Mercedes-Benz will reveal its most luxurious and technically advancedA-Class at the Geneva motor show next March, so it is moving development of its future rival to theBMW 1 Series into the final stages.
Spotted recently wearing light covers on public roads in Germany, the model will be 10mm longer, adopting a new floorpan and body structure that are claimed to provide significant increases in rigidity. This, in turn, aims to give the new model, which will also rival theAudi A3, vastly improved refinement.
The boom in the automobile?S length is concentrated nearly absolutely within the wheelbase, presenting upgrades in interior packaging and the scope for large rear door apertures for ease of access and exit. The boot capability has also grown past the nominal 341 litres of nowadays?S model.
Underpinning the brand new A-Class is a redeveloped MFA (modular the front architecture) and a chassis proposing MacPherson-strut the front and multi-hyperlink rear suspension. It helps Mercedes? Drive Select function, which permits the driving force to adjust the characteristics of the guidance, engine mapping, gearbox software and damping using at the least 4 exclusive modes.
The roomier cabin has a brand-new dashboard that features higher-grade materials, digital instruments and a new touch-based Comand 5 infotainment system. There is also a new steering wheel with touchpad controls, new sport seats and a raft of new driver assistance systems as part of Mercedes’ suite of Level 2 autonomous driving functions - benefiting from tech first demonstrated in theS-Class.
Mercedes sales boss Britta Seeger hinted to Autocar earlier in the year that this new tech would be integrated, giving the A-Class the potential to steer and brake itself up to certain speeds. It'll do this using systems that are part of the car's lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control technology.
The future A-Class is the first of up to eight new compact cars, which include replacements for today’s B-Class, CLA and CLA Shooting Brake, as well as the GLA. There will also be an A-Class Saloon (and its own400bhp A45 variant), a GLB and a possible new seven-seat version of the GLB.
The new A-Class and its seven compact car siblings will feature a range of new four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines — all claimed to offer better economy and emissions than today’s units.
Kicking off the road-up may be the new M282 petrol engine. Developed along side figure company Daimler?S alliance companion, Renault, it's going to first be supplied in 1.4-litre guise, presenting the following A-Class with a new entry-level factor. A 1.2-litre model of this engine has additionally been engineered through to production maturity, even though doubts continue to be over whether it is going to be utilized by Mercedes or remain exceptional to Renault.
Above it is going to be the M260 petrol engine, which has been developed in 1.6-litre and a pair of.Zero-litres guises. Both versions are planned to seem inside the subsequent A-Class in loads of tunes. In its most effective shape, the M260 will function a belt-driven generator capable of running as a slight hybrid, with electrically assisted boosting and step-off in combination with a 48V electrical gadget.
The diesels will all be based around Mercedes’ latest 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, the OM654, and be available in up to three states of tune, according to engineering sources at the company’s Sindelfingen R&D centre.
A plug-in hybrid version is also planned as a rival to theVolkswagen Golf GTE. Details remain scarce, although it is expected to run the 1.4-litre version of the M282 four-cylinder petrol engine in combination with an electric motor housed within the forward section of Mercedes’ new nine-speed DCT gearbox. It will be one of a number of EQ Power-branded drivelines.
Insiders have suggested to Autocar that the lithium battery pack for the new plug-in A-Class will possess sufficient energy density for an all-electric range of up to 31 miles.
The new A-Class will use revised versions of today’s six-speed manual and seven-speed DCT gearboxes. Selected models will get the optional nine-speed DCT unit that supports a coasting mode together with kinetic energy regeneration. Alongside standard front-wheel drive, Mercedes will make the 4Matic all-wheel-drive system available on higher-end models.
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