Road Test: Mercedes-Benz A Class A200 Classic SE 5dr

Despite the A-class's bad start when they received an unhealthy amount of press for falling over, there's no shortage of them on our roads. Perhaps it's something to do with easyrentacar's fleet of 5000 which can often be seen pounding up and down the motorways, but there also seem to be plenty of them being snapped up by private punters.

Perhaps it's the prospect of a Merc on the drive for as little as just over 12 grand, but until now the downside has been its awful interior, which could have been lifted from something costing half the price. But a nip and tuck has seen the nasty Fisher-Price dash replaced with a proper Benz set-up - meaning you now get the same sort of switchgear that you'd find in far more pricey Mercs.

But despite this the gearknob had already broken on our test car by the time we got to it and the single stalk (which Mercedes insists on sticking with) felt incredibly notchy. Every time I used it I thought it was going to break.

Something else Mercedes has always been criticised for is its nasty manual gearboxes, which is why virtually every Merc you ever see is an auto. But Mercedes isn't giving up on its manual changes so lightly, and is now keen to fit clutchless manuals so you still have just two pedals but can swap gears when you like. Quite why a normal Tiptronic-style system can't be fitted is beyond me, but the clutchless manual system isn't at all unpleasant to use - it just feels a bit gimmicky.

In fact the car's dynamics leave you feeling ambivalent all over - the ride is fidgety on poorly surfaced roads and it doesn't feel very perky for a 1.6-litre car (although through the gears it's not too bad) yet the brakes are excellent and the lofty driving position is also very good.The ride probably isn't helped too much by the ultra-low profile tyres fitted to our test car. 205/45 16s may look very funky (apart from the fact they display the tiny brake drums too readily) but on a car so small they wreck the car's composure on rutted surfaces.

But with such a high driving position comes accentuated body roll and working out the car's corners when parking isn't very easy at all. At least getting comfy is easy as there's plenty of adjustment in the seats, although a bit more support wouldn't go amiss.

In fact the amount of flexibility in the A-class's seating arrangement is very welcome because the A-class isn't a big car and there's not much room in the boot. But at least the rear seat legroom is okay for most people - and if it's not there's now the option of a long wheelbase A-class to make sure you can fit everything in.

Richard Dredge