far2000

A touch of class

By Richard Whitehead
Frumpy’s the word I’ve often been inclined to use when it comes to describing most of the last generation of Mercedes saloons. Very capable, obviously; comfortable and carrying an aura of prestige, definitely; but the sad truth is that many Mercs have often been as frumpy as a school ma’am’s taste in tweed tunics.
For me, the feminine lines and olde-worlde interiors of the Mercedes cruisers have for so long left me craving for a ticket to other German destinations. While the Silver Star has always produced excellent automobiles, they have so often missed out on a killer aspect to them, in my opinion: you could never before have described a Merc as being funky.

But times change and the new C-Class bears testimony to this. There! I can’t believe I’ve said it. But it’s so true.
It’s strange how Germany’s prestige three regulate themselves so well. Audi, BMW and Mercedes always seem to be engaged in a perennial game of catch-up, to push the benchmark forward. If this had been the policy employed by the British car industry in the ‘Seventies, as opposed to its move to corporate homologation, England’s green and pleasant would be in a completely different position to how it is now.
You’ve got to hold your hat up to the way the Germans play off the strengths of their domestic rivals to provoke real progress in their auto business. It goes in cycles: Mercedes innovates and leaves Beemer behind; BMW realises it has a fight on its hands and gets down to business to edge in front; all the while, Audi does its own stuff very nicely indeed. The thing about the car sector in Germany is that no room for complacency is permitted.
So this time, Mercedes has fought back hard over recent years and come out with a world-beating range to blow BMW right out of the market. Against the new GL-Class, the Bavarians have nothing to compete, meanwhile, the ML kicks the X5 hard up the tail pipe; the S-Class, with its world of innovation, stuns the 7-Series into submission and now the new C-Class shows just how silly the 3-Series really is.
Mercedes hasn’t just gone on the attack, it’s unleashed a blitzkrieg square-on, and landed its smart-bombs right on target.
I’ve got to admit I was very fond of the old, old 190, the forerunner to the C. Launched 25 years ago, it’s not hard to believe what a design classic it was, with the way it still looks clean and modern today. At the time of its release, its somewhat radical appearance paved the way for how a new generation of Mercedes would look. Externally, at least, it combined the traditional cues of the brand since the year dot, with a bold, upright radiator grille and trademark shape, but the curves and modern poise marked it as a harbinger for the carmaker’s future designs.
A whopping $600 million had been spent on researching and developing the new baby of the fleet, and the whole project was viewed as a necessary gamble by Mercedes HQ: until that time, the carmaker had occupied a staunch position in the larger, more prestigious market and a lack of interest by the public in the 190 would have been sure to spell corporate doom, both financially and as far as the company’s reputation was concerned. Merc admitted the car was “massively over-engineered” in their attempt to give it credibility; but forced to give it greater performance to match the quality of the build, they got in contact with super-tuners Cosworth to come up with a fire-breather: in alliance they came up with a basic 2.3-litre four-cylinder version, which pumped out 72 horsepower more than the stock motor, and set three speed records at Nardo, averaging 154 km/h over 50,000 km.
The first C-Class proper was introduced in 1993, as a replacement to the 190 – which had sold an enormous 1.8 million units – and was the entry-level Merc until the baby A-Class came along five years later. The first C – known by Mercedes internally as the W202 – quickly became the company’s best-selling range of cars.
The W203 arrived in 2000, with a much sportier look to the compact saloon, and featured for the first time the Sportcoupé, a three-door liftback, designed to counter the BMW Compact. This, though, will not for the time being be brought to the new W204 range – thankfully, to some observers.
And three generations on since the old 190, we have a compact saloon that is every bit as striking as the 190 was in its time.
Valencia was the location for the start of the drive and Benidorm was the finishing line: a strange combination, given Mercedes’ undoubted prestige. Usually, when a car is launched, press from around the world are invited to view it in a setting that’s regarded as most befitting of the vehicle’s status. For example, we tested the Maserati Quattroporte Automatica in Monte Carlo, the iconic principality nestled between France and Italy and the undoubted manor of such a mystical marque.

Valencia, on the other hand, is a grim industrial city on Spain’s east coast that is overrun with tower blocks and urban decay. A great place to leave.
Benidorm, on the other hand is the fabled summer home of Britain’s white trash. Brash and blighted, the Mediterranean resort made its name in the early ‘Seventies when the Brits discovered the joy of package holidays for the first time and flocked, in their tens of thousands, to a purpose-built resort city filled with what are now crumbling apartment towers and fish and chip shops.
Those were the days when the British traveller had a deep suspicion of anywhere further afield than Llandudno on the north Welsh coast. These early pioneers of travel were noted for their determination to bring with them suitcases full of English bread, cheese and Branston Pickle because they “don’t trust none of that foreign muck.”
Still to this day, Benidorm is filled with “traditional English pubs”, curry houses and newsstands carrying The Sun, an edition of which is actually printed in the town.
Not very Mercedes, but the countryside in between the two cities is stunning, and perfectly placed to show just how good the new C-Class is.
The fourth generation of this old favourite now comes with two faces: the Avantgarde and the Elegance. Essentially only differing aesthetically, the former is the sportier version with a big star on a bold grille, while the latter has a more demure snout with the badge standing proud on the bonnet. Of these two editions, three engine variants – the 2.0-litre straight-four, the 2.8-litre V6 and the 3.5-litre V6 – are available for the Middle East market.
For me, the lines are everything. My main problem with the last edition was that the shape was too stately, curved and generic within the Mercedes range. With this facelift, the same could definitely not be said again. Crisp and modern, while still retaining the characteristic Merc shape, my first impression was thus: it was distinctive, fresh and contemporary. This is the way to go.

The crimped lines on the bonnet are inch-perfect, as they are on the rising waistline along the flanks, and give a real feeling of movement. The front end, though, is where it’s all happening, and the rounded head- and fog-lamps either side of the split-level radiator and air intakes give a perfect feeling of balance. Upstream, at the rear, the small, curved light clusters enhance the boldness of the boot sill and the overall impression given by the shape is of compaction: of a much bigger car squeezed into a far smaller frame. You feel like you’re getting into something very substantial that is belied by its paper dimensions.
I’ve always had a problem with Mercedes interiors. Be it the fabrics, the plastics or just the overall layout, I have been forever left underwhelmed. That is, until this latest generation of vehicles. It seems that the designers have endured a similar impression and tried to give less of a feeling of a cosseting living room and more that of the cockpit of a precision instrument. Frumpy can no longer be used to describe the C-Class’s interior.
Instead, it’s space-age, with wonderful angles and sweeps of fascia. The seats are coddling but don’t look faffy; the dash is modern – not unlike the most recent range of Volvos with their brand of Ikea modernity in the instrument panel – well sculpted and beautifully chiselled, like the sweep of a Black Forest hillside; the centre console is basic and functional, but not cheap like that in a BMW. There is still the trademark netting for storage that has blighted Mercedes for donkeys’ years, but that can be forgiven as a wonderful contrast to the modernity of the cabin.
Up front, there’s more room than you would ever expect, and you can really stretch out in the front seats. The position of the driver’s seat has been raised slightly and shoulder and elbowroom has been increased. In the rear, although tall passengers would politely ask the front-seat incumbents to power forward a little, the space has been increased over the previous model and is adequate and the seats are supportive. The boot, too, will fit quite a bit. I don’t think many Germans play golf, but if they did, there’s enough room for a set of clubs per person, no doubt. This can be extended with the split-folding bench seats at the back.
The newly developed front seats are equipped with lumbar support for the driver and are electrically adjustable for cushion height and backrest angle. These settings and others, such as the steering wheel position, head-rest height and wing-mirror angle, can be stored by the optional memory package. Also available at extra cost is the multi-contour seat that has adaptive air chambers.
The ambience is heightened further by the new optional panoramic sliding roof, which provides a continuous glass area from the windscreen to the rear window. A newly developed air deflector helps the interior to remain almost draught-free when the roof is open.
Available as an option, the Comand APS control and display system combines audio, telephone and navigation system controls in a single unit. With this digital consol sweeping out of the fascia, Audi-style, and a newly developed interface, this is a very user-friendly way of commanding the car’s electronics. The 7-inch display is at the same level as the dashboard and is controlled by a switch next to the centre armrest, while key functions can also be called up by means of a voice recognition function.

The destination input section of the navigation system has whole-word recognition capability for all place names and road names, while a stored telephone number can be dialled simply by saying the name associated with it, and if you want to, the system will even read out your SMS messages. Bluetooth functionality is also integrated to allow safe hands-free mobile phone operation and the DVD player is compatible with CDs and MP3 files too, while over 500 music tracks can be stored on the hard disc of the navigation system.

And the quality’s there, if you ever doubted it. There are no rattles or creaks or grinds: if there were, you would take it straight back to the dealership because Mercedes doesn’t ever deal in rattles, creaks and grinds. Every surface is flush and well-fitting, while the switchgear gives you the thunk you need if you are a proud Mercedes owner.
I tried the 3.0 and the 3.5-litre V6 variants and was delighted with what they offered me. When I make a purchase, much to my chagrin, it must always be for the top of the range – just ask my bank manager. But he will be delighted that, unusually for a car, the smaller engine is far better suited to the C-Class. While the 3.5 was a little too much, too lusty for the frame, the 3.0 was lithe and responsive along the mountain roads that border the Spanish end of the Mediterranean.
It’s true that the vehicle I was driving came equipped with the optionally available Advanced Agility package, but still it drove better than the 3.5, which itself wasn’t half-bad. This package offers even more sophisticated handling technology with special sports mode – that will be available later this year – which allows you to adjust the vehicle’s handling at the touch of a button, and an electronically controlled damping system that constantly adjusts to the driving situation and the condition of the road. This makes for a smoother ride, increases handling safety and, above all, makes the car more agile.
When you subscribe to this option, the C-Class is lowered by 15 mm and has noticeably more dynamic handling thanks to the modified spring and damper set-up. The package also includes speed-sensitive power steering that has a sportier feel and conveys an even greater sense of control. With sports mode selected, the system not only adjusts the firmness of the damping but also sharpens the accelerator response, assuming, of course, that you are in the mood for it. Otherwise, you can simply choose the comfort mode and enjoy a particularly smooth and comfortable ride.
The 3.0 I drove also came with the optional happy-flappy manual paddles to complement the seven-speed automatic transmission. Normally, I’m not much of an aficionado of this type of driving, but in this case, they become addictive. Response time was pretty instantaneous and the winding hillside roads were the perfect setting for them. The transmission, on the whole, was peerless.
The V8 had a choral tone to it and would have complemented any Mozart of Schubert you had selected to play on the premium sound system. The powerplant has grunt and guts and wonderful transfer, and loves to rev. 231 bhp is the tally, and is more than enough to get the C-Class motoring, while maximum torque, at 221 lb-ft, is provided across a lengthy rev band. Meanwhile, the 3.5-litre version adds another 41 bhp over the 3.0, and can accelerate to 100 km/h in just 6.3 seconds.
Fuel economy is a big deal these days, and Mercedes has addressed the issue with V6 engines that use four precisely adjustable camshafts whose position can be optimised in line with changing requirements. This system ensures that the engines are always provided with exactly the right amount of fuel for the driving situation. Incidentally, the six-cylinder versions can be identified by their twin-pipe exhaust system. For me the perfect combination is the 3.0-litre V6 with the Avantgarde trim package.
This look, with its three bright silver louvres on the radiator and dominant star set in the centre make it stand out from the crowd. A range of chrome highlights on the bumpers, wings and doors emphasise the sleek profile of the C-Class, while eye-catching touches include a polished aluminium shoulder-line trim strip and the chrome band around the car.
I’ll leave the meatier engine to those who need a little extra oomph and settle for something that adds perfect poise to the alliteration. This is a driver’s car, and as we know from Formula One racing, you only want what it takes to take you to the peak – anything else is wastage.
And this is particularly so when the overall package is so sublimely good. It seems that the people at Mercedes haven’t had one bad idea in the design of this car. Everything does its job perfectly and there’s nothing spare that’s just added on for the sake of it – apart from those netting stores.
In fact, the netting is the only throwback to the frumpiness of the C-Class of years gone by. There’s a reason why this model has been so successful, and now, with this incarnation, it surpasses the previous ones to the nth degree; there’s no reason why it won’t pummel the woeful 3-series – its traditional prey – squarely in the ground. Just ask Dubai Police: they’ve already ordered a load of Mercs.

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