What we have here is a spicier and, admittedly, racier Mercedes-Benz CLA250 that's dolled up with the optional Edition One outfit. In other words, this is the weapon of choice to select if you find the CLA200 a tad too mild.

And mind you, it's a highly desirable variant.


Wait, what do you mean?

The CLA250 that you see here is nicely equipped with a meatier 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that steadily pumps out 224bhp and 350Nm of twisting force to all four wheels.

That's over 60bhp and 100Nm of torque more than the 1.3-litre CLA200. This allows the car to hit the 100km/h mark from nought in just 6.3 seconds - some two over seconds faster than its said brethren.

And if you're car junkie, you'll know that this time difference is highly significant on the road. The CLA250 manages to build up speed quickly and steadily that overtaking manoeuvres and mild road hooliganism are done so more for the 'kick' rather than the 'need'.


What about carving corners?

While this sort of driving behaviour is best explored on the straights, the CLA250 has got absolutely no problems getting it on around the twisties.

Thanks to its taut chassis, talkative steering and sticky 19-inch tyres, the new Merc obviously has the handling prowess to match its dazzling design. It has the ability to tackle corners with verve if you give it the beans and yet still manages to maintain its composure should you choose to drive it like a gentleman.

It goes over broken bitumen and painfully pockmarked roads without sending the sort of intrusive vibrations to the cabin that's always associated with sportier chassis.