***Loaner Mercedes GLA200 AMG Line***

[cawimmer430]

My A250 had its service yesterday and I always sign up for a loaner car because I am curious to test different MB models. Originally they wanted to give me a Smart ForTwo but I ended up getting a brand new Mercedes GLA200 AMG Line with only 404 km on the clock when I picked it up.

How does she drive? Pretty nice. The 1.33-l engine is peppy and agile and very smooth. I didn't drive the car on any Autobahn but just aimlessly drove around the city. It's relatively comfortable and even with the lowered AMG Line kit the suspension was comfortable. Can't fault the car in the driving department.

But one thing which really pissed me off and drove me insane was the "speed limit warning" system. I guess this is the new system which the piece of garbage European Union demands every new car must have. Basically, if I do 31 km/h in a 30 km/h zone there's this really annoying beeping sound which warns me. If I go even faster, say 35 or even 40, the beeping becomes louder. The worst part? YOU CAN'T TURN THIS SHIT OFF. That repetitive chime sound drove me insane as I have a habit of going 5-10 km/h over the speed limit in the city all the time! My only option was to increase the tolerance of the system and the maximum offered was 10 km/h. So basically with this setting if I am doing 40 km/h in a 30 km/h zone the system won't chime in. But if I do 41 km/h... oh boy, that annoying piece of shit chiming sound will come in to drive me insane. Honestly, if I were to drive such a new car I'd look for a mechanic and pay them under the table to permanently deactivate such an annoying and useless features. It really pissed me off and is a reminder of how the government wants more and more control over your life and to make driving less and less fun. 

Before returning the GLA200 I had to refill the fuel I used. I drove about 80 km (50 miles) today (all in the city with a lot of stop-and-go) and I only put 4.7 liters (1.24 US gallons) back into the tank! WOW! That is remarkably efficient!

Overall, a nice car except for that speed limit warning chime sound which drives you insane!

[giant_mtb]

Maybe US models are different, but a quick Googling shows you can turn it off in the settings menu.

[CaminoRacer]

AMG should be ashamed lol

[RomanChariot]

I rented a Toyota Camry that had the same type of speed limit warning system. It was very annoying. All of the instructions that I could find for disabling it involved going into the navigation menu but the car didn't have navigation so there was no navigation menu.

[veeman]

I remember my uncle who used to live in Dubai about 20 years ago had the same thing installed in his car.  If that had to be installed in my car, I would most probably get a Tesla with full self driving capability in all its beta glory just so I could be as passive as possible when behind the wheel. 

[CALL_911]

Glad you liked it, but man, how does MB get away with calling this an "AMG" anything?

[cawimmer430]

Maybe US models are different, but a quick Googling shows you can turn it off in the settings menu.

I knew where to look in the menu and there was no option to turn it off. I could only increase the tolerance by 1-10 km/h and even at 10 km/h a short push of the gas pedal and this peppy engine moves the car up to speed and beyond in no time which results in this annoying peeping sound... I'm so glad to be back in my car.

[cawimmer430]

AMG should be ashamed lol

The funny thing was I didn't even realize this was an AMG Line model because the facelifted AMG body kit looks so terrible. I only "found out" this was an AMG Line car because of the steering wheel! 

[cawimmer430]

I rented a Toyota Camry that had the same type of speed limit warning system. It was very annoying. All of the instructions that I could find for disabling it involved going into the navigation menu but the car didn't have navigation so there was no navigation menu.

I had the same issue. I could merely "prolong" the speed tolerance by 10 km/h max before this annoying peeping/chiming sound would return. This system alone would be enough to deter me from buying any post-2022 model year cars.

[cawimmer430]

I remember my uncle who used to live in Dubai about 20 years ago had the same thing installed in his car.  If that had to be installed in my car, I would most probably get a Tesla with full self driving capability in all its beta glory just so I could be as passive as possible when behind the wheel. 

How are the laws with regard to speeding in Dubai?

[cawimmer430]

Glad you liked it, but man, how does MB get away with calling this an "AMG" anything?

Well it's basically a non-AMG (engined) GLA with an AMG body kit. My car is the same - non-AMG (engined) car with an AMG body kit. In my defense, the engine in my car is the same engine used in the A35 and A45 AMG models, just with beefier head gaskets and modified cylinder head. 

Also, the 1.33-l turbo 4-cylinder engine is really quite agile. My dad has the same engine in his B200. It's not slow or underpowered within most speeds that are legal everywhere. Ok, on the Autobahn after 140 km/h it runs out of steam (there's no replacement for displacement!) but below that speed it's so peppy and agile that you won't complain. 

[Soup DeVille]

It may be locked out for a rental.

[cawimmer430]

It may be locked out for a rental.

Maybe, but at the same time if I were to get photographed by a speed camera the police would send the info to Mercedes and they can check their records who was driving the car on that day - me. So in the end they wouldn't really care if one of their customers was speeding since the police wouldn't penalize them but the person who rented and drove the car.