Mercedes GLA vs BMW X1 vs Audi Q3: And the best SUV is...

"A luxury badge coupled with the practicality of an SUV at an affordable price tag, these German offerings are money well spent while making sense in a market like India," find out MotorBeam. 

Having built a high aspirational value, the German premium compact cars offer the luxury badge at a rather inexpensive price tag, something that has appealed to the young and old alike.

However, for those looking for that extra dose of practicality in addition to the premium badge made their way beyond hatchbacks and sedans to the premium compact SUV segment offering a mix of both.

While the BMW X1 and Audi Q3 have been on sale for quite some time now, the Mercedes-Benz GLA is the latest to join the lineup and looks promising. But which German premium compact SUV is worth your money? We find out. 

Apart from the fact that all three premium compact SUVs hail from Germany, there is nothing common about either of the models.

In terms of aesthetic appeal, it is the Mercedes GLA that manages to stand out amidst competition with a bold front fascia and striking lines while also being the newest of the lot.

However, the GLA isn't as tall or butch as one would hope and qualifies more as a crossover for its looks.

True to the character is the Audi Q3 that comes with a proper SUV stance with the accentuated wheel arches, tall body and strong character lines.

In terms of road presence too, the Q3 looks more imposing over the competition.

The BMW X1 is the oldest model in this comparison and despite a facelift in 2013, it looks boring with a mundane fascia. the X1 has also been criticised for its station wagon silhouette and fails to impress those who want appreciable road presence along with the badge. 

Given the novelty factor, the Mercedes GLA comes with the freshest cabin that looks young and vibrant with a sporty appeal.

The 3-spoke steering wheel and the propeller-like air-con vents manage to stand out and make the cabin more lively over rivals. If the Merc has the most exciting cabin, it is the BMW that comes with boring interiors and gets a familiar layout.

The Q3 here offers the best-in-class space with better headroom and legroom and also has a 40-litre bigger boot capacity over the other Germans.

While the quality is top-notch on all three, the SUVs do disappoint at some level missing out on some crucial features like auto climate control on the GLA, front parking sensors on the X1 and GLA and centre armrest on the Q3 that are otherwise available on much cheaper offerings in the market.

Nonetheless, you do get creature comforts like leather upholstered seats, large sunroof, headlight washers, electrically adjustable front seats, rear parking sensors and six airbags as standard on all models.

Overall though, with a commanding seating position and better seating comfort, the Audi offers a much richer cabin experience over its rivals. 

Starting with the petrol derivatives, the Audi Q3 is powered by a 2.0-litre TFSI engine producing 211 BHP and 300 Nm of torque, paired to a 7-speed gearbox; whereas the Mercedes GLA comes with a 2.0-litre turbo motor churning out a significantly lower 181 HP of power but a similar 300 Nm of torque, paired to a 7-speed automatic gearbox.

The power difference shows up in the performance figures with the Q3 doing the 0-100 km/hr run in 6.9 seconds while the GLA being 0.7 seconds slower.

The fun factor too is higher on the Audi as compared to the Merc, while BMW only offers the X1 with a diesel mill in the country. 

All three Germans get similar sized diesel motor with the GLA powered by a 2.1-litre engine producing only 134 BHP and 300 Nm of torque, whereas the Q3 and X1 are powered by a 2.0-litre unit with 177 BHP/380 Nm of torque and 184 BHP/380 Nm of torque respectively.

Even in its diesel avatar, the Mercedes falters by a big margin and is the slowest on the clock being as heavy as the AWD equipped Q3.

For the lightweight BMW, 0-100 km/hr run is achievable in 7.9 seconds, followed by 8.2 seconds on the Audi and 9.9 seconds on the Merc.

Standalone performance on the GLA is impressive and it does offer adequate highway and city performance.

That said, the Q3 and X1 also get the better transmissions here with the Bimmer's 8-speed unit offering quicker shifts.

While fuel efficiency is ranked at similar levels for all three models, the Audi's 64-litre tank will ensure longer travel range as opposed to the 61-litre unit on the X1 and the 50-litre tank on the GLA. 

Without a doubt, the BMW X1 is the best handling car of the trio and the 50:50 weight distribution ensures that the dynamics are spot on.

Even with the high ground clearance, the X1 does not feel like an SUV and the body roll, road grip, steering feedback and braking performance are the best in the segment.

Coming close to the X1 but not enough is the GLA that also offers impressive performance on the tarmac.

The Q3 despite being extremely powerful gets a vague steering wheel that does emerge as a sore point. It offers the best ride quality though, which in turn does affect its handling due to the softer suspension setup.

However, the Quattro (AWD) equipped Q3 comes with the biggest advantage enhancing its abilities to opt for the road less taken, something that the front-wheel drive GLA and rear-wheel drive X1 won't do. 

Even though the BMW X1 is the most fun to drive car among the other offerings, it fails to impress an entry-level buyer on several counts and manages to finish third in this shootout with lots of scope for improvement that we expect to see on the next generation model.

The freshly brewed Mercedes GLA, on the other hand, is the best looking SUV here with its bold appeal and pleasing cabin but still does not offer the right space or performance for an SUV leaving us wanting more.

This brings us to the German number one, the Audi Q3 that not only has the looks of an SUV but offers better ride quality, a roomier cabin, and a lot more road presence.

Being brought in via the CKD route, the Q3 is also cheaper than the fully imported GLA giving it a pricing advantage and it is this equation that stands strongly for the Ingolstadt based SUV in this shootout.

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