Driving the Mercedes A in Germany

The new Mercedes A class is considered by most as a beautiful car, including me, that is why I am talking about the car. I had the opportunity to drive it in Germany, it seems that when a new German car is out (at least it happened with the Audi A1, Mercedes A and Volkswagen Golf), Europcar gets some of the cars and offers the opportunity to its clients to drive it.

Interior
The interior is quite comfortable. The seats are very good, well defined, where your body can easily adapt, which is good when you are on vacations and want to feel comfortable.
I do not know if all cars from the car rentals are equipped with GPS, but this was and it was a good surprise and extra. Another good surprise was the heating system for the seats, which feels so good during the cold days.

Driving Experience
The driving is very good, it soft and has a nice steering, the manual gear box is soft, and the sixth gear is perfect when driving in the Autobahn, also helping to decrease the gas consumption.
Driving in the city is also easy due to the steering and if you are in a stop and go situation, the brakes are also soft and it does not cause any discomfort, unless you brake suddenly.

Interior of the Mercedes A

The Trunk
We travelled with one hold baggage and a hand baggage. The trunk was enough for everything, and it had enough space for something more. It is not a huge trunk, if you are considering a four people trip, the four seats are great, all well defined but the trunk is not as big as you may think.
The trunk has a capacity of 341l, (Compared to 380l / VW Golf & 267l / Audi A1)

The exterior
You may like it or not, it is your opinion that counts. Since it is from a car rental company, you cannot chose the colour.

Side view of the Mercedes A

Speed Limit
The autobahn may not have speed limits, but in the windscreen of the car there was a sticker with a speed limit of 210 km/h.
The car is pretty stable, and until you reach 160km/h, you barely feel any trepidation. Since we were on holidays we did not have the need to drive too fast, so we just enjoyed our trip. If you like the speed or if you are planning a trip all over Germany, a fast car can interest you, I believe for the price this is a good choice.

Parking
Parking the Mercedes A can be very to park due to its parking sensors, and if you need, the car can park by itself in parallel parking. Even being a bigger car than the smaller options in car rental companies, the sensors are a great help

Side view of the Mercedes A

The mystery of the "hidden" P button

A stupid thing that happened to me was not knowing where I could unlock the car and start driving. I even had to stop the engine and ask for help to the Europcar Employee. The answer was simple, the "hidden" button was hiding at the left of the steering wheel.




More:
Wikipedia - Mercedes A
German Site - Mercedes A configurator
Mercedes A on Pinterest
Renting a Car by Europcar