Super Saloon
Seasoned Member
Since these cars are competitors and I traded in my CLA 45 AMG for my CT4 V Blackwing I thought it might help others to see a comparison thread if anyone is cross shopping these vehicles or just curious. This post will serve in part as a comparison and also my review of the Blackwing. I owned both cars since new. I had the AMG for a little less than a year and 6,500 miles. I have had the Blackwing for a little over a month and put about 1,000 miles on it.
2022 CLA 45 AMG
8 speed DCT
382 hp
2.0 4 cyl
'24 Blackwing
6 speed manual
472 hp
3.6L V6
Performance & Efficiency
The two are very close on paper. The below is data from C&D and while I have not had either on track yet I can say they feel very similar in terms of straight-line speed. Overall I think the Blackwing is the better performance vehicle. The AMG had some noticeable turbo lag and would overheat under repeated hard acceleration. I think if you had both these vehicles on a track for 10 laps with the same tires you would start to see the Blackwing really separate itself from the AMG. Where the AMG wins is fuel economy, I could get over 30 mpg on the highway and while this was nice, nobody buys these cars for the fuel economy.
AMG
0-60: 3.7 sec
1/4 mile: 12.2 @ 112mph
Braking 100-0 311 ft
VIR Laptime: 2:58.2 (note this is with Trofeo R tires)
Blackwing (manual)
0-60: 4.0 sec
1/4 mile: 12.4 @ 116pmh
Braking 100-0 309 ft
VIR Laptime: 2:54.6
Driving Experience
This is pretty subjective, but to me there is no question the Blackwing "feels" better and is the more enjoyable car to drive. The steering on the AMG actually felt pretty good, but everything else was pretty numb. The only time I would get excited in the AMG is when I had my foot all the way into it, otherwise it was a pretty boring car. It got to the point where I didn't even want to drive it, I would choose my ND2 Miata over it every time unless I needed to bring my kids somewhere. Everything about the Blackwing feels right to me. The weight of the clutch pedal, the brake feel, and most notably, the manual transmission. It is very satisfying rowing through the gears in the Blackwing and it is probably the best manual transmission I have had in my ~17 years of driving manuals (I also own a ND2 Miata 6 spd). I get excited every time I slide into the Blackwing and I look for excuses to go drive it. I never felt like my AMG was asking me to drive it hard, it was something I would have to conjure up on my own. I feel like there is something about the Blackwing that is asking me to flog it every time I get in it. I think this would be the biggest differentiator between the two cars, with the Blackwing offering a much more enjoyable experience.
Interior/Tech
If you asked 10 people which interior they preferred I'm guessing ~7 of them would choose the AMG. There is no doubt the AMG was more eye catching and flashier, whereas the Blackwing is more subdued and minimalistic. My AMG had the flat screen across the entire dash and I had Recaro seats. My Blackwing has the base steering wheel and base seats with the red seat belts providing the only flash inside. I actually prefer the interior on the Blackwing. Probably the only thing I enjoyed more about the AMG on the interior was the Recaro seats, but it's not exactly a fair comparison as that was an option that I got that I did not get on the Blackwing. I love the dash on the Blackwing and how all the data is laid out with the "sport" setting and getting to choose what I want to monitor in the tiles on the left with all of the different options on the right. Everything is so easy to use and intuitive. I think the quality of the display in the Blackwing is superior to that of the AMG. I had the Burmeister sound system in the AMG and I would say it's comparable in terms of sound quality to the AKG. I think the AKG gets louder. To me both are just okay. The Burmeister in my AMG was noticeably worse than the Burmeister in my wife's GLS, so I think they just put a worse version in because it's "only" an A class v. the S class. Pretty disappointing as the car was still over $70K. One of the most infuriating things about the AMG was that you had to option Sirius XM. My $73K MSRP AMG did not have this option, so I did not get Sirius XM. It turns out this isn't just an over the air update, it's actual hardware that does not get installed and you are basically SOL if you don't option it. I wound up having to use wired CarPlay to play Sirius XM through my phone app, but it wouldn't work 15% of the time and would constantly lag between what it was showing you as playing and what was actually playing. Very frustrating, especially when my first new car, a $17K Ford Fiesta brand new, came standard with Sirius XM. Blackwing comes standard with Sirius XM, wireless charging, wireless CarPlay and a heated steering wheel, all things the AMG does not (you can't even option a heated wheel on the AMG). I give the tech nod to the Blackwing (objectively) and the interior nod the Blackwing as well (though this is subjective).
Build Quality
Blackwing wins here too. My AMG and every single CLA 45 I drove had some sort of interior rattle/buzzing (I think I drove 3 in total). My Blackwing does not have any buzzing/rattles on the interior. At highway speeds the AMG was also picking up more road/wind noise on the inside.
Ride Quality
I opted for the upgraded AMG suspension and I will say both were pretty good but I think the Blackwing gets the edge here too. It's just a little bit more comfortable at highway speeds and going over bumps than the AMG was.
What I don't like
The AMG - the transmission and lack of Sirius XM were the biggest gripes I had with the car. The auto transmission was never behaving how I wanted it to. In comfort mode it was not responsive enough, in sport mode it was generally okay and in sport + it was too aggressive. The problem I had with sport mode, it was good for getting around people but it seemed to follow a strict set of rules where it would not shift unless you were above 2,500 rpms. This was fine while you were still accelerating, but once you were holding speed its as pretty annoying. I would put it in Sport to get around people and then get up to 75mph and it would not shift into final gear. I would manually shift and it would hold it there for 10 seconds or so then downshift. I could use manual mode, but the paddles were in the least comfortable spot on the steering wheel. Also in manual mode the paddles moved with the wheel and the gearing was so short in lower gears that driving around town would be annoying as you would wind the piss out of it going around corners because you couldn't find the shift padded. Finally, when driving it spiritedly in "manual" mode the entire time all I was thinking is how it's not nearly as satisfying as rowing your own.
The Blackwing - a couple of really minor things here but I don't like that I have to have my foot on the brake and the clutch to start the car. I also don't like the vague feeling of the turn signal stalk. Everything in the car just feels perfect and precise, then I try to do the turn signals to change lanes and sometimes I don't engage it at all and other times I turn it all the way on and don't realize it. It's weird how they nailed everything from a feeling standpoint then you have a very vague and hard to predict turn stalk. The windshield wiper fluid is also super pungent and it makes the entire cabin wreak when I use it. These are pretty minor complaints for a car that is otherwise exceptional.
Summary
If you read through all of that it is obvious I prefer the Blackwing. I think if you care about image and what car might look 'sexier' the AMG is probably for you. If you want a car that feels right and begs to be driven and satisfies the driving experience, hands down the Blackwing is the winner. I owned the AMG for just under a year. For context I owned the car I had before the AMG, a Focus RS, for 5 years. I currently also have a ND2 Miata which I have owned for 3 years. I don't regret buying the AMG. While it was a financial hit, I will no longer wonder "what if". I only got rid of my Focus RS because I felt like I had outgrown the car, mainly because it was a bright blue hatchback with subpar ride quality. I wanted a performance luxury sedan that was fun to drive. The Blackwing was always the answer, I just had to take a detour to get here. I'm already loving the car despite owning it over the course of one month of terrible weather. I really can't wait until it gets nicer out and I can get the full experience, but I'm enjoying it in the meantime.
2022 CLA 45 AMG
8 speed DCT
382 hp
2.0 4 cyl
'24 Blackwing
6 speed manual
472 hp
3.6L V6
Performance & Efficiency
The two are very close on paper. The below is data from C&D and while I have not had either on track yet I can say they feel very similar in terms of straight-line speed. Overall I think the Blackwing is the better performance vehicle. The AMG had some noticeable turbo lag and would overheat under repeated hard acceleration. I think if you had both these vehicles on a track for 10 laps with the same tires you would start to see the Blackwing really separate itself from the AMG. Where the AMG wins is fuel economy, I could get over 30 mpg on the highway and while this was nice, nobody buys these cars for the fuel economy.
AMG
0-60: 3.7 sec
1/4 mile: 12.2 @ 112mph
Braking 100-0 311 ft
VIR Laptime: 2:58.2 (note this is with Trofeo R tires)
Blackwing (manual)
0-60: 4.0 sec
1/4 mile: 12.4 @ 116pmh
Braking 100-0 309 ft
VIR Laptime: 2:54.6
Driving Experience
This is pretty subjective, but to me there is no question the Blackwing "feels" better and is the more enjoyable car to drive. The steering on the AMG actually felt pretty good, but everything else was pretty numb. The only time I would get excited in the AMG is when I had my foot all the way into it, otherwise it was a pretty boring car. It got to the point where I didn't even want to drive it, I would choose my ND2 Miata over it every time unless I needed to bring my kids somewhere. Everything about the Blackwing feels right to me. The weight of the clutch pedal, the brake feel, and most notably, the manual transmission. It is very satisfying rowing through the gears in the Blackwing and it is probably the best manual transmission I have had in my ~17 years of driving manuals (I also own a ND2 Miata 6 spd). I get excited every time I slide into the Blackwing and I look for excuses to go drive it. I never felt like my AMG was asking me to drive it hard, it was something I would have to conjure up on my own. I feel like there is something about the Blackwing that is asking me to flog it every time I get in it. I think this would be the biggest differentiator between the two cars, with the Blackwing offering a much more enjoyable experience.
Interior/Tech
If you asked 10 people which interior they preferred I'm guessing ~7 of them would choose the AMG. There is no doubt the AMG was more eye catching and flashier, whereas the Blackwing is more subdued and minimalistic. My AMG had the flat screen across the entire dash and I had Recaro seats. My Blackwing has the base steering wheel and base seats with the red seat belts providing the only flash inside. I actually prefer the interior on the Blackwing. Probably the only thing I enjoyed more about the AMG on the interior was the Recaro seats, but it's not exactly a fair comparison as that was an option that I got that I did not get on the Blackwing. I love the dash on the Blackwing and how all the data is laid out with the "sport" setting and getting to choose what I want to monitor in the tiles on the left with all of the different options on the right. Everything is so easy to use and intuitive. I think the quality of the display in the Blackwing is superior to that of the AMG. I had the Burmeister sound system in the AMG and I would say it's comparable in terms of sound quality to the AKG. I think the AKG gets louder. To me both are just okay. The Burmeister in my AMG was noticeably worse than the Burmeister in my wife's GLS, so I think they just put a worse version in because it's "only" an A class v. the S class. Pretty disappointing as the car was still over $70K. One of the most infuriating things about the AMG was that you had to option Sirius XM. My $73K MSRP AMG did not have this option, so I did not get Sirius XM. It turns out this isn't just an over the air update, it's actual hardware that does not get installed and you are basically SOL if you don't option it. I wound up having to use wired CarPlay to play Sirius XM through my phone app, but it wouldn't work 15% of the time and would constantly lag between what it was showing you as playing and what was actually playing. Very frustrating, especially when my first new car, a $17K Ford Fiesta brand new, came standard with Sirius XM. Blackwing comes standard with Sirius XM, wireless charging, wireless CarPlay and a heated steering wheel, all things the AMG does not (you can't even option a heated wheel on the AMG). I give the tech nod to the Blackwing (objectively) and the interior nod the Blackwing as well (though this is subjective).
Build Quality
Blackwing wins here too. My AMG and every single CLA 45 I drove had some sort of interior rattle/buzzing (I think I drove 3 in total). My Blackwing does not have any buzzing/rattles on the interior. At highway speeds the AMG was also picking up more road/wind noise on the inside.
Ride Quality
I opted for the upgraded AMG suspension and I will say both were pretty good but I think the Blackwing gets the edge here too. It's just a little bit more comfortable at highway speeds and going over bumps than the AMG was.
What I don't like
The AMG - the transmission and lack of Sirius XM were the biggest gripes I had with the car. The auto transmission was never behaving how I wanted it to. In comfort mode it was not responsive enough, in sport mode it was generally okay and in sport + it was too aggressive. The problem I had with sport mode, it was good for getting around people but it seemed to follow a strict set of rules where it would not shift unless you were above 2,500 rpms. This was fine while you were still accelerating, but once you were holding speed its as pretty annoying. I would put it in Sport to get around people and then get up to 75mph and it would not shift into final gear. I would manually shift and it would hold it there for 10 seconds or so then downshift. I could use manual mode, but the paddles were in the least comfortable spot on the steering wheel. Also in manual mode the paddles moved with the wheel and the gearing was so short in lower gears that driving around town would be annoying as you would wind the piss out of it going around corners because you couldn't find the shift padded. Finally, when driving it spiritedly in "manual" mode the entire time all I was thinking is how it's not nearly as satisfying as rowing your own.
The Blackwing - a couple of really minor things here but I don't like that I have to have my foot on the brake and the clutch to start the car. I also don't like the vague feeling of the turn signal stalk. Everything in the car just feels perfect and precise, then I try to do the turn signals to change lanes and sometimes I don't engage it at all and other times I turn it all the way on and don't realize it. It's weird how they nailed everything from a feeling standpoint then you have a very vague and hard to predict turn stalk. The windshield wiper fluid is also super pungent and it makes the entire cabin wreak when I use it. These are pretty minor complaints for a car that is otherwise exceptional.
Summary
If you read through all of that it is obvious I prefer the Blackwing. I think if you care about image and what car might look 'sexier' the AMG is probably for you. If you want a car that feels right and begs to be driven and satisfies the driving experience, hands down the Blackwing is the winner. I owned the AMG for just under a year. For context I owned the car I had before the AMG, a Focus RS, for 5 years. I currently also have a ND2 Miata which I have owned for 3 years. I don't regret buying the AMG. While it was a financial hit, I will no longer wonder "what if". I only got rid of my Focus RS because I felt like I had outgrown the car, mainly because it was a bright blue hatchback with subpar ride quality. I wanted a performance luxury sedan that was fun to drive. The Blackwing was always the answer, I just had to take a detour to get here. I'm already loving the car despite owning it over the course of one month of terrible weather. I really can't wait until it gets nicer out and I can get the full experience, but I'm enjoying it in the meantime.
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