[vladberca]

The back of the A Class looks like the one from a car made in China

[hwelvaar]

Originally Posted by Gymkhana

...Still there is a chance, that some aftermarket quaife LSD will appear in soon time

It already has !

http://www.birdsauto.com/news/quaife...able-and-stock

[Racing Teatray]

Originally Posted by Gymkhana

Yeah ,there is such option for M135 in Moscow, but it seem to me a benefit, that M135 is RWD based model, in fact A45 is FWD haldex or something.
8 out of 12 months there is a quiet "RWD-pleasant" weather in here, so it may provide more fun,though it misses LSD , which to me is a big minus ,that forces me towards xDrive as it will provide more grip in any condition and bigger speeds with more forced accelerations out of corners )
...Still there is a chance, that some aftermarket quaife LSD will appear in soon time )
PS And by the way, road quality allows to use hothatches year-round in Moscow actually )

Must have improved greatly since I was last there. Then again an Alfa Romeo 156 GTA has awful ground clearance....

[Tåst]

M135i don´t have any competitors, it´s only hatcback which engine is center to the front axel, I4 engine models 120, 125i are allmost front mid-engine cars. Audi S3, A-mercedes etc. engine is located in front of front axel, it´s bad for gravity.

[Gymkhana]

Originally Posted by Woland's Advocate

Must have improved greatly since I was last there. Then again an Alfa Romeo 156 GTA has awful ground clearance....

wow! what year is it ?
i say, i drive C63 nowadays and road quality....well its not german quality autobahns, but still allows to go around 150 km/h safely, if we may ever say this speed is safe

[Racing Teatray]

2007 or 2008 - that's when I had the car there.

Some of the roads are still awful. I know the main M10 motorway between Moscow and Petersburg is now being upgraded but there's 800kms or so to do, so it's going to take a while. And this was what it was like when I first did the trip in 2007 (no central reservation, no lines, ruts and potholes galore:



And that's when the weather's good. When it's bad, it's like this:



And you can forget having a clean car in winter:

[washout04]

Had a look at the new A class on the weekend. Awesome interior and a great looking car, however two things were immediately aparent.

1 - the steering wheel was quite offset to the left meaning if you are 6 foot plus, your knee gets a little jammed between the steering wheel and the centre console.

2 - the seating position is a little high, kina like the golf. This is one area where the f20 beats all oncomers with a nice low slung driving position that makes you feel part of the car rather than sitting on top of it.

[ovekvam]

Originally Posted by washout04

2 - the seating position is a little high, kina like the golf. This is one area where the f20 beats all oncomers with a nice low slung driving position that makes you feel part of the car rather than sitting on top of it.

I like that too. But lots of older people prefer the higher seats, making it easier to enter and exit the car.

[Fanis]

Hands down the BMW, because:

1. It has a better engine (the 2litre MB unit is very highly tuned, I beleive it will not last for long).

2. It is more fun to drive and better handling.

3. Is more compliant.