Mercedes’s recent history has been of promiscuous action in
every new sector it can: sports cars and coupes, a four-car front-drive range,
crossovers and SUVs, the minivans. You might think the core saloon range of C,
E and S-Classes have been squeezed. But, actually, while the new models have
headlined the company’s growth, the saloons still shift a lot of units. And
they also provide a perceptual anchor. In them is vested the soul of Mercedes
as a builder of solidly excellent machines that put priority on long-term
satisfaction over quick fizz.
The Mercedes C250
Blue TEC is lighter and larger than the outgoing car
This C is a very high-tech machine, and has a modern sense
of luxury when you sit in it. Paradoxically, though, it feels like the best
Mercedes saloons always did. It’s solid, trustworthy and relaxing. Although it
copes immensely well with being hustled, it doesn’t aim to feel sporty like a
3-series. Fine. The world already has a perfectly good 3-series, and BMW makes
it. There’s no need for a company as noble as Mercedes to be copying.
The new C is indeed new. Even the 1.6-litre diesel engine in
the C180 is all-new, based on a Renault joint venture, though the mainstream
units are modified carry-over. A space station’s worth of driver assistance
systems is cascaded down from the S-Class. The body and chassis are completely
fresh, and it’s future-proofed to provide the basis for the next E, CLs, plus coupes,
convertibles, estates, shooting brakes, GLK, etc. the shell is 50 per cent
aluminium to save weight, and the 4WD system will now fit in RHD, so we get the
4Matic option, and for the same reason the next GLK too.
Three trim levels
are offered, but any model can be specified with interior trim from any of the
others
The UK range starts with the C200 petrol and C220 diesel,
but I’m in a version of that car with slightly higher boost, which arrives a
few weeks later. The badge says C250 Blue TEC, omitting the smelly D-word
altogether. This is an AMG Line trim, and it’s also got the optional air
suspension and adaptive dampers. Just check out the performance and economy
numbers above. There’s an even more aerodynamic non-AMG version that gets
72.7mpg in the official cycle, for 103g/km Co2. They’re mighty good figures for
a quick, big automatic saloon. A saloon that’s as big as the E-Class was until
2002.
The cabin is very
stylish, lifting the appeal of the C-class
You notice the refinement straight away. This engine is
grumbly in other Mercedes, but not here, where, after a chattery idle, it just
mumbles gently while kicking you towards perfectly useful overtaking
performance. The seven-speed transmission has enough ratios and shifts
smoothly, yet we know Merc is working on a nine-speeder. The ride is supple
too. OK, it pogoes a bit if you nudge the agility Control switch towards the
sporty settings (it recalibrates suspension, engine, transmission and steering
weight, and lets you go closer to other traffic before triggering the safety
warnings). I liked it with the suspension in Comfort but the powertrain a bit
more eager, and there’s an Individual setting where you can go à la carte like
that.
The steering gets more direct off-lock, and the calibration
is terrific. You can ease it into a fast motorway curve without any nerves, and
yet it’ll double-back around mountain hairpins without feeling lazy. Thanks to
the weight cut of 100kg or so, the car never feels bloated. But here’s where
Mercedes shows its confidence and competence. The C isn’t set up to be
power-interactive in bends – the attitude is always mild under steer at road
speeds, whatever you do with the right pedal. There’s a bit less under steer in
the stiffer chassis mode, that’s all. It’s not aiming for edgy sportiness, and
actually engineering such consistency is a hard task.
There's decent
space for five to travel in hushed comfort
There’s masses of technology if you spec it, and a screen
that guides you through all the options in a series of slick animations. It’s
easy to use too, with a quadruple-redundant layout of a big control-wheel,
shortcut keys, voice activation and a new touchpad – which you can
fingertip-write on, or use swipe, pinch or rotate gestures. Basically, if you
can’t communicate with this machine, you’ve probably got some sort of social
disorder.
Tick all the optional driver-assist systems, and it uses
radar, stereo camera and ultrasound to figure out what’s going on all around.
It can look for – and take action to avoid – vehicles, people and other
obstacles coming from pretty well any direction except outer space. That’s very
reassuring and seems reliable. In most traffic, it’ll drive itself for about
half a minute before telling you to get your hands back on the wheel. It obediently
stays in lane, and at speed doesn’t even undertake. at low speed, it uses radar
and cameras to lock onto the car in front, but at motorway speeds it reads the
lines only. As with all such systems, the times when lanes are easy to see it
works well, but when it’s dark and wet and you need the help, it gives up.
Epic Burmester
stereo is an expensive but tempting option if you love music
You’ve got to be careful calling this a traditional Benz,
because that makes it sound like it’s stuck in a bygone era. It isn’t. It looks
modern, and the interior is a bit of a masterpiece, with clean modern curves
and delicious ambient lighting. There’s none of the cold blockiness of the last
C-Class. It’s lush but not elaborate. And the technology beneath is anything
but traditional, even if it serves the traditional Mercedes aims of safety and
driver ease.
