Mercedes-Benz B200 2009 Review

Mercedes-Benz B 200 CVT

Road Test

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $46,200
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): metallic paint $1547; COMAND navigation $3887; Sports package $2730; Metro package $4160; Touring package $3380
Crash rating: five-star (Euro NCAP)
Fuel: 91RON unleaded
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 7.9
CO2 emissions (g/km): 195
Also consider: Kia Rondo, Peugeot 308 Touring, Skoda Roomster

About our ratings

The human eye is not always a reliable indicator of what is attractive. Too often, the brain employs populist trends to interpret what it sees. The trouble is that what may be considered beautiful one day can be considered just the opposite on the next. The visually appealing can quickly become visually offensive.

The Mercedes-Benz B-Class has never been visually offensive, but the practical family conveyance was nevertheless a major departure from traditional Mercedes family car proportions that signalled changing times for the company when it was launched here in 2005.

It followed the smaller A-Class and drove home the point that, unlike BMW, the three-pointed star was not intending to insist its cars always be rear-wheel drive.

Like the A-Class, this front-drive Benz was all about packaging -- placing the emphasis on allocating as much space as possible to passengers and luggage. But it is fair to say the B-Class put to rest some of the aesthetic and dynamic issues that plagued the original A-Class.

Building on the original sandwich-platform, upright front-drive A-Class configuration, Mercedes-Benz designers added centimetres in all directions to make the B-Class more proportionately 'happy', while increasing internal dimensions so much that the rear seat was claimed to be comparable with S-Class.

The increased wheelbase contributed significantly to not just a leap in passenger comfort, but also to improved ride quality. In this context it is somewhat better than the A-Class, which continues to be a bit of a disappointment to those accustomed to revelling in the controlled calm of large rear-drive Mercedes.

So with more acceptable-looking proportions, a genuinely spacious interior for five full-size passengers and better on-road dynamics, the Benz B-Class is much less compromised. Although its purpose is more urban family oriented than the C-Class, the B-Class comes closer to regular Mercedes-Benz expectations.

The B-Class seems bigger inside than it has any right to be. Although it's a fair bit shorter than, say, a Honda Civic, it uses its jacked-up 1604mm roof height to make plenty of room for passengers in front and rear, while still providing a thoroughly useful hatchback boot. In fact its 550-litre, seats-in-place load capacity is right up there with bigger sedans, while the seats-flat capacity is SUV-like at 1995 litres. Throwing aboard a fully assembled mountain bike is definitely a prospect.

The engine choices include 2.0-litre petrol and turbodiesel, and a 2.0-litre turbo petrol. All engines offer the choice of manual (five-speed in the normally aspirated petrol, six-speed for the turbodiesel and turbo petrol) or CVT transmissions.

For 2009, Mercedes-Benz has given the B-Class a bit of aesthetic freshening along with other changes that improve on already-impressive fuel economy, safety and driving ease.

The changes have already been detailed at hte Carsales Network (see link above) but, briefly, they include a bolder three-bar grille, new bumpers front and rear, and body coloured side mirrors and door handles. Mercedes says it has modified the bonnet slightly, as well as the taillights, but you'd be struggling to pick the changes. Inside, new upholstery fabrics and trim aim at upgrading the feel of quality.

The overall effect is to align the B-Class with other Benz models including the C-Class and S-Class, and the new E-Class. Coming at you, there's no questioning the latest B-Class is a current-generation Benz.

Additions that will spark new interest include the Benz Parktronic Active Parking Assist that is optional on B 180 CDI and B 200 and slips the car into a spot judged appropriate by scanning devices with little other than operation of brake and accelerator by the driver. Mercedes says the system will slot the car neatly in to a spot only 1.3 metres longer than the car itself.

All B-Class models also now come as standard with hill-start assist to make for easier takeoff when stopped on an uphill incline. As well, there's a new interior lighting programme that switches on in an accident, and flashing brake lights that are activated during hard braking to better warn following drivers. This is all on top of the structural design and safety gear that earned the B-Class a maximum five stars in Euro NCAP safety testing.

Our test car was a CVT-equipped B 200 optioned up with Touring (sunroof, Harman-Kardon sound system, active bi-xenon headlights), Metro (CVT transmission, Active Parking Assist, extra 12-volt power socket) and Sports packages (18-inch alloys, sports seats, leather/fabric upholstery among other things). It was an opportunity to reacquaint with a car that has been available here for nearly five years.

In that time, the B-Class has snuck ahead of the A-Class in annual sales and is a consistent if not spectacular player in the Mercedes-Benz team. As such the B-Class is a relatively familiar sight on our roads; pretty much as Benz would like it to be.

Among the first things to be noticed are that the car described somewhat ambitiously by the company as a sports tourer has none of the proportional awkwardness of the A-Class, largely because it's bigger -- although it could never be mistaken for an R-Class. There's also less of the feeling you are driving an entry-level Mercedes -- which you aren't anyway because a B-Class is never that far short of $50,000 on the road, regardless of which model you choose.

Despite Benz wanting us to think it's a sports tourer, the B 200 doesn't immediately have you thinking about narrow, winding country roads and Sunday afternoon indulgences behind the wheel. Indeed, comparisons with the A-Class, with which it shares its basic suspension, are inevitable when it comes to ride and handling.

Progressing along the freeway in a B-Class it is immediately obvious it doesn't have the nervous, short-travel ride of the A-Class. The exceptionally long (for its overall body length) wheelbase helps. There's none of the nervousness of the smaller car, although there is some of the subtle, lateral rocking motion often experienced in narrowish, high-riding cars.

It's never going to rival a C-Class but the progress is quiet and smooth enough to tell you this is no entry-level Korean hatch.

And it steers well too, even if the electromechanical speed-sensitive power steering errs on the light side. Spinning from lock to lock in 2.9 turns, the steering is accurate and responsive, helping deliver a reassuringly stable, secure experience on the road. At 11.9 metres the turning circle, once again because of the longer wheelbase, is not particularly impressive for a car of the B 200's size.

The 100kW/185Nm engine is hardly high-tech with just a single overhead camshaft and two valves per cylinder and, while it propels the car comfortably enough, is adequate rather than fast. Benz says the 2.0-litre four-cylinder develops most of its torque early (thanks partly to its long-stroke design) which helps in terms of flexibility because it rarely has the driver wanting more.

Naturally the CVT transmission, which uses a torque converter rather than a clutch to get under way, extracts the best out of the engine. Unlike some CVTs, it doesn't feel as if it's suffering massive clutch slip when being pushed and behaves even more like a conventional planetary auto gearbox when the seven-ratio "manual" mode (accessed by moving the shift lever laterally) is employed.

The B 200's quiet cruise is helped by the fact that the engine is loping along with just 1800rpm on board at 100km/h. About the only drivetrain deficit is that the accelerator needs a firm prod if the car is to accelerate off the line with any gusto.

High gearing helps the relatively heavy (around 1350kg) Benz return good average fuel consumption figures although the claimed average of 7.4L/100km doesn't quite match the up to 7 per cent economy improvements claimed by Mercedes. The previous CVT transmission B 200 was quoted at 7.5L/100km (virtually the same as the current model), while the test car averaged 8.3L/100km over about 500km.

Benz says the new four-cylinder engines are around 90 per cent below current EU exhaust emission requirements. The CVT transmission B 200 quotes a CO2 figure of 192g/km, while the manual version produces 173g/km.

The B 200's in-cabin experience, when it comes to passenger comfort, quality and equipment, is not going to leave anyone feeling short-changed. There's plenty of soft-touch vinyl, supportive seats (with full manual adjustment for driver and passenger on the test car) and, of course, the aforementioned generosity of space. Only the headroom was affected by the optional concertina sliding glass sunroof, but it was never considered inadequate even by taller passengers.

Standard equipment includes the usual array of electronic safety aids including anti-lock brakes, stability and traction control. The B-Class gets six airbags, anti-whiplash front head restraints and the new emergency brake lights and interior lighting.

The B 200 comes with the normal range of standard equipment including air-conditioning, trip computer, a six-speaker, single-disc CD sound system, and electro chromatic interior and driver's side exterior mirrors (exterior mirrors are heated as well). All models also get a tyre-pressure monitoring system that warns if one wheel is out of kilter with the rest.

So is the B-Class a good fit in the Mercedes-Benz line-up? Well, provided you are willing to accept this is a vehicle with a different focus to most "conventional" Benz models, it does offer the usual values of safety, quality and prestige. It might be a cross between peoplemover and regular five-door hatchback, but it still sits at a higher level than most in terms of snob value.

That in itself is quite enough for buyers who would not consider looking anywhere else.

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