You expect things from a Mercedes-Benz, writes Brian Byrne. Tradition. Excellence. Good build quality. And that whiff of something which takes a car beyond the ordinary—not necessarily tangible, but a definite sense of experience.
And I'm struggling to find it in the current C200.
Don't get me wrong. This is a good car. A very good car, probably. It has a fine engine, drives elegantly, sports the logos and lines of a Mercedes-Benz. It feels strong, and it is economical for a car in its class.But that whiff of ... something ... eludes me.
I recently wrote well of the estate variant, and part of my enthusiasm was the fact that it was a wagon. Because I've always had a gra for wagons, and it was a truly elegant example of the genre.
The saloon, of course, has its own style. And it is good-looking. But perhaps the current coupe look to the rear makes the car less distinguished, maybe even less M-B?
One can't fault the presence of the front, especially in the Avantgarde grade of the review car. A strong 3-slat grille with a large 3-pointed star logo in the centre—that's the signature of M-B's sportier cars. The lights are a cluster of strongly defined shapes, with an aggression of LED daylight running lights matching the lines of the lower air intakes.
Sidewise there are pronounced wheel arch sculpts, while a rising upper character line and a less angled lower one combine to accent a wedge element to the overall shape.
The premium details are all there. Chrome is sparing but effective around the window cage and in the door handles, for instance. Well placed at the rear too, where the car's lights are stars in an otherwise relatively plain style.
I think you need to be careful about the colour chosen for this car. The darker ones, especially the cuprite brown of the review car, make it look rather small, diminishing its overall presence.
The inside of the C200 is quite classic M-B in its overall design. Shapes, switchgear, vents and steering wheel are all familiar from various other models. The general clarity is always a pleasure experience. The brown/beige instruments theme, while a pleasant change at first, actually began to register as a little tacky by the end of my time with the car. But that might also have been a reaction to the cappucino interior colour, interesting at first but becoming a little stale after a while.
Of course, colour schemes are very personal, and I'm sure there are many for whom the review car's ambience would be just the job. The black ashwood dashboard trim I really did like.
The attention to detail in the car is excellent. The controls for windows and mirror adjustment in the driver's door, for instance, are set in a vertical component of the door pull. Much easier to see and use. The console-mounted knob to manage radio and other matters in the centre-dash screen is nicely uncomplicated.
The Bluetooth phone pairing worked quite intuitively, as it should (but too often doesn't in some cars).
And so to the powertrain. The 2.1 diesel is a new version of a familiar size, and was the 134hp variant in the review car. With the smooth autobox it offered a 9.1 seconds progress to 100km/h, not dramatic but certainly adequate. The 6.5L/km I managed over the week was spot on what the manufacturer claims, and is a healthy 43mpg equivalent. The car comes in as a B rated one for Road Tax computation.
Part of the economy achievement comes from the start/stop system, which is the default unless switched off by the driver. I still have (probably mostly psychological) a dislike of these things, but it works very smoothly in this instance.
To drive, the C200 is a pleasant experience in an accomplished motor car. A proprietory automatic suspension damping—Agility Control—soaks the harm out of a wide variety of road surfaces, and if the ‘S’ engine management programme is selected the car can be driven with a degree of verve.
There’s a lot of safety technology as standard in the modern M-B, and the C200 has its share, including a drowsiness detector. However, despite the fact that the review car was at a price point around €10,000 more than entry level, it lacked parking sensors. I believe these simple things should be a mandatory standard on any car, but that they weren’t on this version of a luxury brand car just isn’t on.
Bottom line, you can get into a C-Class saloon from €36,350, and this Avantgarde C200 logs in at €42,860. With a couple of extras, the review car rolled out at a bit over €47,000.
A very good car, no doubt about that. But where’s the magic that should sparkle the three-pointed star?
Maybe I was just having a bad week.
