![\"Starting](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/03\/04\/PDTN\/538d57d4-821e-469e-97e5-d1c818391621-merc_fr3-4.JPG?crop=3587,2115,x97,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>Starting at $33,475, the Mercedes A220 offers an entry-level Merc with the classiness of a $100k-plus S-class.<\/em><\/p>\n Say hello to the entry-level Mercedes\u00a0A220. Honey, I shrunk the S-class.<\/p>\n I have driven the King of Luxury, the Mercedes S560 (S for Simba) 4MATIC, and it is an exquisite thing. Gorgeous looks, smooth all-wheel drive power, an interior fit for a, well, king. It also costs a king\u2019s ransom to own with a sticker that starts \u2014 starts \u2014 north of $100,000. And that\u2019s before you add fundamentals like blind-spot assist. I tested a S560 Coupe last year that tipped the scales at $152,195 (cough).<\/p>\n Emerge from a drive with your spouse \u2014 drunk on luxury, giggling like schoolchildren \u2014 in this divan on wheels and you\u2019ll seriously consider blowing your savings for a summer home to afford it.<\/p>\n You: Comfy cabin up north for weekend getaways with a kitchen and porch looking out on God\u2019s green creation …\u00a0or a Mercedes?<\/em><\/p>\n Spouse: Oh, the Mercedes, hands down.<\/em><\/p>\n You\u2019ll come to your senses eventually. But the wonderful thing about the new entry-level compact A220 sedan is you can sample S-class luxury in an affordable package. Like one-third the price of that coupe.<\/p>\n Hooking customers on a delicious appetizer to reel them in for the more expensive entr\u00e9e later in life\u00a0is not a new idea for Mercedes. Five years ago, the German brand introduced the CLA sedan, the first Mercedes under $30,000.<\/p>\n It was a knockout. A\u00a0gorgeous, slinky Barbie doll. And just as empty inside. The CLA\u2019s interior seemed an afterthought.\u00a0Its fit and\u00a0finish were\u00a0sloppy, the infotainment screen tacked on to the dash like someone had nailed an Apple tablet there. Reviews were lukewarm even as it warmed new customers to the brand.<\/p>\n If at first you don\u2019t succeed, try, try the A220.<\/p>\n Compact sedan 2.0 is a revelation, a junior S-class. Except for\u00a0decadent items like seat-belt extenders, quilted seats, night vision and a rear wine-bar (OK, I made that last one up), the A220 cub offers everything Simba has.<\/p>\n (Pause to catch breath)<\/em><\/p>\n Nineteen-inch multi-spoke wheels. All-wheel drive. Automatic high-beams. Automatic windshield wipers. Personalized settings including interior lighting. Multi-way seats. And more.<\/p>\n If you want it all, a fully loaded A220 will ring the cash register at $50,660 \u2014 a steep bill, but still a third of a loaded S560. And that\u2019s the point. The entry-level buyer gets a real taste of what a five-star luxury menu is like. It\u2019s delicious.<\/p>\n Faced with this smorgasbord of options, customers might naturally separate the caviar from the tenderloin to arrive at their preferred order. Spec a Mercedes A220 with the all-wheel drive AMG package (which gets you that \u201cDiamond Block\u201d grille and multi-spoke wheels), panoramic roof and red-leather interior (well, a little caviar never hurts), and you will walk away with a properly premium Merc for about $43,000.<\/p>\n Regular readers of this column will recognize that price point as VW Golf R territory, my favorite\u00a0all-around mainstream car. Can the Mercedes justify its three-pointed star snobbery at the same price point as the rockin\u2019\u00a0roomy V-dub?<\/p>\n The Golf R exposes the A220’s\u00a0biggest weakness \u2014 powertrain.<\/p>\n Simba 560 boasts a buttery smooth\u00a0twin-turbo V-8. It’s a\u00a0velvet hammer, one of the industry\u2019s gems. The A220 literally saws big brother\u2019s mill in half to a 2.0-liter\u00a0single-turbo four-cylinder.<\/p>\n That\u2019s four cylinders, like the VW.<\/p>\n That\u2019s quite a compromise, and it’s readily apparent when you put the A220\u2019s hammer down. The eight-speed\u00a0dual-clutch tranny and turbo are buttery smooth under the cane (though oddly balky at low speed, like a young cub still testing its legs). But they can\u2019t hide the dull buzz of four cylinders straining to put out 188 horsepower.<\/p>\n The Golf R, by contrast, pushes out a gob-smacking 288 horses and will run rings around the Mercedes through Michigan hill country.<\/p>\n Still, the new A220 oozes style from that lovely grille to the LED-piped taillights to the first-class cabin inside.<\/p>\n Automakers have been forced to raise their game by Silicon Valley and its revolutionary Teslas. The Model S and Model 3 have thumped German sedans in sales with phone-like operating systems. Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) is up to the task.<\/p>\n A220 comes with multiple infotainment controllers \u2014 touchscreen, the aforementioned steering-wheel mini touch-pads\u00a0and console touch-pad. But the MBUX voice commands are so good \u2014 so phone-like \u2014 I usually ignored the hardware. I drove around town talking to the car \u2014 its \u201cHi, Mercedes\u201d command like Android\u2019s \u201cHey, Google\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and rarely took my hand off the wheel.<\/p>\n Hi, Mercedes, set the temperature to 72 degrees. It understood my hillbilly West Virginia accent like an old friend.<\/p>\n That luxury separates the A220 from the mainstream. Sure, it looks stubby next to Simba (what doesn\u2019t), but the cub has the family DNA, and that\u2019s what counts.<\/p>\n Visuals matter, too. The Golf R is a VW hatchback. The A220 is a gem smoothed by Mercedes craftsmen.<\/p>\n Even the CLA has benefited from the A220\u2019s transformation as it will now be offered as the compact-class\u00a0\u201ccoupe\u201d version with the same interior. So if the A220 is too conservative and underpowered, then let the pricier CLA turn up the heat with its raked roof and 221 ponies.<\/p>\n The beauty of Michigan, of course, is it can test any beauty\u2019s temperament in winter weather. The A220 proved it\u00a0was no diva, but an all-season athlete. German politicians\u00a0have spent the last three decades warning of global-warming induced snowless winters.\u00a0Thank goodness German engineers ignored them.<\/p>\n As Michigan February dumped snow and ice, the A220 and I took to the roads like skiers to Pine Knob. The all-wheel drive\u00a0system is superb under throttle, allowing me enough juice to power-drift around snowy corners (unlike many nanny systems out here) \u2014 and then stopping with superb anti-lock brakes.<\/p>\n At $42,000, that is quite a cub. And you\u2019ll still have money left over for that little cottage up north.<\/p>\n Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and all-wheel drive, five-passenger sedan<\/p>\n Price: $33,475 base, including $975\u00a0<\/strong>destination fee ($50,660 4MATIC model as tested)<\/p>\n Powerplant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged, inline-4 cylinder<\/p>\n Power: 188\u00a0horsepower; 221 pound-feet of torque<\/p>\n Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic<\/p>\n Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.1 seconds (mfr.); top speed: 130 mph<\/p>\n Weight: 3,285 pounds (3,417 4MATIC as tested)<\/p>\n Fuel economy: EPA 25 city\/33 highway\/28 combined<\/p>\n Report card<\/p>\n Highs: Intimate MBUX connectivity; first-class\u00a0interior<\/p>\n Lows: Weak turbo-4; price tag may have you looking to upgrade to C-class instead<\/p>\n Overall: 3\u00a0stars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Starting at $33,475, the Mercedes A220 offers an entry-level Merc with the classiness of a $100k-plus S-class. Say hello to the entry-level Mercedes\u00a0A220. Honey, I shrunk the S-class. I have driven the King of Luxury, the Mercedes S560 (S for Simba) 4MATIC, and it is an exquisite thing. Gorgeous looks, smooth all-wheel drive power, an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23508\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNavigate to Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
\nPlay Sirius XM Comedy Greats channel.<\/em><\/p>\n2019 Mercedes A220<\/strong><\/h3>\n