MERCEDES-BENZ

MB CLA drops for infamous moose test

The Mercedes-Benz CLA has failed the moose test. At least, that is the conclusion of the Spanish KM77. The Moose Test was a thing for Mercedes in the late 1990s.
Method
But the working method of the Spanish KM77 is almost the same as that of Teknikens Värld. Various tests are carried out on a test circuit to see how a car behaves in emergency situations. In this case, testing was done with a Mercedes-Benz CLA200 Coupé with the AMG package. You would assume that a low "coupé" (of course it is just a sedan) with a sports package, large wheels and low profile tires would score excellent. However, the result is different. The Mercedes CLA and the moose test are no friends. The CLA200 slides, understeer and simply has no grip at all in this situation. In this case it was a speed of 76 km / h. The test drivers of KM77 lowered their speed to see if the result was better.



Wear-resistant economy rubber
Fortunately, it was, but it still turned out that the CLA had very little grip. The CLA 200 passed the test only after the speed was reduced to 66 km / h. According to the testers, it was due to too much body roll and too little grip of the tires. Every 19 ″ wheels was Bridgestone Turanza T005 225/40 rubber. Despite its sizeable dimensions, the Turanza is not a sporty tire like the Potenza is, for example. The Turanza is built to be especially very durable and economical.

Excellent
It was also tested with a CLA Shooting Brake on the same tires with a slightly better final result. KM77 does not say that the handling is bad. It is only remarkable that the car does not score very well in this discipline. In the slalom, the CLA200 scored excellent, without annoying interventions by the ESP. 



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