Posing with our rented Mercedes CLA 200

The design is stunning from the front and side.  The front styling is exceptionally aggressive, with looks that would force cars to pull over out of ones way on the autobahn! The side profile in black looks like a coupe, with the 4 doors not being too noticeable.  From the rear, I must confess I’ve not been a fan of Mercedes boot design of late, it does look a little pinched and unfinished from behind. Although the rear end is better than the E class I still feel Mercedes could do more, it just doesn’t seem to match the rest of the car.

Inside, the front cabin is great, the sports seats comfy, the controls understandable. The seats were bucket style sports seats, but they were comfy and supportive in just the right amounts. The down side is that being a 4 door rather than a coupe the doors themselves are narrow, and the A pillar is exceedingly thick, blocking quite a bit of visibility.   At 6ft tall I could fit comfortably in the front, but I doubt anyone would have been able to sit behind me as the cabin is lacking in length and the coupe body styling means the headroom is very limited in the rear. I couldn’t fit with the driver’s seat where I’d left it, and I reckon anybody over 5ft8 would be banging their head regardless of the legroom issues. So great in the front, but not so good in the back.

On to driving, and this car is made for speed. On the autobahn it was superb, with plenty of power. The transmission was smooth, and although I felt it lagged a little when pulling out it would power from 80-120mph easily, and still felt it had more to give when we were over 140mph. So going quickly is not a problem. Unfortunately going slowly is not so simple. Pulling away it would feel sluggish, and had the worrying habit of not seeming to respond to the throttle so the driver slowly adds a bit more pressure to the accelerator and suddenly the car wakes up and takes a leap forwards. This made narrow maneuvering in cramped European underground parking garages very exciting at times! Also, the stop/start technology is wonderfully green, but if you are used to keeping the brake fully depressed when stationary for short periods of time (like I was taught to in England) it means the engine won’t start until you take your foot off the brake, making it feel like the car is stalling every time you pull away. Laura identified the issue, as if you release the brake to about 50% the engine restarts, but the car still does not move… weird but if you’re buying a manual probably not an issue! The proximity sensor designed to warn and prevent tail-gating is an interesting feature if you’ve never seen it before, and can cause alarm when a red warning light comes on next to the speedometer when someone pulls out in front of you on the autobahn.  I can see this being frustrating for US drivers used to the bumper to bumper 60mph commutes of Interstate 95. The parking sensors worked very well, and came in useful traversing gateways through castle walls. They err on the side of caution and hit the “red warning” with about 6 inches to spare, giving plenty of time to react.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the car.  If I was considering buying it I might prefer a coupe format, since the larger door aperture, and the associated shift of the B pillar towards the rear would give the driver and front seat passenger easier access and improved visibility.  If you are going to enjoy some miles on teh autobahn, but have too much luggage for a regular coupe this car will definitely fit the bill!

Mercedes Benz CLA 200   7/10

Innovation 6/10      Handling&Performance 8/10       Safety&Comfort 7/10

This was what I found:

A small Cooper’s Hawk, with a broken left wing, and in a bad case of shock, shaking uncontrollably.

A quick search online for “injured raptor VA” sent me to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website for what to do with injured creatures. The page is a valuable resource for all sorts of emergencies, and fortunately includes a link to a list of licensed rehabilitators.

Laura phoned The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia while I followed the instructions for an injured adult bird, and picked up the bird, placing it in a large cardboard box padded with a thick shop towel.  By this stage the poor thing was in deep shock and made no attempt to resist me picking it up.  The body was so light, and shock continuously.  I put the box in our cloak room, safe from the cats but warmer than outside while Laura and I pulled on coats and checked directions to the Conservancy as they had said they were eager to help the bird as soon as possible.

Laura drove us, with me holding a somewhat noisy, and occasionally jumping box.  With the car nice and warm my fears that the shock would have killed the bird before we arrived were unfounded as the panic calls lessened and attempts to get out the box increased.

When we arrived the gentleman who runs the conservancy talked us through his assessment, noting the broken wing, and possible neurological damage.  He wanted to wait a while to let the bird calm down before giving it fluids and a longer assessment, and has promised to tell us how the bird progresses.  He also showed us for comparison a rescued female Cooper’s Hawk that was almost the size of my torso, massive in comparison to our tiny male.

What an amazing evening, and although the Cooper’s Hawk’s flying days may be over I hope it makes a decent recovery to health and can help with the education efforts performed by The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia.

This short video introduces his layout “The Port of New York & New Jersey”, a highly detailed O gauge layout built in what was formerly a guest bedroom.

Just think of the money that could have been spared for essential services that was instead wasted defending the pointless legal challenges, ensuring human rights and social services were provided to the protestors, and policing the event.  Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds wasted to allow a tiny fraction of a percentage of the population to claim they represented those who would foot the bill.

Update

The Telegraph website has quoted that:

The total cost to the City of London Corporation of policing the protest is believed to be less than £1 million, with taxpayers footing almost £600,000 of that cost.

So with legal costs, and other expenses not paid for by the City the sum funded by the taxpayer will easily be over £1 million