What is up you guys, welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I am Goldpony out to new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the new 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA250 courtesy of Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown in Hagerstown, Maryland. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so I'm in this one today because there's actually a couple nice, relatively small though changes for the 2022 model year. Also, this is a Mercedes-Benz that starts in the mid $30,000 range which is pretty impressive in itself, quite honestly. And of course in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering for ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so there will be two different configurations for the GLA250. There is the front wheel drive setup that starts at $36,230. Then there is the all wheel drive that we have today where they're formatic, starting at $38,230. But regardless of what setup that you go with, the power plant on the GLA250 will be the same. Powering this little beast is a two liter turbocharged inline four cylinder, putting out 221 horsepower at 5,500 RPM, 258 pound feet of torque coming into 1,800 RPM. Power sent to front wheels are all wheels through an eight speed dual clutch with paddle shifters. Would you guys know we will be testing out here in a little bit, but zero to 60 time comes in at 6.8 seconds for the front wheel drive, 6.6 for the all wheel drive, MPG numbers coming in at 25 in the city, 34 highway for the front wheel drive, 24 city, 33 then on the highway for the all wheel drive. But before we do any kind of fun paddle shifter or acceleration test here in the GLA, I did want to mention to you guys the drive modes is actually labeled dynamic. It's dynamic select and there's a little toggle switch just to the left of the touch pad controller. And so if you were to adjust that, the drive modes you have to choose from will be Eco, Comfort, Sport and Off-Road, adjusting things like the shift points, the throttle response, the steering sensitivity, the Eco start and stop system and the torque distribution then as well. But so now having got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find a straightaway. Let's put the GLA to the test and let's test out the paddle shifters here first and let's see how quickly they are going to react for us here. All right you guys in three, two, one, holy cow. Not bad. All right, so there's a slight delay, but dang this thing can go, man. I just hit the cast there and it just shot me out. Like this is a turbo charge engine, right? So I expected some kind of turbo lag as I usually find in a lot of turbo charge vehicles out there, but there was nothing with the GLA that instantly put the power to the ground. So heck of an acceleration, a little bit of a lag to the paddle shifters. But so many ways to go along with that acceleration as always, braking is equally important. So upfront you will find 12.6 inch ventilated front disc. In the back, 11.6 inch solid rear disc. As far as that 60 to zero stopping distance goes, that is going to come in at 120 feet even, which is plenty of respectable. So as far as the braking feel goes, let's, it's not bad, a little bit on the softer side, but it's not bad. And really that 120 foot number, that's plenty of respectable. A lot of times the SUVs will actually come in at 130 foot range. So 120 feet even, it's definitely impressive. But then touching on suspension and handling upfront, you're gonna get an independent McPherson strut front suspension. In the back, independent four link rear suspension. And there isn't available adaptive damping suspension that goes for $990 if you wanted that. But essentially what that does is it monitors each shock absorber individually, not only tightening up the suspension during heavy cornering, but also adjusting to the road imperfections, giving you a smoother ride then as well. So if you wanted the best of both worlds, there is that adaptive damping suspension that is available for you. But having said that, ride quality has been perfectly fine in my short test drive here today in the GLA. So definitely not gonna have any issues with that. As far as steering feel goes, I just put it in sport driving mode and it does give you a much heavier feel to the steering, which I personally like. So really you can tailor that steering feel to however you want it. So I would probably leave it in that sport mode because I do like a heavier steering feel. But if you didn't like that heavier steering feel, just take it out of sport mode. So a little bit of something for everybody, I guess you could say. That's what you call cabin noise. You guys could probably tell I am driving right now. There isn't a whole lot of exterior wind noise or even road noise whatsoever coming into the cabin. That's actually one of the first things I noticed when I got in this one. So definitely a very serene cabin. I mean, it's holding out the RPMs right now because I got it in sport mode. So maybe I'll just take it out of that. But other than that, very quiet cabin in this thing. Then touching on visibility, I can see perfectly fine out the back. And typically with smaller F2Vs, you're not gonna have any issues there. Rain-sensing windshield wipers also coming standard across the board. So gotta love that as well.  So that is definitely nice as well. But that pretty much rounds off the performance segment of this review, guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our brand new 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA 250. All right, so here she is, you guys. The new 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 finished in Patagonia red metallic. And forgive the wind noise today. Feel like it's a hundred mile per hour winds here in Hagerstilve. Anyways, let's go ahead and start up front on the GLA here. Horizontal silver grille accent is going to be the standard configuration that you guys are currently looking at today. However, if you were to go with one of the AMG packages available for the GLA, you're actually going to get a chrome diamond block front grille. You guys may be familiar with that, but all of these little black shapes that are located within the front grille right here will be finished in chrome, essentially. That's what that is going to look like, more or less. Luminum accents can be found on the lower portion of that front bumper as well. You guys can see that. LED headlights do come standard on the GLA of course. They do come with the automatic feature, meaning when it starts to get dark at night, those headlights will turn on automatically for you there. LED daytime running lights coming standard. LED fog lights down below as well. And I love that they're LEDs. A lot of manufacturers will put halogens for the fog lights. So well done Mercedes for including LEDs on those as well. And there is an optional lighting setup that I wanted to mention is going to be the exterior lighting package. It goes for $900. That is going to add active LED headlights, meaning when you're going around a bend at night, those headlights will swivel based on the direction of your steering angle, better help illuminating what is around that bend. So that's kind of a safety feature in itself. So that's pretty nice. And also automatic high beams coming with that package as well. But overall, very nice looking front end, but let's now go ahead and make our way to the side of the GLA. All right, so now since we are around to the side of this one, aluminum roof rails do come standard, rear privacy glass also coming standard. Of course, chrome windows surrounds, you guys can see them as well. And there is also some chrome accents found on the door handles, as well as on the side skirts down below there as well. So everything ties together pretty nicely because of that. When it comes to those side mirrors, they are body colored power adjustable side mirrors and they will be heated with LED integrated turd signals then as well. And take a look at the wheel configuration, 18 inch double five spoke alloys is the standard setup. And that is of course, what you guys are looking at right now. And then there are actually 19 and 20 inch wheel designs that are going to be available as options if you wanted to go that route then as well. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the back of the GLA. All right, so now since we are around to the back rear spoiler with an integrated brake light does come standard rear window wiper also coming standard back there. LED tail lights, and I like the design to these as well. It's almost like a 3D effect, but that looks pretty darn good back there. Also do have a little bit of a chrome accenting found in that rear bumper there. And just below more chrome accenting found on the bottom portion of that rear bumpers. You guys can clearly see with integrated dual exhaust outlets. Always love when the exhaust outlets are integrated into the rear bumper like we have here on the GLA. But having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next. As always here is that exhaust clip. All right, so now since we are around back of the GLA 250, when it comes to opening that rear tailgate, it is a manual tailgate that does come standard power tailgate of course is going to be available, but quite honestly for the size of an SUV a manual tailgate is perfectly fine. But once it opened up cargo capacity comes in at 19 cubic feet behind that second row. But if that was not enough space, there is a 40, 20, 40 split meaning the rear seats do fold down bumping that up to 50.5 cubic feet then, which is definitely a good bit of space back there. Cargo cover also coming standard back there, tie down anchors. There's a couple side pockets with some mesh nets which I thought was pretty cool. There's an elastic strap for holding items tight back there if you wanted to. Gursher bag hooks can be found back there. There's some cargo lighting. And if you were to lift up underneath the floor of that cargo area, you will actually find some in-floor storage back there then as well. And so then making our way to the rear legroom that is going to come in at an even 38 inches. So for reference, I'm in even six feet tall. This is how much space I have back there. Rear center armrest with cup holders is going to be available. Unfortunately, we don't have that today. However, rear ventilation is going to be standard if the rear passengers simply look forward. They will see where that is going to be located. And there is a couple of phone charging ports for those rear passengers then as well. And there actually is an optional 115 volt power outlet that we do have today. So that is going to be available for those rear passengers then as well. But then making our way up to the front seats, eight-way power adjustable front seats with four-way power lumbar does come standard. One of the coolest parts though that I found, memory settings for up to three different people. I put it that way because it's memory settings for not just the driver's seat but the passenger seat then as well, which I absolutely love. I think that's pretty cool. MBtex upholstery does come standard. Leather seating is optional. Heated front seats go for $500. Heated and ventilated front seats go for $950. And multi-contour front seats go for $760. And overall, seating was plenty comfortable. And I love that the seams in the seats are vertical. It gives you no awkward pressure points, essentially. But now, making our way up to the steering wheel, it is tilt and telescoping. It is leather-wrapped and it is heated. If you wanted to go for an additional $250 on that option there, then making our way to the startup, let me start by showing you guys the key. Essentially, all of your buttons are located on one side of the key here. You got lock and then Mercedes-Benz logo, of course, in the middle there. But it is essentially all keyless entry with a push button starts. All I'm going to do here is simply put my front of the brake and press that engine start button located just to the left of the center air vents there. But so, once started up, it is a digital gauge cluster, no matter what setup that you go with. However, the size is going to differ. And so, seven-inch digital gauge cluster is going to come standard. But there is a 10 1⁄4-inch digital gauge cluster that comes with the premium package, which, by the way, it gives for $1,750. And we do have that with us here today. So, premium package also adds a couple new additions for the 2022 model year. And these are the couple minor changes, I guess you could say. But Sirius XM radio now comes with that package. In addition to that, the 115-volt power outlet for the rear passengers that I previously mentioned. So, that essentially is what's new on the GLA250. But overall, one of the coolest parts about these digital gauge clusters is our steering wheel mounted controls found on the left-hand side of the steering wheel for the gauges, at least. And if you go all the way over to designs and display, that is going to give you four different kind of configurations you could choose between including classic, sport, progressive, and understated. And that really does change the entire look of the gauges. So, I absolutely love that part. That's my favorite part at least. But now, let's now go ahead and make our way to overall interior quality. There is a dual pane panorama roof that goes for $1,500. We do have that option. So, rear passengers actually get their own little moonroof bag there, I thought that was pretty cool. Universal garage door opener goes for $280. And that comes with a frameless rear view mirror. We do have that option as well up top there. Dual zoom climate control does come standard. Optional, however, are 64 colors of ambient lighting that goes for $310. And we do have that option. And I love that option on Mercedes. I always say in all my reviews, Mercedes does ambient lighting better than any other manufacturer right now. And I stick to that because they still haven't been beaten in my mind out of the 600 plus reviews that I've done at this point. Wireless phone charger goes for $200 if you wanted to go with that option.  And by the way, you do have cup holders, of course, as well. And just behind those cup holders within the center armrest, you have a decent amount of storage. And there's actually a phone charging port within there as well. And you do have some matte authentic wood trim found on the doors up front here, as well as just above the passenger side glove box, which I really liked as well. But overall it's finished like a Mercedes as you would expect it to be finished. And I love the ambient lighting within the air vents. I will say nobody else does that. A lot of manufacturers will do ambient lighting, but they won't put it within the center portion of those air vents, which looks so dang cold. They just do such a good job with ambient lighting. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the infotainment screen here. Seven inch colored touchscreen display does come standard. However, that premium package, like I was saying, does give you that dual 10 and a quarter inch screen. So 10 and a quarter inch screen is what we have today. And it is touchscreen like I said, but you actually do have a touchpad controller located just behind the cup holders.  How can I help? You see, she wants to help me. That's cool. Bluetooth and audio streaming though, of course does come standard Android Auto Apple CarPlay as well. Factory navigation system is going to be optional. There actually is an augmented video factory navigation system, also another option there. We're essentially the arrows on the navigation screen kind of turn in real time as you get closer to your turn, which is pretty stinking cool. So I would definitely go with that one if you can. Ambient lighting settings can be found up on that screen, climate control settings as well. And if you swipe up, there's actually a little theme section, which I always like to see. There's your standard theme. There's adventure, experience, efficiency, lounge and so on. You can actually create your own theme apparently as well. Essentially that's going to change absolutely everything within the vehicle from things like ambient lighting to opening and closing the panoramic roof. There's so many different settings that get adjusted with those themes. I find that so freaking cool. But anyways, can of course check out your radio information up there as well. And by the way, standard sound system is going to be six speakers. However, there is an optional 12 speaker Bermester sound system that is available that goes for $850 if you wanted to go that route. And that comes with the nine channel digital amp and 590 watts. But we actually have the standard six speaker sound system with us here today. So what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and turn on the radio, see what we got playing today. And let's test out the clarity of this one. When there boots, a visible boot, like the boots disappear, when there boots, you act on me. Biggie, biggie, biggie, yeah. Okay, that's how the system wasn't the best. I gotta be honest. It is six speakers. I don't know why they put six speakers in a vehicle like this. At minimum, you should at least do eight, if not 10, and then still have that optional sound system as well. But it's not the sound system I would expect for Mercedes-Benz. I'll just put it that way. But anyways, last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on the infotainment screen is of course, when you do put this one in reverse, you will find an extremely high definition rear view camera. They definitely nailed that. Letting you know who or what is behind you. You're also gonna get a surround view monitor and a dash cam that is optional if you wanted to go that route as well. But as always, that is going to lead us into safety. That's a front side, side curtain airbags do come standard driver and passenger knee airbags as well. In the back, you're gonna have latch, aka lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, but also coming standard will include active brake assist, attention assist, blind spot assist, cross wind assist, and a heated windshield wiper system as well. Did wanna also mention that there's two package options when it comes to safety. First one is the driver assistance package. It goes for $1,700 that gives you adaptive cruise control, active steering assist, evasive steering assist, active brake assist with cross traffic function, autonomous emergency braking, active speed limit assist, lane keep assist, lane change assist, pre-save plus and pre-save sound. So that's essentially going to give you all of your advanced safety features to put it simply. Then there's also a parking assistance package. It goes for $1,090. That one's gonna scare you when you first try it, but it works amazingly. It's gonna give you that surround view monitor and parktronic, which is the scary part.  So it's kind of freaky, but it's pretty cool. But anyways, overall, when it comes to my final thoughts here of the GLA, excellent exterior and interior design without a doubt. I'm personally a fan at least. Excellent driving dynamics, as always, in every Mercedes Benz, I feel like that I test. Even if it's the GLA250 and not an AMG product, still the driving dynamics are always on point in Mercedes. Ambient lighting is the very best out there right now, still to this date. I always say that as well, so I love that. As far as room for improvement goes, this thing can get pretty dang pricey, pretty darn quick. I will say that because there's a lot of different options you can equip this particular GLA with. And I know ours went over $50,000 and with the starting price of right around 35, 36, like I said, it can get kind of priced. And also that standard sound system could definitely be better. But that about rounds out this review, guys. Thank you so much for watching. Let me know what you guys think of the GLA250 in the comment section below. Feel free to follow me on Instagram and all the other social media if you want to see what's coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube. Be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews. That is what we do here on this channel after all. Do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay going.