A few months back I started a thread saying I needed a car to commute 270 miles, each way, each week. In the middle is a mountain pass that gets plenty of snow for a couple of months/year.
I was asking about ideas for a rig that would be:
- reasonably priced (~30K)
- decent to good MPG
- fun
I thought my deal would be a WRX. Only issue there is MPG. Then, I saw something about about the CLA 45 AMG which, for those who don't know, is the new small Benz in the kickass-version. Fast, AWD but 50K, at least.
Anyway, I was driving around and saw a regular CLA - looked way better in person. I decided to see how I fit in it in case I decided I had to have the AMG. No problem there, even with sunroof (6' 3", wide-shoulder'd 250). The lot lizard talked me into a test drive. Whatever, son - it's a turbo 2.0 litre - gonna be like a Toyota. Boy, was I wrong.
How the Germans make 200 hp feel like anyone else's 250 I'll never understand (BMW and Audi do the same). It handled reasonably well, great sound system and had some pretty neat features. If I spend extra 2500 I can have the cruise control that automatically maintains spacing from the car in front and keeps the car in it's lane. Oh, and 38 MPG highway. Wow.
I'm going back tomorrow to drive it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. If I like it as much, I'll write a check.
I was asking about ideas for a rig that would be:
- reasonably priced (~30K)
- decent to good MPG
- fun
I thought my deal would be a WRX. Only issue there is MPG. Then, I saw something about about the CLA 45 AMG which, for those who don't know, is the new small Benz in the kickass-version. Fast, AWD but 50K, at least.
Anyway, I was driving around and saw a regular CLA - looked way better in person. I decided to see how I fit in it in case I decided I had to have the AMG. No problem there, even with sunroof (6' 3", wide-shoulder'd 250). The lot lizard talked me into a test drive. Whatever, son - it's a turbo 2.0 litre - gonna be like a Toyota. Boy, was I wrong.
How the Germans make 200 hp feel like anyone else's 250 I'll never understand (BMW and Audi do the same). It handled reasonably well, great sound system and had some pretty neat features. If I spend extra 2500 I can have the cruise control that automatically maintains spacing from the car in front and keeps the car in it's lane. Oh, and 38 MPG highway. Wow.
I'm going back tomorrow to drive it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. If I like it as much, I'll write a check.
