C’s a BEAUTY Back to old ways, back to old values but forging its way ahead — the new C-class is dripping with promise. And it’s a whole lot of car too. |  |
It’s almost as spacious here as in the BMW 3-series we’ve been driving in India not more than a day earlier, though legroom doesn’t seem nearly as much. Still it’s only marginal. I adjust the temperature on the rear air con vent and am enjoying the mountain scenery whoosh past. Then I notice the ride quality, or rather the lack of bumps. Spain’s rural roads are in good condition, but I’m amazed to see the new C-class glide so serenely over the few bumps we encounter. We’re even running on relatively low profile tyres! How? We enter a small town and are now riding over cobblestones. Still, nothing more than a hint of jiggle, and it’s totally silent. And, true to Merc form, the cabin is beautifully insulated from the world outside, even the rumbling trucks we pass. Indian customers will love this. Mercedes-Benz has put an insane amount of effort and expense into getting the new C-class right. A massively committed exercise, even by its own lofty standards, Merc can’t afford to take any chances with the new C. Known as the W204 internally, it is likely to be their largest selling car and that means maximum effort.
To gauge the seriousness of Merc’s intent, take a quick glance at the all-new features, technology and engineering that have gone into the new C-class. Stung in the recent past with criticism of falling quality and reliability, the men and women of Stuttgart have placed an extraordinary effort into ensuring their reputation for building the best-engineered cars in the world remains intact. At the launch, I managed to have a chat with one of the chief test drivers for the programme. How thoroughly did they test the new car? “We did a cumulative 10 million miles on the test cars,” he said calmly, knowing full well the effect that number would have. A further 100 cars were crash-tested by the safety department and this is after the entire car was engineered, built and tested as a digital prototype.
This is also great news as far as the Indian market is concerned. The new C will have the requisite artillery to take on the BMW 3-series, and Merc will also get an opportunity to re-align the price of the car for this now-more competitive market. However, this new C is likely to be launched only before Diwali.
The new C also features an amazing array of technology as standard. Almost 70 percent of the car is high-strength or ultra-high-strength steel, the car is sold with seven airbags as standard and there are adaptive dampers that automatically make the suspension soft or hard, depending on road conditions – the secret to that impressive ride quality.
You can also specify Pre-Safe, the feature that prepares the car for an accident when it senses a sudden movement of the controls. Other optional features include the Linguatronic voice control system that allows you to bark out orders to the car, an advanced agility package that makes the C a very sporty drive as well as cornering lights that point the bi-Xenon headlights in the right direction. Incredibly, in a totally unprecedented move, you can also choose how your car looks! Look at the pictures and you will see two distinct grille designs that change the entire character of the car. There’s the traditional Mercedes-Benz chrome top radiator grille look, with the star standing proud on the bonnet. The overall treatment is similar to Merc’s top-of-the-line S-class. This look forms part of the ‘Elegance’ trim level which, as the look suggests, aspires to be grown up and sophisticated.
The younger, more attractive-looking version, however, is known as the ‘Avantgarde’. On this version the biggest change is the presence of a Mercedes coupe-like grille. The traditional radiator replica is ditched in favour of a massive star at the centre, with three chromed edged slats for visual support. The slats and star seem to almost pop aggressively out of the engine bay, and to some extent they do. The top horizontal slat is placed high up on the bonnet and the slats have been angled so as to best catch the light. Very similar in concept to the Merc’s S-class coupe or 500 SEC of the 1980s, this big grille gives the Avantgarde version a very aggressive, upmarket look, especially with the optional AMG body kit fitted, as on the black car. Absolutely the best part is that the grilles can be easily swapped with minimal tools. Get yourself the other grille from the spare parts store and you can be corporate and correct through the week and sporty on Saturday and Sunday. Isn’t that cool?
The rest of the wedge-shaped design on the whole is not radical or exceptional, save for the fact that it is a huge departure from the current softer and more rounded C-class. Mercedes’ new design language consists of sharp, very bold lines and open plain surfaces and this is amply displayed here. The roof is snug-fitting, the belt line is as low as your low rider Levi’s and medium-size wheel arches have also been used. The tail-lights look oversized, but don’t miss the ventilation slats in them. They take air sucked up from the underbody and push it out from the rear. This increases downforce by tearing off the turbulent airflow behind the car. A little bit of Merc magic at work here. The build quality of the car is also well up to Merc standards. The doors shut with a solid thud, seats, dash and general trim look like they will stay fresh through many years of abuse and Merc has paid particular attention to making the interiors youthful. The two-tone ‘Avantgarde’ I’m sitting in is particularly impressive to look at. There’s a sporty, small-hubbed steering wheel, a departure from the normally massive Merc ones, three large chrome-ringed dials and an incredibly well-crafted engine start/stop button in metal. The almost-flush central console is dominated by the presence of the ‘Comand’ LCD screen on top, with the standard combo of vents, stereo and air con controls down the middle. Powered seat controls are on the doors — hope they make it to the Indian version, the fit and quality of the materials is super, as good as that of the current BMW 3-series. There are a few buttons that have that light, flimsy feel Merc has been criticised for before, but even these can’t mess up the overall brilliance of the cabin.
The driving position, as on the earlier car, is somewhat offset and takes some time getting used to. Still the directness of the steering wheel helps. Both front and rear suspension get further tweaks over the earlier C-class. There are some lighter aluminium bits used on the front suspension and it has been tuned specifically to negate roll. Then, of course, there are Monroe’s adaptable dampers that are soft over sharp bumps but firm up when the car starts to roll in corners.
The earlier C-class was no slouch on a winding road and the new C takes the game further. With only marginally more weight on its front wheels and a chassis that is 16 percent stiffer, grip over winding roads is massive. The car we were driving was shod with chewing-gum-sticky Pirelli P Zero tyres and as a result it excelled. Even with the road dipping and rising, bending left, then right, the C displayed amazing composure even when driven hard. The needle may have been hovering around the 140kph mark, but the calm manner in which the C ate the road made it easy to push harder. But while grip and composure are top class, the Merc lacks the steering feel of a BMW 3-series or Alfa Romeo 159. The steering is light at expressway speeds and in town, and weighs up well in corners, but nowhere near as well as the cars mentioned earlier. Merc’s sports pack (lower suspension, stiffer dampers and faster steering) improves the overall grip and poise considerably too, but you still want more feel from the steering wheel. Especially when you need to catch that small slide; the ESP has been tuned to allow a little more leeway but now cuts in more aggressively.
When cruising at motorway speeds, the new C-class drives in a easy, unhurried manner. Like a well-balanced batsman, it has plenty of time and space to make its moves and its positive driving dynamics mean you’re always well in control of the situation. Merc has also increased the size of the rearview mirrors for better visibility. A pet Autocar India peeve with our long-term C-class in 2003. Neither the 320cdi or the 350 we drove are likely to make it to the Indian market, so there’s no point teasing you with the kind of performance there is on offer here. I’ll let you imagine what the big V6s with 52kgm of diesel power or 272bhp of petrol power can achieve in a comparatively light body. Maybe one day, someday. Come to think of it, the 320cdi diesel would actually be perfect for our market. Devastating performance and decent economy. Still model hierarchy, pinstriped suits and hours of panel discussion would soon kill the very thought.
For India, the motors are likely to remain the 200K and the 220 Cdi. And while the motors are the same outwardly, both make approximately 20bhp more each. Still more power, especially for the diesel would be nice.
The new C-class, when launched, won’t walk into India an automatic winner. It will have to box it out with the BMW 3-series and you can expect black eyes, bruised noses and gashed brows. It will be a hard-fought, take-no-prisoners fight. But this will mean you the customer will be smiling. Big match coming up.
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