LuxuryCarMagazine En Luxury Car Review and News
If the Mercedes-Benz C-Class was ever worried that it’d have some of its thunder stolen now that there are two models that start below it in the North American market (and thus, two more options for people looking to Benz on a budget), well, it needn’t have.
Review Overview
Styling - 80%
Driving Pleasure - 80%
Performance - 85%
Driving Comfort - 85%
Interior Space - 70%
Fuel Economy - 70%
Winter - 90%
80%
Indeed, all the arrival of the new B-Class in 2012 and the CLA-Class last year has done was force Mercedes to up the game with the C-Class. They’ve done that, in spades.
I was impressed when I first sampled this car at the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada’s (AJAC) Canadian Car of the Year competition—where I sampled the four-cylinder C300, as opposed to the V6 turbo-powered C400 seen here—and, stepping into this car, about four months later, I was impressed all over again.
First of all, the styling; I liked the edginess of the last car, but the elegant baby S-Class lines of this new one are great for slightly different reasons. Yes, the rear end’s a little soft, but the multi-spoke wheels, deep front fascia and twin-bar grille are really, really well carried-out.
Great interiors are kind of a “thing” with Mercedes, but whether it’s because the interiors in both the CLA, the B (throw in the GLA, too) are quite a step-down quality-wise (making the C look much better as an offshoot), or because they’ve really done their best to channel the S-Class this time ‘round, the materials used, the styling and the lighting is top notch.
The dash looks sharp, as do the door cards and instrument cluster, but if there was one specific area that really showcases the C400’s interior talent, it’s the area on the doors above the seat controls. The brushed aluminum finish on said controls, the jeweled Burmeister door speaker (the Burmeister system is part of the $4,500 Premium Package, which also adds navigation, active park assist and Sirius satellite radio) and the brushed aluminum window and mirror controls below is incredibly well implemented. The way it all forms a gorgeous contrast with the white stitching over black leather looks much more baby S-Class than it does entry-level Benz. Fantastic.
The seats don’t disappoint, either; these are some heavily-bolstered numbers that hug the hips, and while they don’t have the active bolstering seen elsewhere at Mercedes-Benz, I hardly missed that feature.
The seats, along with that fantastic, thickly-padded and leather-wrapped steering wheel (that vibrates if you begin to waver out of your lane) do well to provide a strong seating position with a nice view out over the long-ish hood ahead, impeded only by the infotainment screen. That, if I may, is really the one glaring weakness I found with the set-up; that screen looks very tacked-on, as if it was done at some aftermarket audio-visual retailer, and is exactly the same set-up you see on the likes of the CLA. It’s almost as if Benz finished work and was like “oops! Forgot the infotainment screen! Let’s get it on there.”
At least the system is easy to navigate (indeed, it’s easier to navigate than previous, that’s for sure) thanks to the touchpad mounted just aft of the control wheel on the centre console. This is the exact same system seen in the highest-po of Mercedes models, and it’s quite intuitive.
You can either use the touchpad to swipe from icon to icon on-screen, or you can do so with the scroll wheel (there are also toggle switches mounted either side of it for your drive modes and volume). The latter, however, is half-hidden by the touchpad, which suggests that it may not be long for this world. I also wish they’d change the colour key; I’ve sampled many Mercedes with this infotainment system, and I still have trouble seeing whish menu item is selected and which is it, thanks to the monochromatic colours.
The smaller info screen between the gauges, however, is fantastically sharp and coloured; it stands out even more so thanks to the dark tach and speedo either side of it. It’s also easy to navigate thanks to steering-wheel mounted controls. There’s a lot of tech in here.
There’s also a lot of engine under the hood; in C400 guise, you get a 329 hp, 354 lb.-ft. turbocharged V6 mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. The one issue I had with the 4-cylinder C300 when I originally sampled it was that, like other Benzes with a similar transmission/engine combination, I found the two took time to get on the same page. The V6, on the other hand, works in unison with the 7-speed for some mighty forward progress.
Peak torque is available at 1,600 r.p.m., where it continues to spirit you forward until 4,000 r.p.m., an adventure that’s made that much more intense by selecting “Sport” mode for the engine settings; then, the throttle mapping becomes more intense, the gearbox allowing for higher revs and performing quicker changes. The steering can also be adjusted, as can the damper stiffness assuming you’ve selected the $2,800 Sport Package, which also provides 19-inch AMG-style wheels wrapped in performance rubber, special floor maps and other interior trimmings.
If you’ve set everything to “Sport”, the C400 becomes a completely different animal that is much more eager to perform than the relatively buttoned-up interior suggests.
We’ve talked about the accelerative forces, but the handling is something I’ve never seen from a C-Class. Used to be that the BMW 3 Series was the handling benchmark for the segment, but this new C-Class has really given it something to think about. Then, when you’re happy to slow things down, the Airmatic dampers also make for a softer, quieter ride.
Yes, it’s not hugely economical in the fuel sense (we saw 13.6L/100km combined city/highway), and the rear seats are a little snug, but the new C-Class is, overall, a fantastic car absolutely befitting of the Mercedes name.
