Mercedes-Benz C200 2010 Review

Mercedes-Benz C200 CGI & C250 CGI

What we liked
>> Livewire engines, especially C250
>> Ride/handling/steering mix
>> Equipment upgrades

Not so much
>> C200 sometimes works hard on the hills
>> Transmission stymies engines
>> Oversize tiller

C250 Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 4.0/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 3.0/5.0

C200 Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 4.0/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 3.0/5.0

About our ratings

Suffice to say now it's even more complex. Witness the two new C-Class models before you. The C200 CGI, here to replace the C200K, is actually powered by a 1.8-litre four, while the C250 CGI, a newcomer filling the gap between the entry level four and the upscale V6s, is powered by... a 1.8-litre four.

It's a reflection of what Benz, BMW and Audi are all doing: using the same engine in retuned form to differentiate between entry and upper spec models. This has several benefits for consumer and manufacturer alike. It keeps engine capacity down in faster cars, which helps keep fuel consumption and emissions down. And it helps the makers with production efficiency, since it's much easier to rewrite ones and zeros on a keyboard than rejig foundry equipment to make multiple blocks, pistons, rods, cranks and the like.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
-- Same price, more equipment
The arrival of the new C200 CGI and C250 CGI badges are the most obvious evidence of what is a major midlife upgrade for Benz's volume range.

In addition to the new engines' arrival, rather than drop list prices, Benz has used the federal government's tariff reductions to add more kit to each model while maintaining the existing prices.

The marque's choice of equipment upgrade was determined by the most popular options on the superseded model, for example the Avantgarde-style front end with the star emblem integrated into the grille.

For an unchanged $57,900 plus ORCs, the base C200 CGI sedan's standard equipment list has swollen to include new 17-inch five-spoke alloy wheels, a driver's knee airbag, pop-out double cupholders and a 60:40 splitfold rear seat. Benz says this amounts to an extra $3089 worth of gear.

The $65,900 C250 CGI's standard equipment list adds Daimler's COMAND APS entertainment and satnav system with single-disc CD/DVD player and a wheel upgrade to 18-inch five-spoke alloys.

Where the C200 model line stops at Elegance specification, the C250 extends to the top-end Avantgarde. Estate versions add $1890 to the sedan price.

MECHANICAL
-- New turbo fours bring improvements in performance, economy, emissions
Big things have happened under the C-Class bonnet, evidenced first by the shift from belt-driven supercharging to exhaust-driven turbocharging. Externally, it's denoted by the CGI badging -- it stands for 'charged gasoline injection'.

Both cars have the same 1796 cc direct-injected four. In base C200 CGI form, it works up the same 135kW as the supercharged C200K it supersedes. But a completely new torque curve adds 20Nm, taking it to a 270Nm peak, and brings it on much earlier -- at a low 1800rpm instead of the old model's 2800.

They're the figures that matter in providing a ready reckoner of the engine's tractability and the car's driveability. The C200 CGI hits 100km/h in 8.2 seconds, down from 8.6. The new engine cuts the C200's fuel consumption by 0.7L/100km to a combined 7.3L/100km, while CO2 emissions are down from 189 g/km to 171g/km.

The C250 CGI uses the same engine and five-speed transmission, but tweaked to push power to 150kW and torque to 310Nm, the latter available from 2000rpm. It reduces the 0-100 km/h sprint time to 7.4 seconds.

Benz claims combined-cycle fuel consumption of 7.7L/100km and CO2 emissions of 180g/km.

PACKAGING
-- On the surface, it's business as usual
This is a midlife makeover for the W204 platform with plenty of significant updates and upgrades under the skin, but little has changed in the presentation of the C-Class from what's been around since 2007.

Although the new model is recognisable by its badging, the standard Avantgarde style grille and wheel upgrade, the C-Class offering remains essentially the same. Extra practical touches come standard, care of the cupholders and the splitfold rear seat.

These are also the first C-Class models to bear Blue Efficiency badging, denoting a package of technologies to cut weight, drag and rolling resistance. Weight reductions come care of new windscreen glass and more efficient firewall noise insulation.

Underbody and side mirror aerodynamics have been improved, wind resistance has been cut via smoother connections of front-end parts. The grille has been partly blanked to cut airflow into the engine compartment, lowering wind resistance and helping the engine reach operating temperature faster. Intelligent ancillaries like the power steering pump help boost energy management efficiency by operating only when needed, while lightweight, low-friction components reduce demand on the engine.

SAFETY
-- Driver gets kneebag
Safety has always been a primary element of the Mercedes-Benz premium. This round of C-Class models expands an already comprehensive safety package with the addition of a knee airbag for the driver, standard from the base model up.

This takes the airbag count to nine, with front bags for driver and front passenger, side bags front and rear and full length curtains.

For more details read our original launch review of the W204 series C-Class.

ON THE ROAD
-- It's all good bar the transmission
Both new engines are willing workers but, pushing along 1585kg they need to be. Even though peak torque arrives admirably low in the rev range, both engines spin happily out past 6000 rpm, making enough noise to help preserve the Benz characteristic of being faster than they feel.

The five-speed transmission remains a letdown, probably more noticeable here than in the superseded C200 because of the engine improvements. It's adequate for puttering in from Pfaffenhofen to Ulm for shopping, and it did its job on the undemanding freeway parts of this local drive program. But once off the freeway and into the hills and dales around Daylesford and Mt Macedon, it was out of its comfort zone, often feeling unsettled and confused.

Both engines have enough midrange shove for clean, unfussed overtaking. While the C250 fared reasonably in Sport mode, the C200 was given to the occasional yell of protest. Both are best left in auto, with the east-west manual mode neither particularly inviting or responsive.

All this is a particular pity in the case of the livewire C250, which might snatch a fair number of buyers away from the six-cylinder models if it shared their much better seven-speed transmission.

The bigger alloys don't do anything for the ride, especially the 18-inchers on the C250. But the W204 generation C-Class has plenty going for it in its ride/handling/steering mix, so there was enough margin in it for a bit of extra ba-doink.

For this driver it wasn't hard to bear. What it loses to Lexus's IS250 in the potholes, it snatches back in spades on the bends. Even when the engines are starting to sound a bit frantic, the C is a composed handler.

The steering remains precise, if perhaps a bit light. And a smaller steering wheel might be a good thing.

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