XYZ Racing Tarmac Rally Coilovers — Mercedes-Benz GLA X156 2014-2020

The X156-generation GLA arrived as Mercedes’ first crack at the compact crossover, sitting on a raised A-Class platform with a tall centre of gravity and softly-sprung dampers tuned for German autobahn comfort rather than loose-surface attack. That stock setup runs out of travel and composure the moment the road turns into a forest stage, which is precisely the gap the XYZ Racing Tarmac Rally coilover for the Mercedes Benz GLA X156 is built to close.

This is a stage-rally-specific kit, not a track coilover with longer springs. The Tarmac Rally spec assumes the GLA will spend its weekends being pitched into hairpins and braked deep over crested tarmac, and the damping curves are written around that brief.

What this coilover does for your 2014-2020 Mercedes Benz GLA X156

Drop one of these under an X156 and the first thing you notice is body control. The crossover lean that defines the standard car under load gives way to a flat, planted attitude through quick direction changes – useful when you’re committing to a corner you’ve only seen on the pace notes. Damping is firmer than a fast-road kit but tuned for the broken, undulating tarmac you find on closed-road stages rather than billiard-table circuits. Ride height adjustability lets you bring the nose down to recover some of the centre-of-gravity penalty the GLA carries from the factory, without losing the suspension travel a rally car needs to absorb mid-corner bumps. The result is a 4MATIC-friendly setup that lets the front axle bite on turn-in and the rear stay loaded under power, which is what you want out of a transverse-engined GLA on a stage.

About the Tarmac Rally coilover

The Tarmac Rally sits in XYZ Racing’s competition tier, built around a monotube damper body with separate compression and rebound circuits to handle the bigger inputs a rally surface throws at the car. Spring rates are stage-tarmac focused – firm enough to control pitch under heavy braking into slow corners, compliant enough to ride mid-corner ripples without skipping the tyre off the surface. Ride height is adjustable independently of spring preload, so corner-weighting the car for a co-driver, fuel load and spare wheel doesn’t compromise the damper’s working stroke. Construction uses hardened pistons and rebuildable internals, because a competition coilover that can’t be serviced between events isn’t really a competition coilover. The kit is sold matched to the X156’s transverse front and multi-link rear geometry.

Fitment for the Mercedes Benz GLA X156 (2014-2020)

This kit is built for the X156-generation Mercedes Benz GLA, covering the 2014 to 2020 production run. Fitment covers the full X156 chassis including 4MATIC variants – confirm your specific drivetrain before ordering as front strut and rear damper assemblies vary across the range.

What buyers also search for

• Mercedes Benz GLA X156 rally suspension for closed-road stage events
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• 4MATIC GLA suspension upgrade that handles broken tarmac without bottoming
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• X156 GLA competition damper setup for tarmac rally use

Pick your spring rate and ride-height spec in the configurator below to build the Tarmac Rally kit to your event load and stage profile.