Tested: The Mercedes-Benz CLA250 4Matic Is Quicker and More Efficient—What’s Not to Like?

We were impressed with the latest Mercedes-Benz CLA250 4Matic, finding it way better than the original and compelling enough to name it a 2020 Car of the Year finalist. The four-door luxury subcompact sedan was admirably leveled up with more performance, premium materials, and a better luxury experience. A lack of ride refinement and frustration with the MBUX infotainment operating system bummed us out, though.

For the lineup’s 2024 refresh, Mercedes didn’t tweak the formula much while still addressing some shortcomings. The updated car comes with revised infotainment that includes the latest software and a bigger standard touchscreen. Its powertrain also adds a 48-volt mild hybrid system. Let’s see how these impact the little sedan’s driving experience.

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Feels Quicker, Is Quicker

Mercedes doesn’t shout about it, but the CLA250 4Matic’s 2.0-liter turbo-four powertrain also benefits from a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic in addition to the electric motor now sandwiched between the engine and transmission. The 4Matic AWD model (FWD is available) sees no change in output from its four-cylinder, though, and our test car weighed 90 pounds more than the 2020 we tested.

Even still, the electric helper makes for quicker straight-line performance. The CLA AWD gets to 60 mph 0.3 second quicker than before (now 5.7) and knocks 0.2 second off its quarter-mile run while traveling 1.2 mph faster (now 14.3 at 97.0). It’s also swifter than its closest competitor, the BMW 228i xDrive Gran Coupe, which launches to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds and through the quarter mile in 14.5 seconds at 95.0 mph.

The car feels faster now, too. Part of this is the transmission upgrade, which delivers snappy and smooth gearchanges. Power delivery is linear, and at slow speeds we noted none of the transmission indecision we saw last time. The engine sounds great, too, its note enhanced via our CLA’s optional $620 12-speaker Burmester premium audio system. Getting out of the blocks is a ton of fun in this car.

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Better MPG, Too

Relative to other CLAs, the all-wheel-drive CLA250 4Matic receives the greatest benefit among from going mild hybrid, picking up 1 mpg in the city and 2 mpg on the highway compared to last year’s model. (The FWD nets only 1 mpg more city.) The 4Matic car’s 25/35 mpg city/highway also exceeds the (also-all-wheel-drive) BMW 228i xDrive Gran Coupe’s 23/33 mpg.

Comfortable Ride, No Air Needed

Clicking into Sport mode wakes up the CLA250 4Matic in a discernible but not theatrical way with improved throttle response, a slightly louder exhaust, and heavier steering. We tested the car in this mode, along with turning the ESC off.

Here again, the refreshed CLA250 4Matic builds on its previous performance, but only in the smallest of ways. It went from 0.86 to 0.87 g in our lateral acceleration test. In our racetrack-in-bottle figure-eight test, the new model gave up some ground, with an identical time but slightly worse g load. It’s effectively a draw between the Benzes but still better than the 228i’s 0.82 g skidpad average and 26.8 seconds around the figure eight.

That said, this is no sports car. Ours wasn't equipped with an adaptive suspension like Mercedes’ top models (one is available), but the regular suspension delivers a compliant, comfortable ride as befits any car with the three-pointed star on its nose.

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Hard No on Hard Stops

The 2024 CLA250 4Matic cut 2 feet from the earlier model’s best stop of 125 feet, getting closer to the 228i’s best of 121. But hard braking saw the car dive in inconsistent ways, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, occasionally requiring input to keep it on a correct trajectory. Most of the vehicle’s stops were closer to 130 feet.

Luckily, we didn’t see any of this behavior away from the test track, where you won’t be braking that hard except in an emergency. The brake pedal itself is huge and its travel is short, but the brakes feel good, delivering immediate bite.

Still Upscale—To Look At

The CLA’s cabin still makes a fancy first impression befitting a luxury brand. We’re not put off by the hard plastics present, as they’re offset by brushed aluminum trim and creative uses of textures to add visual interest. Our car came with a $1,450 gray/black leather interior and $325 natural grain black linden wood trim in the doors and dash.

Mercedes’ now-familiar circular vents and center stack toggles are still gorgeous. The CLA’s ambient lighting and deep tone that rumbles through its cabin on startup add to the premium vibe. The seats are comfortable, and this year’s car scores two larger 10.3-inch displays as standard. The MBUX infotainment offers quick and reliable Apple CarPlay mirroring, as well.

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Seeing In and Out

Because the cabin is so small, some controls feel as if they’re stacked in front of one another, and we had to peer around the steering wheel to see things like the headlight controls and push-button start. Owners will no doubt get used to this.

Looking out of the car is made more difficult by the sleek styling, which results in a low, pinched greenhouse. Thankfully, our CLA had plenty of driver assists. Blind-spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking, driver focus monitoring, and new parking sensors are standard. Our CLA was also fitted with the $300 Traffic Sign Assist option and the $1,700 Drive Assistance package, which features lane keeping, adaptive cruise control, and evasive steering, as well as more advanced automatic emergency braking and blind-spot monitoring systems. The more active assists worked as advertised, with any interventions coming across more as a helping hand than a knuckle-rapping reproach.

What’s All That Cost?

Our CLA250 4Matic came with thousands of dollars’ worth of options, and the as-tested price sailed past $60,000—which seems like it should be AMG money. But there’s a lot we’d scrape from the example Mercedes sent to us, likely keeping only the Driver Assistance package and premium audio for a more palatable ask of $49,870. But a comparable 228i AWD is about $5,000 less, and the same goes for other luxury cars, such as the larger 2024 Genesis G70 2.5T AWD.

Who Gets the 2024 CLA250 4Matic?

The 2024 CLA250 4Matic is no sleeper AMG, but it’s a solid entry-level luxury car and a great introduction to the brand. This generation of CLA has always felt properly upscale in terms of design and execution, but now it has the improved performance to match.