Life is just great in the new Mercedes estate

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Friday, December 09, 2011

We tested the latest face-lifted C-Class Mercedes saloon recently and found it to be a very pleasing machine indeed, but then we tried the Estate version and found it to be even better again.

There was not too much different between the cars in terms of mechanicals or specification, but the Estate really appealed for a variety of reasons — looks, practicality and so forth.

Overall, though, the reasons I preferred the Estate simply came down to personal choice.

The current C-Class restored Mercedes to the top table in the compact executive segment. Previous incarnations of the car had seen it slip badly in terms of quality to its main rivals from Audi and BMW.

Mercedes addressed this matter robustly and the latest version of the car restored the car’s reputation as smooth-riding, spectacularly styled and built to a very high standard.

The saloon is a fine machine and one I particularly liked, but the Estate version for some reason really appealed to me.

We tested the C200 CDI version in Avantgarde BlueEFFIENCY trim — the exact same as the saloon we tried.

Obviously both cars were pretty much the same when it came to performance and economy what with their 100kW (134 bhp) output, 360Nm of torque, 9.6 second 0-100kph time and a top speed of 209kph.

It will also return some 4.8 l/100km on the consumption front.

All things good there, then, and there could be few quibbles about how this Merc goes about its business.

It is also a very decent on-road proposition; mildly adaptive damping provides a truly cosseted ride and are very supple even on some very poor surfaces.

The C-Class estate also changes direction with alacrity, grips really well and does not roll about the place much.

Mercedes takes obvious pride in the fact it has done a lot of work to bring the interior of this car up to the standards others have set.

The whole dashboard has been revamped and, while still being very easy to live with, is now more pleasing on the eye.

The company has also revamped its use of interior plastics and almost all the surfaces have been upgraded to make them not only better to look at, but also to touch and feel.

Like many cars in the class, the C-Class is best with no more than four adults on board — the fifth has to cope with tight space and a large transmission tunnel.

However, with just four people, things are very civilised indeed and with the amount of room available in the boot (which is as big as anything else on offer in the class) will swallow their luggage with ridiculous ease.

Standard equipment levels are very good, although the car tested did boast optional extras such as LED intelligent lights, parktronic and metallic paint, but these also added considerably to the overall cost.