Motors North

Mercedes A-Class 1.5 Avantgarde SE BlueEFFICIENCY

MERCEDES calls its "green" car range BlueEFFICIENCY.

But after a week with an A-Class bearing that badge the phrase "Blue Moon" seems more appropriate!

That’s how often you’re likely to get frugal fuel consumption and the traditional warm glow you should have from driving something from the Three Pointed Star’s stable, like my £15,860 A150 Avantgarde SE BlueEFFICIENCY test car.

This is what you get with BlueEFFICIENCY:

Low-displacement engine with reduced internal friction;
Stop-start function to avoid fuel wastage while idling;
Tyres with lowered rolling resistance;
Low-weight laminated glass windscreen;
Lower body for increased aerodynamics;
Dashboard display showing current fuel consumption and gear-shifting suggestions to encourage more energy-efficient driving.

But just when Mercedes-Benz cars were getting back on the quality stream where they belong, the BlueEFFICIENCY badge has dented my confidence – a disappointment.

The 30-model A-Class family has recently been updated. It’s turned out to be a fairly decent small hatch that’s available in three and five-door shells, but expensive compared to some of the competition and overpriced as you move up the model food chain to versions like the A180 CDI Elegance SE at around £18,500.

When I jumped into my BlueEFFICIENCY A150 its ride was not all it should have been. A firm and lively feel on most surfaces and increased road noise – something not helped on the test car that had its perfectly adequate 16-inch alloys and 195/55 section tyres replaced by "trendy" 17-inch 215 tyres with an over-low 45 profile. Why do they do it?

I know the answer. Big wheels and low-profile tyres make cars look "sexy" and on my test car they come as part of an optional Sports Package costing around £450. The truth? Apart from when fitted to genuine performance cars, they reduce ride quality and increase road noise as well as costing more to buy in the first place. I don’t see the attraction.

But more inexplicable is how Mercedes can justify the BlueEFFICIENCY badge on a car that averaged a measly 35mpg on a gentle 340-mile round trip to Edinburgh when I averaged just 47mph and was the only occupant with only a small bag as luggage?

I was surprised enough to try again and set off from Moray for Skye after a refill. Some 235 miles later things had improved marginally to 37.8mpg with an average of 40mph. Better, but still not good enough and 10.9mpg shy of what I ought to have got.

Mercedes official mileage figures suggest the 1.2 tonne car should average 48.7mpg. I came nowhere near that. Round Edinburgh city the figure dropped to 31mpg.

The mystery deepens when you discover the "standard" A150 1.5 Avantgarde SE with the same 95bhp four-cylinder petrol engine costs the same and without the BlueEFFICIENCY "tuning" should still average 45.6mpg.

The only possible advantages in buying BlueEFFICIENCY I can see is that it costs an almost ignorable £25 less than the "standard" model, adopts "Start/Stop" technology along with patronising "change gear now" arrows on the dash and has marginally lower CO2 emission – 143g/km in place of the "standard" A150’s 162g/km.

That drops the BlueEFFICIENCY into Road Tax Band F at £120 a year and the "standard" car into Band H at £175 a year.

So, to save a few quid at purchase and £55 on Road Tax you are expected to consider a 35mpg consumption average as good? Something’s wrong! It’ll be interesting to hear what Mercedes says once it has checked out the engine.

But what about the rest of the car?

It’s good, although I see its under-rated and larger lookalike B-Class sister as a far better buy.

Build quality is what you expect from the latest Mercedes-Benz range.

The A150’s double-skinned floor is a great safety addition and elevates the occupants. The body is tall, offers fantastic visibility and is very roomy. The layout of the passenger and cargo areas is practical and versatile and the bodyshell is strong with a first class safety kit complete with advanced electronic stability programme (ESP).

Older people, or anyone with mobility issues, will find access for front and rear passengers is easy.

The boot is big and swallows 435 litres while dropping the rear seats turns the back into a useful “van” with a 1995 litres capacity.

Front-wheel-drive blesses it with a surprising amount of grip. Even some light snow on the Dava failed to slow its progress and it felt surefooted at all times.

Standard equipment is generous and from a driver’s point of view the A150 feels solid, but the power steering is stodgy. Seating is excellent and the fit and appearance of the dash and cabin trim is top quality. Cast your eyes around the A150’s interior and it won’t be long before you realise you’re sitting in a very well built hatchback.

The dash design is intelligent, simple and well executed – one of the best in a small car.

The "green" test car comes only with a five-speed manual gearbox – another BlueEFFICIENCY low point. While the standard A150 has auto option at £1365 there’s no automatic available with BlueEFFICIENCY because it doesn’t work with the Start/Stop system.

The case for BlueEFFICIENCY gets weaker by the moment. If Mercedes-Benz is trying to convince customers it has a meaningful "environmental" choice with this pretentious badge, it is mistaken. BlueEFFICIENCY just isn’t all that special compared to the "ordinary" A-Class model.

The normal guise A-Class is a well built, quality hatchback. It has a strong quality image and offers comfort and safety in a cleverly designed package that’s a little like the Tardis – compact on the outside, roomy inside.

But the BlueEFFICIENCY model makes little sense, especially in the north of Scotland where Stop/Start technology is of little benefit on our thankfully less congested roads.

I see what Mercedes-Benz is trying to do – but it’s humbug. If it wants a "lean, green, planet-saving machine" it needs to do a lot more than fiddle with a perfectly good standard car and slap a BlueEFFICIENCY badge on the back.

And it’s not as if the Three Pointed Star needs to "sex up" the A-Class. Along with the fantastically roomy B-Class, the marque’s smallest hatch is also one of its Scottish best sellers – but not in BlueEFFICIENCY guise I’ll wager!

The best buy in A-Class trim is a standard A150 Classic SE, without BlueEFFICIENCY and running on standard 15-inch 55 section tyres!

Rating: 5.5/10

FINAL THOUGHT: Mercedes was surprised when I revealed my poor fuel consumption – but not as much as me. Its technicians plan to take a closer look at my well-used press car and get back to me with an explanation. But I’m not convinced that cars carrying "environmental" badges like the A-150 BlueEFFICIENCY are all they are cracked up to be – they all smack of marketing hype. Pity, because behind that "green" badge the A-Class is a well constructed and sensible quality product that’s spacious and practical.

Mercedes A-Class 1.5 Avantgarde SE BlueEFFICIENCY

Price: £15,860
Capacity: 1498cc
Power: 95bhp
0-62mph: 12.6 seconds
Maximum speed: 109mph
Economy: Combined 48.7mpg; Urban 38.7mpg
CO2 emissions: 143g/km
ESP: Standard
Insurance: Group 6

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Mercedes A-Class 1.5 Avantgarde SE BlueEFFICIENCY