about a year and a half ago the last mercedes-benz c-class stumbled all the
way into sixth place in a cars.com sports sedan comparison test but
Mercedes redesigned the c-class sedan 4 2015 and it fixed a whole laundry list
of issues so for luxury car shoppers let's see if this Benz belongs back on
your list now the c-class has often been characterized as a baby s-class in terms
of styling and that's the case more than ever with this 2015 redesign check out
the headlights they're very sinewy they kind of have led pipe sort of run here
toward the grill very similar to the current s-class flagship right now this
grill very low very bold here with two bars across the center probably the
biggest improvement in terms of styling comes in the rear the last c-class had
this stack sort of not really cohesive rear design much more flowing here much
more unified between these taillights come all the way down here to the
tailpipes which poke out of these bumper openings now overall length for the new
c-class up nearly four inches versus its predecessor which was kind of one of the
smaller sedans in its segment this is closer to kind of the segment average
and despite the exercise overall weight down about 200 pounds
thanks to more aluminum that helps make even the base engine in the c300 turbo
four-cylinder good for 241 horsepower seem pretty quick
certainly quicker than the previous generations c250 nice flat torque peak
plenty of passing power definitely on par with the audi a4 and the BMW 328 to
pretty good competitors in terms of acceleration if you want more power
there's a turbo v6 in the c400 we've driven that and it is quicker but i
gotta say the c300 is plenty quick enough especially because it's got
swifter accelerator and transmission response than before
particularly if you put this agility select switch here over into sport or
Sport+ modes that switch goes next to the latest generation of mercedes
command interface which places a knob here below a new touchpad which you can
use to do things like swype along menu functions zoom in and zoom out along the
map it's not the fastest reacting system all the time but if you don't like to
use the touchpad you can always use a novel oh it's very familiar it's got
Mercedes three-tiered command
interface now that controls this screen up here which is kind of the only
controversial element of the cabin the way just purchase here it doesn't
retract it all
some people don't think it's very aesthetic otherwise very few
disagreements with this interior handsome materials up and down very
consistent from I level all the way down to foot level really exceptional even
for this class of small luxury cars one area i'm not quite so thrilled about the
upper dash indoors have optional faux leather that covers them up
Mercedes doesn't do a very good job with the fake leather upper dash but I get it
in this price range you can't afford real leather along the dashboard but
lexus and cat-like they do a better job taking it this sort of stuff has molded
in the backseat is still pretty low to the floor like the old c-class I'm six
feet tall as you can see my knees are just really kind of uncomfortably
elevated here but seat folding very practical now there's a 40-20 40 split
rear seat that means the center part comes down for a pretty big pass through
here and if you hold down the outboard sighs you can see there's a very wide
opening here this part of the seat carries the seat belt with it you don't
have to mess with that really good setup one of the more practical cars in terms
of a folding back seat in this class pricing for the redesigned c-class sedan
starts right around 40 thousand dollars and extends up into the mid sixties are
c300 4matic test car right here
price right around 52 thousand dollars as you see it and the 300 is really the
one you want to be looking at thanks to its combination of refined drivability a
handsome interior and easy-to-use electronics that means for any luxury
car shoppers the redesigned c-class is a car you definitely want to put back on
the list
yeah