From time to time we take on mini Project Cars here at Vivid Racing. This can be a build of a customers car over time or even an employees car as they are just as into mods as anyone else. The new hot car on the market is the Mercedes CLA. Designed to compete with BMW’s 3 Series, the CLA brings Mercedes comfort and performance to an economical level. The CLA Class is available as a CLA250 or a AMG CLA45. The CLA250 features a 2.0L inline 4 cylinder turbocharged engine making 208 horsepower. The front wheel drive sedan has a 7 speed automated manual gearbox. For someone looking for a great fuel economy turbo sedan, the CLA250 is a great choice. Its competitor would be the BMW 328I. Having 240 horsepower and rear wheel drive, along with a 8 speed gearbox, its argueably a better car. But its big brother the CLA45 has tuners ready to pounce on building aftermarket parts for the chassis. The also 2.0L inline 4 cylinder turbocharged engine is all wheel drive and equipped with 355 horsepower. Having 50 more horsepower than a Subaru STI or Mitsubishi EVO X, its about $10,000 more expensive but makes up for it in many different aspects.
Our VR team member Dado, has himself this 2014 CLA250 as his daily driver and project car. Because the factory ride height and wheels are not sporty enough, these are the first things we will be changing. To keep cost down, comfort a priority, and a bit of handling improvement, Dado chose to go with a set of H&R Springs. The H&R lower the front and rear equally 1.2 inches. When you lower the factory shock, the stroke length is decreased but to prevent the car from bouncing, the spring rates are increased. This gives the car a more balanced ride while improving handling. Having used H&R springs on past Project Cars such as our BMW M5 E60 and BMW M3 E90, the ride of the H&R springs is very nice. With the lower center of gravity, the cars handling is much better. Since the car is front wheel drive, it would definitely benefit from a larger sway bar.
Installing the H&R springs on the Mercedes CLA250 is no different than any other car. As always, having the proper tools and know how are key. Anytime you change the springs or coilovers, you will want to get an alignment as the factory specs go out the window. Removing the factory springs requires pulling out the factory struts. We recommend starting with the fronts then doing the rears. The fronts are much easier being able to loosen the 3 bolts from the strut tops via the engine bay. The rear shock and spring setup requires you to loosen the upper shock bolt to drop the shock from the body. Typically this is obtained via the trunk compartment behind the lining. If you are doing the install yourself, you will want to rent or borrow some spring compressors. The front spring is under load and without spring compressors, removing the spring can cause some serious damage to you, your car, or garage. Remember when you are putting the struts back in to NOT overtighten the strut top bolts. They can easily snap so we recommend using a Torque Wrench. Enjoy the photos and stay tuned for our next update including the Niche 1 piece wheels.
Stock Ride Height
Ready for install
Spring comparison
Removing the factory strut and spring
Installing the new front H&R Springs
Remove and replace rear springs
After with H&R Springs Installed
Lowered Measurements Comparison
Hello,
I Have also install H&R spring on my cla 180.
My rear is lower than my front.
What can be the problem ?
Your fronts is lower than mine .how much cm didt the front bumper go to the ground?
Greet mark
Hey Mark,
After talking to one of our specialists, based on your message, he does not think they were installed correctly. Thank you for the comment.
Hello,
I’ve looked, I have other Springs on the front i have on the front 28881 Z/H you have 28881 F/N what is the difference?
Greet mark
Hey Mark,
Because our specialist isn’t there to look at the car it is hard for us to know. We suggest taking it to a shop that is familiar with the vehicle and have them look at it. Sorry we can’t be of more help to you. Thanks for the comment.
After doing the lowering on the H&R Springs was or is there a need for camber kit?
Thanks for the question Mark. Just an alignment is all that is needed.
I want to ask about the springs for the 2014CLA45, Did Eibach have the springs for CLA45? IF does, How much does it lower?
Thank you for your comment. I highly recommend the H&R over the Eibach for ride quality https://www.vividracing.com/catalog/sport-spring-mercedesbenz-cla45-amg-4matic-c117-1516-p-151346447.html
However if you really want an impressive ride, do the KW Suspension like I did on my CLA45. Was a beautiful handling machine that with the custom rebound and compression settings and progressive front spring it rode beautifully on the street – https://www.vividracing.com/blog/project-cars/kw-coilovers-install-on-mercedes-cla45/
Hey Dan,
I am looking to get this HR for my 2014 CLA250. My question is did you have spacers on this? Or just ran it regular? Also, did it sit lower over time? Thank you in advance!
Duy
We did not use wheel spacers on this CLA. We didn’t have a chance to measure the ride height after the springs settled in, but they likely dropped another 0.1-inches.
does it fit for the 4matic version?
This is for a CLA45 which is AWD so it will work.
Hello Dan-
I saw your cla45 on mbworld- looked awesome. I google searched cla45 + H&r+ bump pads and came across this post.
I have a 2015 cla45 that has the upgraded suspension from the factory. I ended up changing the springs to H&r springs… it has settled and is now a little too low.
I am looking to raise the car a little bite. I am researching other options other than Coilovers.
Do you know if it would be to install spring/bump pads on the cla?
Thanks
Charles
Hey Charles! I’ll have one of our sales reps email you with a few options for increasing ride height on your CLA45.
Hey.
If you are just looking to replace your springs it should not be nessesary to loosen the strut from the top at the rear? right?
Does this fit on a 2016 cla250 4matic?…and what tools did u use?…thanks
On the website, the fitment says 2014-2015. They might fit, but we can’t guarantee it but it is possible that it might fit. For a job like this, I recommend getting a set of E-Torx sockets, a metric wrench set, and sockets with a 3/8th ratchet.