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After a production run of seven years and some 1.1 million sales worldwide, Mercedes-Benz is now opening up the next chapter in the A-Class
success story by launching a new model boasting even greater appeal and innovative
flair.
The second edition of the compact car is due to make its debut
in the Stuttgart-based car manufacturer's showrooms in autumn 2004.
CONTENTS:
BODY DESIGN
Powerful, self-assured, dynamic – the designers at Mercedes-Benz had their sights
firmly set on infusing these attributes as they formulated their initial ideas for the
new A-Class. Fired by this goal, the young, inspirational design team succeeded in
producing a model whose firm contours and taut lines seem to bristle with forwards
drive, even when it is at a standstill. At the same time, the A-Class has done a great
deal of growing up. Its appearance is much more solid and wide-set, while every last
element of playfulness has been eliminated from the design to boldly reveal a new
character, full of power and vigour.
The dynamic charisma and aura of masterful quality blend into a harmonious
symbiosis. The design of the new A-Class has thereby succeeded in combining
form and function to strike an ideal balance between allure and rationality, or, to put
it in a nutshell, to create a car blessed with both emotion and intelligence.
The unmistakable one-box concept has been carefully honed by the designers. The
new A-Class features the same steeply rising nose leading into a domed roof and tailgate
that falls away sharply at the rear that characterised the outgoing model. However,
the evolutionary process has triggered a growth spurt, with the new A-Class
measuring an extra 232 millimetres from nose to tail and an additional 45 millimetres
widthways, giving it a much more powerful poise.
This increase in size benefits both the five-door model and the new three-door version,
which share the same roof lines, front end and tail. It is only when they are seen
side on that the difference between the two becomes strikingly apparent. The coupéstyle
profile of the three-door variant injects it with an even sportier feel and renewed
vigour from almost every perspective, without compromising on styling in any way.
Front End
The front end of the new A-Class makes a sporty, powerful impression at first glance, whilst skilfully avoiding any sentiment of aggression. The sweeping lines of the headlamps enhance the impression of width, whilst their gracefully sculptured form fuses seamlessly into the tidy styling of the front end, providing a perfect example of the design refinements which make the new A-Class the car it is. The characteristic Mercedes radiator grille rises more steeply than previously, giving it a more dominant feel. The bumpers with integral rub strips at the corners (ELEGANCE and AVANTGARDE) provide a powerful finale to the nose, as well as housing
front fog lamps with chrome surrounds on either side of the air intake. |
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Side
The silhouette of the five-door version's body is moulded by a single continuous line which arches in a dynamic curve from front to rear. It starts with the prominently domed form of the bonnet, which flows back directly into the expansive windscreen before sweeping back over the coupé-style domed roof and concluding with the sharp drop at the rear.
The surfaces at the side are divided up by two main lines which also serve to give the car a lower-set appearance: first, the waistline which originates ahead of the mirror triangle then rises up towards the rear to sweep up sharply into the steeply slanted C-pillar in dramatic fashion. Such audacious styling adds a generous portion of visual 19 forwards drive, whilst radiating a sense of sheer dynamism even when stationary.
This impression is heightened by the elongated rear window which sweeps into the rear flanks where it meets in a point with the tail lights. |
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The fact that the colour scheme incorporates the mirror triangle and the B-pillar into
the surfaces of the side windows to produce the optical effect of a self-contained surface
adds a further element of dynamism along the vehicle's length. The new window
styling, featuring much more expansive side windows than was previously the case,
creates a superior sense of spaciousness, particularly for passengers in the rear. At
the same time, drivers reap the benefits of a clearer view to the rear
A sharply angled swage line, which also rises steeply towards the rear, traces a
prominent lateral contour which runs back into the large tail light unit where it ends
neatly. This character line also appears to elongate the length, at the same time as
underlining the sportiness of the new compact car from Mercedes. The interplay between
soft curves and sharp corners produces an intriguing image that catches the
eye from every angle.
Although the outer silhouette is identical, the styling along the sides of the three-door version clearly sets it apart from the five-door model. As well as restructuring the side view, the longer, coupé-style driver's and front passenger doors also presented the design team at Mercedes-Benz with the scope they needed to remodel the entire rear flank. By positioning the C-pillar at more of a slant, it has been possible to give the windows a more elongated, virtually wedge-like shape, lending visual emphasis to the three-door model's lively temperament.
The designers also sculpted the rear wheel arches on this model variant to be that extra bit more muscular and powerful, adding to the overall impression of length. |
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These stylistic measures give the three-door model version its distinctive flair and
make it appear even sleeker and more dynamic than its five-door counterpart.
Rear end
When moving round to the rear, both the three-door and five-door version start to
speak the same design language again. Of particular note here is the way in which
the rear and side sections fuse harmoniously into one another, with the rear window
sweeping around into the sporty model's flanks. This lends further emphasis to the
impression of width and to the new sense of abundant spaciousness. The large tail
light units integrate harmoniously into the design courtesy of an elegant join pattern,
and succeed in capturing the sense of supreme handcrafted precision.
BODY STRUCTURE
The sandwich concept formed a good basis for an innovative safety concept in the development of the new A-Class. The engineers focussed their attentions on refining the details of the concept in order to achieve an even higher level of safety.
Each individual element of the body construction has been further developed in terms of its geometry, material strength, joining technology and the quality of the materials used. The proportion of high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel alloys has risen to 67 per cent (outgoing model: 54 per cent) – and major safety-related components of the body structure are now made out of this high-tech material.
Plus, innovative high-strength glued joints increase the long-term durability of the bodyshell structure. In addition to using conventional joining technology such as spot welding and joining, the metal sections are also bonded together. The combined length of the A-Class bodyshell’s high-strength bonded seams reaches 86 metres.
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Front Structure
Careful selection of materials and sophisticated joining help give the front structure of the new Mercedes compact car impressive crumple resistance, the degree of which rises steeply after a short deformation zone and remains at a high level during the entire crash phase. As a result, the A-Class occupants are involved in the vehicle’s braking effect from an earlier stage and over a longer period of time in a frontal impact, allowing the loads exerted to be reduced. The front structure of the new Mercedes compact car is some 60 millimetres longer than the outgoing A-Class.
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The most important elements of the front structure are:
• Two straight, ultra-high-strength steel side members with pre-emptive crash
boxes made from high-strength steel and a box-shaped cross section in extruded
aluminium. The crash boxes have proved their mettle in collisions at low
speeds (up to 15 km/h) and allow repair costs to be kept low thanks to their
bolted connections. By contrast to the outgoing model, the front-structure side
members of the new A-Class are turned to the outside under the floor section,
which enables them to form a connection with the lateral side members (door
sills).
• Two side member profiles above the wheel arches, which form an additional
outlet for the impact forces in an offset frontal collision, in particular.
• The multi-piece frame-type integral support on which the engine, transmission,
steering and front axle are mounted and which is fixed to the body at eight different
points. In the event of a heavy frontal impact, the centre and rear attachment
29 points are disengaged – depending on the severity of the accident – allowing the
drive unit to slide downwards. The front attachment points ensure that it is still
firmly secured.
• The front wheels, which constitute another feature of the safety concept for the
new A-Class. They anchor themselves against the side members in the event of a
collision, providing another dispersion route for the impact forces.
Floor Structure
If one side of the front body structure is subjected to a heavy impact, solid cross
members ensure that the impact forces are distributed over a wide area. As a result,
the deformation zones on the opposite side to where the impact has occurred are
also activated and absorb crash energy. These cross members are located above the
tilted pedal floor panel and underneath the windscreen, and are anchored to the
A-pillars at either side.
Mercedes engineers have adapted the crash resistance of the passenger compartment to the deformation resistance of the front structure.
The floor system in the new A-Class – the passenger compartment’s impressively durable foundations – is a new development. Its outstanding features are a transmission tunnel and side members, which team up with cross member profiles fixed to the underside of the floor system to form a robust structure. The main floor section consists of several metal panels with differing material strengths, which are fixed together by laser welds. In a world first, Mercedes-Benz also uses this beneficial tailored-blank technique for highstrength steel panels, ensuring maximum strength in areas which play a crucial role in providing occupant protection.
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Rear Structure
In the event of a rear-end collision, two box-shaped rear side members take over responsibility
for energy absorption and force distribution. Like their counterparts in
the front structure, these are also turned to the outside in order to form a connection
with the side members, which therefore also absorb forces in severe rear-end impacts.
The rear-end area of the new A-Class is around 150 millimetres longer than
the outgoing model, creating a larger deformation zone. The fuel tank is located in
front of the rear axle.
The two rear side members are connected with one another by a newly developed
flexible cross profile. This is constructed from heat-moulded, ultra-high-strength
steel, making it particularly durable. Like the two crash boxes in front of the side
members, this flexible profile also has a bolted connection. The newly developed
parabolic-spring rear axle is fixed to an additional side member, which the Mercedes
engineers have fitted in the centre of the car.
INTERIORS
The new compact Mercedes car outperforms its predecessor and competitors in terms of all comfort-linked interior dimensions: the shoulder room has grown by up to 97 millimetres, the width provided for passengers’ elbows by up to 95 millimetres and the space at knee height in the rear by 30 millimetres. The distance between the front and rear seats is 805 millimetres and is therefore the same as that found in a medium-size saloon.
The choice of interior materials is based on scientific investigations conducted in the laboratories of DaimlerChrysler’s research department, where car drivers evaluated surface materials, switches and controls in terms of how they feel to touch and provided valuable insight into the development of interior parts which not only look good, but are also good to touch. This means that looks and feel complement each other and makes an important contribution to making car passengers feel at ease. The Mercedes formula for the best possible touch, feel and ergonomics has been deve-loped on the basis of these scientific tests: the “TAF factor” (touch and feel factor). |
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Alongside the dimensional concept, seat design and ergonomics, the air conditioning system in the interior compartment also helps to increase the safety and well-being of car passengers.
In the new A-Class, Mercedes-Benz is therefore offering a high-performance air conditioning system as standard or on request will fit the compact car with a THERMOTRONIC automatic air conditioning system which operates on the basis of data recorded by sensors on temperature, position of the sun, air humidity and level of pollutants in the outside air.
Other optional extras available from the Mercedes luxury class include the innovative COMAND APS control and display system, the Audio 50 APS navigation car radio and bi-xenon headlamps.
The luggage capacity of the new A-Class exceeds that of its predecessor by up to 15 percent.
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(Source: Mercedes, June 2004) |
