The EQA gets a good thrashing

Nile Bijoux’s long-term test car, the MercedesBenz EQA, goes on a country excursion and passes with flying colours.

The final update for the long term Mercedes-Benz EQA sees an excursion out to some windy Northland roads. Because, why not?

After a trip to Warkworth, I took the EQA back to Auckland via Woodcocks Rd, a good ribbon of tarmac for testing vehicular agility. . . if you manage to time it right and miss the trucks, of course.

The EQA isn’t a performance vehicle, it’s much more of a commuter and family wagon, so I wasn’t really expecting fireworks. But there were some AMG floormats, which basically make it a sports car, so armed with sheer willpower, I clicked into Sport mode and set off.

First, Sport sharpens the throttle response a lot. What would normally push the power percentage dial to, say, 30%, now sends it north of 50. That’s great, especially paired with a couple of steps of regeneration, as it mimics the feeling of harder engine braking with a more eager powertrain.

You can power into a corner, lay off the volts for a second, dab the brakes, and boost out just as you would a petrol car. The slightly heavier steering in Sport mode is appreciated too.

The standard rubber is definitely less interested in hard driving, the fronts protesting within a few corners of the Woodcocks experience and howling after 10 minutes.

Doubly so with the front-mounted electric motor, as the instant torque immediately spins the wheels if the front end is at all unsettled.

But the chassis, the same found underneath the combustion GLA, is a beaut. It doesn’t roll too much through the corners, offering just enough pliability to prevent bouncing across the road but still retaining some stiffness.

The weight of the 250 means its 140kW of power doesn’t feel all that impressive (again, it’s a commuter sort of car), so having a bit more poke would be nice, especially for passing manoeuvres.

I suspect the all-wheel drive EQA 350 will be an even better drive, especially if the power split is more rear-biased.

Of course, the trade-off for fun is reduced range. We’re not yet at the point where regenerative braking pulls back the same energy used to propel the car, and we probably won’t be there for a long time, so going hell for leather around a back road really tanks the battery.

But that’s not news, nor is it criticism of the EQA, just something to note.

NILE BIJOUX/STUFF The EQA might be a commuting SUV at heart, but it’s happy to be pushed quite hard.

Spending 20 minutes in New World trying to figure out what to buy and ending up buying a coffee next door instead was enough for about 150km of range to be added.