A-Class Sighting in Irvine
24 February 2005
From one of our readers comes the tip of a sighting of a new Mercedes-Benz A-class fueling up at a public station in Irvine, California. DaimlerChrysler operates a design center close by there.
DaimlerChrysler introduced the second-generation A-class in June 2004, and the car went on sale in Europe in the fall.
Extremely popular overseas (the first generation sold more than 1.1 million units), the car has not been sold yet in the US.
Other manufacturers such as Nissan and Ford have already stated their intentions to target this segment in the US with a range of new cars over the next few years. Mercedes will (should) undoubtedly do the same.
The A-Class offers both gasoline and diesel engines. One big question: will the company offer the diesels in the US?
Mercedez-Benz delivered more power and torque with less fuel consumption on all seven engine options for the A-class. The greatest improvements are on the gasoline side, with increases in output and torque up to 38% and fuel consumption down by up to 10% from the prior platforms.
| A-Class Diesels | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A 160 CDI | A 180 CDI | A 200 CDI | |
| Displacement (cc) | 1,991 | 1,991 | 1,991 |
| Output (kW/hp) | 60/82 | 80/109 | 103/140 |
| Torque (Nm) | 180 | 250 | 300 |
| 0–100 km (sec) | 15.0 | 10.8 | 9.5 |
| Top speed (kph/mph) | 170/106 | 186/116 | 201/125 |
| Fuel consumption (l/100km) | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.4 |
| MPG (US) | 48 | 45.2 | 43.5 |
| CO2 g/km | 128 | 137 | 141 |
| A-Class Gasoline | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A 150 | A 170 CDI | A 200 | A 200 Turbo | |
| Displacement (cc) | 1,498 | 1,699 | 2,034 | 2,034 |
| Output (kW/hp) | 70/95 | 85/116 | 100/136 | 142/193 |
| Torque (Nm) | 140 | 155 | 185 | 280 |
| 0–100 km (sec) | 12.6 | 10.9 | 9.8 | 8.0 |
| Top speed (kph/mph) | 175/109 | 188/117 | 200/124 | 227/141 |
| Fuel consumption (l/100km) | 6.2 | 6.6 | 7.2 | 7.9 |
| MPG (US) | 38 | 35.6 | 32.7 | 30 |
| CO2 g/km | 148 | 157 | 172 | na |
Mercedes-Benz also revamped its manufacturing processes and components for the new A-class, resulting in a reduction in primary energy consumption over the lifecycle of the car by 8%, from 522 gigajoules for the first-generation A-Class to a total of 479 gj in the new car. This equates to the energy stored in some 1,300 liters of gasoline.
The new A-Class already satisfies the 2006 European recycling quota of 85% and is set to meet the recycling target of 95%—with a maximum of 10% of the car parts being allowed to be utilized for incineration to produce energy—planned for implementation in 2015.
Thanks, John!
Pretty decent fuel efficiency, even with the gasoline engine.
I'm wondering why that is... Is the car smaller than it looks on the photo? Light materials? New technology engines?
Posted by: Mikhail Capone | 24 February 2005 at 01:01 PM
Hello out there. I had a question in reguards to the all new Mercedes A-Class? Is the A-Class going to sold in the USA, and if so what would the retail price be in the USA?
Posted by: Boghos Kondralian | 29 March 2008 at 07:37 PM