Mercedes GLA review

You’re unlikely to grumble about space in the front, even if you tower over most of your friends and colleagues. The seats slide back a long way and there’s plenty of head room, even on cars with the optional panoramic glass roof (part of the Premium Plus package).

To add to the practicality, the door pockets are big enough for a 500ml bottle of water, and there are two suitably deep cupholders in front of the infotainment touchpad. A decent glovebox, a handy cubby at the base of the dashboard and some storage under the centre armrest complete the list of stowage spaces.

Rear knee room is comparable with the Audi Q3, so you won’t find your knees are jammed up against the front seat backs. What’s more, there’s plenty of room for your feet beneath the front seats, even when these are in their lowest position.

Instead, it’s head room that’s a little disappointing – at least on cars with the panoramic glass roof – partly due to the way the roof curves downwards at the sides. Children and smaller adults will still be fine, but six-footers are likely to feel a bit confined.

The bench-style rear seat is quite flat, instead of being contoured for two, so it’s reasonably comfortable for a central rear passenger, even though they will have to place their feet either side of a raised section of floor. Still, the big footwells mean this isn’t too restrictive, 

The rear seats fold in a 60/40 split, rather than the more versatile 40/20/40 arrangement found in the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. However, as is the case in those cars, the GLA’s backrests lie pretty much flat, with no step up from the boot floor.

As a bonus, the GLA’s rear seats can be moved back and forth by around 140mm to cater for your preferred balance of passenger and luggage space, giving it greater flexibility than the Range Rover Evoque and Volvo XC40.

When the rear seats are in their rearmost position, the GLA’s official boot capacity of 495 litres is down on the Q3 and X1, but slightly more than you get in an Evoque or XC40. Go for the GLA 250e plug-in hybrid, however, and the boot space is reduced by a further 50 litres – blame this on how its battery occupies space beneath the floor.

But regardless of the model you choose, the GLA boot is a practical, square shape, so you'll have no trouble fitting a folded baby buggy. And when the height-adjustable boot floor is in its upper setting, there’s no load lip for you to heave heavy items over.