That old seven-speed auto isn’t
particularly smooth either, but rough shifts are, at least, a Mercedes
trademark. You can eliminate them by driving sedately—easy to do, as the C doesn’t
encourage tomfoolery.
This car is a capable performer, but you
wouldn’t know it from behind the wheel. At just 2.2 turns lock-to-lock, the
steering looks Ferrari-quick on paper, but the rack is slow on-center, a boon
to high-speed stability. The ratio change in use—quicker as you wind in more
lock—is so progressive that you don’t notice it. (On the downside, the electric
power steering makes itself obvious by killing any feedback.) The cabin is so
quiet, the suspension so willing to use its travel, and the weighting of the
controls so substantial, you’re occasionally tricked into thinking you’re in an
S-class. Every time I left the C400, I gently pressed the door shut, expecting
it to latch itself, like an S550 with soft-close doors.
The
Intelligent Light System, standard on Sport and AMG Line C-class variants, uses
LEDs; features include a cornering function
Air suspension appears on the C-class for
the first time here, and the car now uses a control-arm front suspension
instead of struts. At the rear is a further evolution of the five-link setup
pioneered by the 190E, and the C400 rides extraordinarily well over velvety
European pavement. We’ll have to see how it copes with American-sized potholes,
as the suspension occasionally bottomed out in corners.
The C400 isn’t the only model we’ll get;
the U.S. market will also see the less expensive four-cylinder C300 with 241
hp, available with or without all-wheel drive. We weren’t able to sample that
exact model, but we did drive a European-spec C250, which uses a slightly
detuned version of the same powertrain.
The turbo four responds more quickly, and
with less acoustic drama, than the six. Ditching the extra cylinders and driven
front axle also imbues the C250 with better handling, a better ride, and, oddly,
better-feeling brakes. Even the Euro C250 is quick, leaving no doubt that the
four-cylinder C300 will be the Benz to beat. At least until the inevitable
diesel and AMG variants come out.
Sculpted
front bumper treatment comes as part of the AMG styling kit included with AMG
Line trim
Like most new Benzes, the C-class is
stuffed full of advanced driver-assistance features, including autonomous
cruise control that essentially lets the car drive itself. The car also gets
Mercedes’s first-ever head-up display, which is bright and colorful but
reflects directly in your line of sight rather than below it—a recipe for
motion sickness. Another miss: The latest version of Mercedes’s infotainment
system features a capacitive-touch controller on the center console. Like a
smartphone screen, it can read finger gestures like swiping and pinch-to-zoom.
Unfortunately, the controller’s placement in the middle of the console means
that it often thinks you’re trying to interact with it when you’re not. And the
system’s small buttons and redundant menus are highly confusing.
Seatbacks
fold to increase boot space, which is good
That’s a common theme. The past decade has
shown that automakers aren’t very good at designing infotainment systems. If
they’d stick to what they know, we’d all be better off. The C-class proves that
when Mercedes focuses on its strengths, it can still make some of the best
luxury cars in the business.
