She was in the June 2013 issue of Maxim Russia, starred in her very own centerfold of Playboy and is an all-round attractive woman. Yet Anastasia Tregubova is also a woman some look to for essential car buying advice since here car review are bang up to date with the latest models.
The Mercedes GLA is a direct rival to the likes of Audi's Q3 and BMW's X1. Like both those cars, it can be considered a crossover, since it's got more car-life feature and on-road driving performance. It's something a lot of Russian buyers want, especially since Mercedes also offers an AMG hot model as well.
The car Anastasia is driving here is the GLA 250 4MATIC, the fastest model in the normal range. It's a petrol two-liter turbo with 211 PS delivered though a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox and a non-permanent all-wheel drive system. It's capable of doing 0 to 100 km/h in 7.1 seconds and a top speed of 235 km/h (146 mph).
It's got plenty of poke and if you want more, you can go for the GMA 45 AMG, which has 360 PS and takes only 4.8 seconds to reach 100 km/h. However, we'd go for one of the diesels, either the GLA 220, which is the most powerful in the range with 170 PS, or the GLA 200 with 136 PS.
Practicality? The GLA is 15mm higher than the A-Class it's based on, but it's actually a full 100mm lower than an Audi Q3. So the best way to look at it is as a family-friendly hatchback that can take you places. The boot measures a very healthy 422 liters and thanks and fuel consumption is decent across the range.
At the end of the year, you'll be able to order the GLA-Class with a special offroad package, which adds 13mm of clearance and a special mode for the ESC that gives you better traction. If you plan on doing many weekend adventures, we'd definitely go for one of those.
As for the driving thrills, the GLA is more comfortable than an A-Class over longer journeys. The ride is better and not at the expense of handling, though there is a bit more body roll. The best way to describe it is as a competent and fast machine, not one for the thrill seekers.
If the weird gearshift lever behind the steering wheel and the high price put you off, know that Volvo offers a quite similar crossover model with premium features in the V40 Cross Country, which we rather enjoyed when we tested it last year. Since then, the Swedish automaker has made available a couple of all-new, more efficient petrol and diesel engines.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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