If you are the kind of important person at a big car company responsible for
making executive saloons like this
Mercedes C-Class then you officially have What Car?'s sympathy.
And that is for two reasons. First of all, the kind of person buys this sort of car is,
quite rightly,
quite discerning and almost, dare we say, a little bit fussy.
The second reason is that if you are one of those people buying one of these cars
you've got
a whole host of cars to choose from and in order to tempt people away from things
like the BMW 3 Series Audi A3 and A4
Jaguar XF etc etc, this car
has to be quite good. It's no great secret that a lot of these C-Classes will be bought as
company cars and as diesels are still the engine of choice for company car buyers
it's also no real surprise that there are more diesels to choose from in the C-Class
range than there are petrols.
Now this version, despite having a C200 badge on the boot, is actually a 1.6 litre
diesel.
You get low emissions – its 102 g/km,
averages just over 70 miles per gallon officially –
but it's not the quickest of cars – it takes just under 10 seconds to get to 60 and
you will be pushing it in order to get that. The other diesels, if step up just a
little bit in the range, there's the C220 CDI and this, as far as we're concerned,
is the pick of the range. It's got the most all-round ability
It gets to 60mph two seconds quicker than this car does in just under eight seconds
and yet it still emits only 1g/km
more of CO2. So, we think it's well worth the extra investment.
What isn't really worth the extra investment is the C250, which adds a bit
more power,
it's little bit quicker especially through the mid range but
it's not really worth the extra thousand pounds or so. Manual gearboxes haven't
really been Mercedes' forte in the past but if you go for the basic versions and
the smaller engine like this car and that's what you're going to end up with.
It's a six-speed manual box.
However, it's actually not that bad. It's pretty slick
and precise and it is much better than the ones they've had in the past.
More often than not though, Mercedes come with automatic gearboxes and that's
what you get as standard on the C250 and as an option on the C220.
It's a very clever system though. It links up with the sat nav
and it will prepare the right gear according to the corners or the hills that are
coming up.
That's great out on the open roads. It's not quite as clever around town though
and it can get a little bit jerky there. The new C-Class is
much quieter than the previous car, which is great, although there is still
a fair amount of noise that makes its way into the cabin when you're on the
motorway.
And the diesel engines are quite gruff and clattery, which
doesn't really fit with a car of this class. Another area where the C-Class
isn't quite up to scratch with its rivals is
ride and handling. It's just not quite as much fun
as the likes of the 3 Series or even the Audi A3 Saloon.
As standard, you get steel sprung suspension
and that's fine out on country roads etc, but
around town and on worse road surfaces it is just quite fidgety and
uncomfortable. If you are going for the AMG-line models then that lowers suspension by
about 15mm, which
naturally makes the ride a little bit firmer, but oddly
doesn't improve body control. Things do improve if you go for the optional air
suspension though - it's about £900 but it is well worth it.
If you put it in sport mode then it is that bit more entertaining when you're going down
country roads etc, but when you're on the motorway
it's wonderfully comfortable – it's like riding in a much bigger more expensive
limousine.
The only thing is it doesn't quite deal with potholes perfectly and they still send a
bit of a jolt throughout the cabin.
Up here is where the C-Class really excels.
Not only does it set the standard for quality in this class
but is also up to the standard of some much more expensive limos.
All the switches, for example, feel really wonderfully well damped but still have a solid
feel to them,
and there are some really nice touches in this cabin especially as you go up to
the slightly higher trim levels. You get bull's eye air vents and
perforated metal speaker grills on those for example, but even these ones
feel and look fantastic. The cabin is light and airy with good visibility in almost
all directions.
I say almost because there's the usual problem of over shoulder visibility - there is
quite a big C-pillar there.
One thing that goes some way to helping that is the fact that you get a standard
reversing camera on every C-Class, which is brilliant.
The driving position in this car is absolutely fantastic. There is so much
adjustment on this seat that you will be able to get comfy
even if you really rather tall. It just goes really far back.
And the sports seats that you get on the higher-level models are also
really supportive and comfortable as well so they are fantastic.
The instruments up here are clear and easy to read, but
another thing you get on every C-Class is this seven-inch
colour screen. It's not a touchscreen – everything is controlled
down here. You've got a dial, which will be familiar if you got a Mercedes already –
it works in much the same way, but you've also got a little touch pad
that allows you to swipe, pinch do things
much in the same way as you do on a tablet or a smartphone.
It's not quite as easy to use as something on a smartphone, though, and it's
a little bit clunky sometimes. So, most of the time we'd end up using the dial because
it's easier to use that
without taking your eyes off the road. It is a good system, but it's not quite as
simple as the one in the
BMW 3 Series for example. The iDrive that is still the class leader for now.
Because of all that adjustment in the front there is plenty of room for people
much taller than me, six-foot plus, so you'll have loads of room up there.
Things are not quite so generous in the back though. Headroom is ok when you're in
as you'll see,
but it is getting in and out that's the problem. You've got to make sure you don't bang
your head
on this swooping roofline. As I say, once you're in
headroom is decent for a pair of adults
and legroom is pretty good as well. Our measurements show that it is only slightly
smaller than the BMW 3 Series.
You are okay for two adults in here but when it comes to getting a third one in
it is
little bit less generous. The seat itself is fine
it's just this big tunnel in the middle means you won't have quite so much
in the way of legroom so you will have drawn the short straw in the middle.
If we move around to the boat we see it's a decent size at 480 litres it is pretty much exactly the
same as the one you'll get in the BMW 3 Series.
Crucially, though, you can get a set of these in widthways without too much
in the way of trouble. Now this is another reason not to go for the
entry-level version because on that version you don't get split-folding rear
seats like you do on all the other models.
So you're going to just have to take my word for it on that one.
If you're handing over a great big wodge of cash then the C-Class
is pretty much the same price as the equivalent BMW 3 Series but it is
a little bit more expensive than the Audi A3 Saloon, or Volvo S60.
However, it is predicted to hold on to its value pretty well so it's lease rates,
for example, will be very competitive.
Another good thing is that CO2 emissions compare really well to all of those rivals
even on the automatic versions so all the relevant taxes are kept nice and
low.
Even though you've got 70mpg official fuel economy
it's worth bearing in mind that in our real-world test the C220 CDI didn't do quite as well –
it got around 47mpg. To see all of our True MPG tests
check out on the dedicated part of the website right here. The latest version of this car is
naturally far too new to have appeared in any of our used customer satisfaction surveys
so far, but Mercedes
has good form in that area. The previous version of this car, for example,
came fourth. It gets a good amount of safety kit as well.
All C-Classes get seven air bags as standard but they also get a system that
senses if you're about to crash
and applies the brakes for you. As far as the rest the equipment is concerned
every single car gets a good amount of kit. The basic model in the range
is the SE – this comes with 16-inch alloys, climate control, cruise control,
a reversing camera, rain-sensing wipers, and a DAB digital radio.
However, we would recommend you step up to Sport trim, which costs
an extra couple of grand but it gets 17-inch alloy wheels,
upgraded interior trims, heated sports front seats,
front and rear parking sensors and those
split-folding rear seats. Top of the range is the AMG-line, which costs
a further one and a half grand. It adds 18-inch wheels, an AMG body kit,
leather trim on the dashboard, sport suspension and
steering-wheel-mounted paddles on the automatic versions.
As I said at the start some buyers in this class really do want their car to
be a little bit of everything and if you are after something that is fun to drive
then to be honest, this probably isn't the one for you. The BMW 3 Series,
and Audi A3 do that
a bit better than the C-Class. It gets a little bit better when you look at
practicality and running costs
but where this car really shines is in that cabin.
It also gets a high level of safety kit and a great level
equipment. It's not quite at the top of its class but it is
right up there. For more information search for Mercedes C-Class
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