Mercedes Benz C Class
If someone asked you to name a sport
sedan, your first thought probably wouldn't be a Mercedes-Benz. With
the new 2008 C-Class, Mercedes gets a little closer to that ideal in
some categories while holding fast to its classic idea of luxury —
isolation over involvement — in others.
The result is an entry-level luxury car that will appeal to fans of
the three-pointed star but won't win over diehard enthusiast drivers
the way the 3 Series has for years. While the C-Class' suspension
tuning is sport-sedan worthy, there's still too much detachment from
the road in the steering system.
Ride & Handling
Offered in Luxury and Sport variations and in rear- and
all-wheel-drive forms, the new C-Class offers a nice blend of ride
comfort and handling performance, which is one of the sedan's best
attributes. While undeniably taut — even more so than a BMW 328i
with the Sport Package — ride quality never becomes harsh; the
suspension is able to smooth out rough spots in the road without
needlessly jostling occupants.
Pushed hard on curvy mountain roads, the C-Class holds its line, and
the rear-wheel-drive model hunkers down when powering out of a turn.
Even though it exhibits some body roll when driven hard, it's not
excessive and won't deter you from driving aggressively. Choosing a
Sport version brings a sport suspension that lowers the car about
one-half inch, but compared to Luxury models there is very little
difference in ride quality between the two. The C-Class also excels
when cruising on the highway, where it feels buttoned down and very
stable.
While the new C-Class does an admirable job imitating the renowned
dynamic qualities of the 3 Series, it lags the BMW when it comes to
steering performance, mostly because it offers less road feel and
too much power assist. This makes for a less engaging driving
experience than either the 3 Series or Infiniti G35 offer. This
isn't particularly surprising, but it's unfortunate because a little
more steering feel would go a long way toward making the C-Class a
better sport sedan, as many of the other pieces are already in
place.
Going & Stopping
A 3.0-liter V-6 engine powers the C300, while the C350 gets a
3.5-liter V-6. For big horsepower fans, an AMG-tuned version of the
car — the C63 AMG — holds a 6.2-liter V-8 and hits dealerships in
spring 2008. I tested various versions of the C300
The base V-6 moves the C300 ably, if
not with authority. There's good power at low engine speeds for
accelerating from a standstill, and when teamed with the standard
seven-speed automatic transmission, the engine musters acceptable
power for passing at highway speeds. I don't always recommend a
car's base engine, but the base C-Class should offer plenty of power
for all but the most lead-footed drivers.
The seven-speed automatic transmission is the same one used in the
automaker's flagship S-Class sedan, and while its shifts were always
smooth during the course of my 200-plus mile drive, the transmission
does tend to upshift a little too readily. This keeps engine speed
lower, which has benefits like reduced fuel usage and engine noise,
but it can leave the car in the wrong gear if you need to accelerate
immediately. The transmission's Touch Shift clutchless-manual mode
will put the transmission in the appropriate gear for conditions if
you want, but it wouldn't take long for this to become tiresome.
Exacerbating the issue is the fact that you have to depress the gas
pedal quite a bit before the car recognizes that you want the
transmission to downshift. Flooring the pedal, meanwhile, will make
the transmission downshift a few gears, but sometimes you only want
to go down a single gear, and that's not always easy to do in the
C300.
The C-Class' all-disc antilock brakes felt strong for the duration
of my test drive, which included a number of long descents in the
mountains surrounding Portland, Ore. Brake pedal feel is average.
The Inside
The C-Class' cabin design is simple, purposeful and uncluttered.
Apart from the optional navigation system, which includes a screen
that motors out from the middle of the dashboard, the cabin's
styling doesn't push beyond the norms in this class. Depending on
the model, the C-Class has real wood (Luxury) or aluminum (Sport)
accents, both of which enhance the interior.
The new C-Class has a smaller version of the knob controller in the
S-Class that's used to navigate menus on the dash display. Mercedes'
system has menus that are more logical and easier to get accustomed
to than either BMW's iDrive or Audi's Multi Media Interface.
Front bucket seats with eight-way power adjustment are standard, but
the seats only have manual lumbar adjustment, unlike those of some
competitors that can have power lumbar support. Leather upholstery
is optional. With the range of power seat adjustments and a
tilt/telescoping steering wheel, it's easy to find a comfortable
driving position that affords good forward, side and rear
visibility. What's more, the front portion of the cabin doesn't have
the cramped feel of the 3 Series sedan, which is a big plus in my
book.
It's unfortunate, then, that the C-Class' seats are too firm for
long-haul comfort, as most other aspects of the driving experience
were shaping up to be favorable; after more than 3 hours at the
wheel, a dull pain had crept into the bottom of my thighs. The
C-Class' three-place rear seat is on the smallish side, with limited
legroom and headroom, but it's no worse than a 3 Series. The rear
backrest is nicely angled.
Safety
Side-impact airbags, side curtain airbags, an electronic stability
system and active head restraints for the front seats are standard.
The C-Class hasn't been crash tested as of this report.
Cargo
The C-Class' trunk has 12.4 cubic feet of cargo room. Sedans
equipped with the optional 60/40-split folding rear seat can expand
the cargo area into the rear seating area when it's not in use. As
is becoming more commonplace, the levers that release the rear
seatbacks are in the trunk, making it easy to release the seatbacks
without leaving the cargo area. The extended load floor created by
the folded seats is flat. Still, there's something irritating about
paying extra for folding seats — a feature that's standard in the
least-expensive of cars.
Features
C300 standard features include a power sunroof, one-touch up/down
power windows all around, dual-zone automatic air conditioning,
Bluetooth-based cell phone connectivity, and a CD stereo with an
auxiliary input jack for connecting portable music players. There's
also an available iPod Integration Kit that lets the driver operate
Apple's music player via steering-wheel controls. The C350 adds
additional standard features like satellite radio and heated front
seats.
Optional features include rear-biased all-wheel drive (C300 only), a
panoramic sunroof that includes a glass section over the rear seats,
and a Multimedia Package that bundles a navigation system with an
impressive Harman Kardon six-CD/DVD surround sound system. The audio
system includes a 4GB hard drive that can store around 1,000 songs
pulled from CDs or play music stored on a PC Card. You can also
watch movies on the navigation screen when the car is stationary.
C-Class in the Market
There's plenty of fresh metal in the entry-luxury segment at the
moment, what with the 3 Series, Infiniti G35 and Lexus IS all having
undergone redesigns in the past few years. All of these cars are at
different spots on the sport-sedan spectrum: the 3 Series and G35
skew toward the sporty side, while the IS and C-Class don't
gravitate there quite so assertively.
The C-Class is Mercedes' best-selling model, which makes it an
important one for the company to get right. It did get most things
right with this version, and with some softer seats and a little
more steering feel, it would have an even better car. On the whole,
the C rates better than its name suggests; I give it a B
Source www.cars.com
|
|
