was once a ground-moving innovation in car design, 11 years on, is now a slightly tired idea - the cabin will be a squeeze for any more than four and the sandwich floor design (the engine being under your feet), spells a concertinaed seating position for taller occupants. There are cheaper, larger booted and perfectly capable rivals out there for less money, not least the current Nissan Note and Vauxhall's Meriva.
To sum up:
Price, however, will ensure this model remains exclusive in all senses - at £18,005, it's big money for a compact family hatch. But if you set quality above all, this label might at least suggest you're doing your bit. A wiser move? Jump across to the aforementioned ultra-frugal A160CDI. It feels just as exclusive and your wallet will love the difference.
