Mercedes-Benz C200 2008 Review

Road Test

Overall rating: 4.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.5/5.0
Safety: 4.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.5/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

About our ratings

It might be a surprise to those who remember the original 190E from 1984 as a 'small Mercedes', but its direct descendant is now wider, higher and heavier than the 'full-size' E-Class from a decade ago. As C-Class buyers have matured, so has the car itself.

Released last year, the new C-Class, in its latest W204 guise has had an immediate ameliorating effect on sales of the mid-size Benz. Buyers seem to have taken the new car to heart, revelling in its mini-S Class look and imposing presence.

The styling is fairly conservative, and certainly does draw upon the larger Benz models for some inspiration, but other than the tail lights which look unfinished to this tester's eye, the C-Class is a handsome looking contraption.

From the C-pillars forward, it looks larger than a medium car, but the stubby boot keeps it within a smaller footprint. This is where the C-Class has headed in respect of packaging -- using the same W124 E-Class comparison as noted above, the C is nearly 200mm shorter overall, but only 40mm shorter in the wheelbase. That leads to comparable or better spaciousness inside the car -- but probably at the expense of boot space and luggage capacity. That said, at 475 litres, luggage capacity still betters the car's principal competitor, the BMW 3 Series sedan (450 litres).

For this review, two models were tested: the C 200K in the optional Elegance level of trim, and the base model Classic variant of the C 220 CDI. Both cars, even with additional options fitted to the C 200K, remained below $70,000 and constitute good value. To get into a six-cylinder C-Class (C280), buyers will have to stump up another $15,000-20,000. The C 320 CDI is more expensive again.

The C 200K is fitted with a 1.8-litre supercharged four-cylinder engine, developing 135kW of power and 250Nm of torque. At 125kW, the C 220 CDI with its turbocharged four-cylinder diesel produces less power than the petrol model, but compensates with 400Nm of torque.

The C 200K's engine has a bass note across the rev range. Whilst it's no Alfa, it sounds stronger than a lot of four-cylinder engines, especially at higher revs. As far as power and torque are concerned, it's a very good mix of both across the rev-range. Power delivery is pretty much seamless, as you would expect from a supercharged engine, so the C 200K usually feels more responsive than its small engine displacement would suggest.

Turbo-lag associated with the C 220 leaves the diesel behind the C200K from a standing start. Drivers expecting the same immediate response from the diesel as from the C 200K could be at risk, negotiating right turns across gaps in the traffic for example. That said, most drivers will quickly learn the C 220's performance characteristics and drive accordingly.

When the turbodiesel’s boost does bite, the tail will twitch just a little during cornering before the ESP takes control. The way the C 220 delivers its torque is not only less linear than the C 200K, it's even more sudden than other turbodiesels, such as the Volvo S40. Once the diesel's turbo is prodded into life, the engine certainly gives its all and provides substantially more performance than the C 200K, but a lot of people will initially feel more at home with the petrol engine.

The diesel was more effective in-gear or at open road speeds, however, the turbo lag being less noticeable. This characteristic will likely be the deciding factor for buyers.

Both cars are refined and perform well. The diesel is bound to be more economical around town, but there are those minor performance compromises that go with that. If more of your driving is on the freeway, you'd probably pick the C 220 -- although there's really not much in it.

Both cars were fitted with five-speed automatic transmissions. When more expensive Mercedes models are adopting seven-speed boxes, frankly the five-speeder is starting to show its age.

In both cars, the transmission offered a sequential shift facility and, as we've come to expect from Mercedes-Benz, this feature works very well. It's easy to use and intuitive for most drivers. With familiarity, the driver can achieve that balance of 'pre-selection' for engine braking when required.

Detracting from that virtue, the rest of the gearbox is just not up to the sort of standard normally associated with Benz. The actual gear changes are slow and slurred. It's not just about the time spent changing gear (although that is protracted too), but even the time taken by the transmission's ECU deciding that it should change gear.

It's like the adaptive shift mapping for the ECU has summed you up as a hoon who wants to hold a lower gear, even after what seems like several seconds since you've pulled the selector across to the right to shift up a gear. On one occasion, changing from D to R, the C 220's transmission waited so long before the clunk that indicated Reverse had been selected, that the driver thought the car was still in neutral.

And, the adaptability of the transmission only goes so far. The more intelligent the box becomes, the more dependent the driver becomes and then, when least expected, the transmission fails to read the driver's mind. Accelerating hard to traffic lights that suddenly change, forcing the driver to brake moderately hard will result in the transmission changing to a higher gear with the brakes applied and the engine still revving at relatively higher revs -- with an accompanying almighty thump, which is a bit unseemly in a Mercedes.

Nor will the transmission readily change down when the driver accelerates in a higher gear (approaching lights as they change to green, for example). There's a lot of 'labour-intensive' vibration from the engine when this happens, because the transmission will not change down and the engine is working at a speed below or around 1500rpm. That's the C 200K petrol engine too, not just the C 220 diesel...

Dynamically then, the transmission is the weak link. But everything else about the C-Class is virtually beyond reproach.

Handling and steering are safe and predictable. At freeway speeds, the steering is almost too light, but can be held on course very easily. We felt that the steering seemed to load up a bit quicker with the diesel, but it didn't have any appreciable effect on handling and roadholding otherwise.

The front suspension doesn't soak up large bumps, such as speed humps, as well as we’d have liked. At the rear the suspension is more compliant, yet thanks to its innovative self-adjusting damping, it doesn't suffer from the sort of squirm that plagued earlier Benz models.

Combining the steering with the firm suspension, the C-Class is obviously set up more for open road touring than just around-town dawdling, but it copes very well with either.

First impressions inside the C-Class are positive. Both cars delivered on their promise with minor items that show attention to detail and careful accommodation of the buyer's requirements.

There's an additional internal door lock switch on the front passenger's door -- as well as on the driver's -- so either driver or front-seat passenger can lock the car rapidly, if need be. The cupholder in the centre console has a sliding lid, which presumably doubles as a pincer on one side of the cup or bottle. Because the cupholder is also a narrow and long tray, the sliding cover can hold one or more cups in place. For the McDonalds drive-through test, it would hold one standard-size Maccas cup and two 'pop-tops'.

Another feature that is fairly intuitive to use and yet provides a broad repertoire of settings is the HVAC system. The graphics are self-explanatory and where a picture isn't worth a thousand words (as in the 'Mono' setting which resets from dual-zone mode to single-zone) Benz makes do with a word.

Trimmed in Piano-black finish with coordinating chrome highlights, the C 220 CDI Classic looked classier than the more expensive woodgrained Elegance-equipped C 200K, but also showed finger prints any time and in almost any light.

Like many features in the C-Class, the front seats can be readily configured for a comfortable driving position without endless mucking around. For the size of the car and given its RWD layout, there's also substantial room in the back.

It always sounds obsessive to comment ceaselessly about something like cruise control, but the system in the C-Class is so easy to use and features an integrated speed limiter function and two-stage cruise setting. Dragging the stalk up or down one step will reduce the speed by an increment of 1km/h. The second stage will reduce or increase speed to the next 10km/h increment.

That means that the second stage speed setting of the cruise control more or less conforms to standard speed restrictions. When running in 'cruise' mode, the car also applies brakes on downhill stretches to keep the speed in check… All of which is a boon to maintaining a road speed within the restrictions set by state governments.

There is a problem, however, the control stalk probably should be located where the indicator stalk is and vice versa. The indicator stalk is not where you would expect to find it if you keep your hands at '10 to 2' position and drivers would expect to use the indicators more frequently than the cruise control.

Instruments are clear and easy to read, but the speedo needle is rather thick and -- in our speed-conscious regime -- could put you the couple of klicks over the limit and liable for an on-the-spot fine.

There are about three different ways to change the radio station and one of them, COMAND -- the Benz version of iDrive -- is the one we dispensed with as impractical, ponderous and largely pointless. That said COMAND comes into its own at higher levels of specification when satnav and so on are accessed via the control and screen

The other two means of changing the audio settings are by the buttons on the left spoke of the steering wheel or at the audio head unit interface itself.

Equipped with the optional Vision Package, the C 200K offered a glass sunroof, bi-xenon headlights and a premium audio system for $4500.

Overall, the C-Class gets our seal of approval. It's almost clairvoyant in many ways, frequently anticipating what the driver demands of it and working well on those occasions, but the automatic transmission needs to do a refresher course in crystal ball-gazing.

Depending on their requirements, different drivers will opt for one of these models over the other. If torque is everything or fuel economy counts, buy the C 220 CDI, but ultimately, we preferred the C 200K for its responsiveness and the engine's aural qualities. Now if we could get it in black with the Piano Black and chrome interior...

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