C-Class W205 Mercedes C-Class (W205) first drive reviews

[Wunderkind]

...for 50 year olds and upwards...

: )

Mercedes has stubbornly insisted on designing its own tranny, and in my opinion to their own harm.
ZF does nothing but eat, drink, breath and sh-- tranmissions. Mercedes would be better advised to outsource and focus on their powerplants, which also could use some upgrade. I've had to listen for years to trainers and reps spew the company line about designing trannies in house. Puke!! There is a reason why the others outsource. It is because of the quality that ZF produces, and how much RD time and money can be saved.
What a shame that an otherwise spectactular car is reviewed as lacking in the drivetrain department.

I agree with you totally.

 

[Amat46]

Mercedes has stubbornly insisted on designing its own tranny, and in my opinion to their own harm.
ZF does nothing but eat, drink, breath and sh-- tranmissions. Mercedes would be better advised to outsource and focus on their powerplants, which also could use some upgrade. I've had to listen for years to trainers and reps spew the company line about designing trannies in house. Puke!! There is a reason why the others outsource. It is because of the quality that ZF produces, and how much RD time and money can be saved.
What a shame that an otherwise spectactular car is reviewed as lacking in the drivetrain department.

I sincerely hope the new 9G will be the fix for all the issues that MB is facing currently with 7G.

 

[mini_cooper4]

ZF cannot be outdone. Sachs made their ABC which has now evolved into MBC. They should have trusted ZF for their tranny too.
It's such a pity that an otherwise great car should be compromised by weak engines and transmission.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

All of a sudden the engines and transmissions are weak? Yes BMW and Audi may have the drivetrain edge currently, but some of you are carrying on like the MB offerings are runts which they most certainly aren't.

 

[mini_cooper4]

All of a sudden the engines and transmissions are weak? Yes BMW and Audi may have the drivetrain edge currently, but some of you are carrying on like the MB offerings are runts which they most certainly aren't.

They aren't runts but that's because all the rest is good. It's not all of a sudden... it has been like that for quite some time. I know that when I'm getting a Benz but sometimes the rest compensates for it... it's just that this car could have been flawless.

PS: I'm worried that early 9G's will have some problems too.

 

[Zafiro]

I drove the new C200 yesterday and the engine felt faster than those 156 hp. My biggest letdown with the car is the steering. Other than that its another good german car for us.

 

[fortuner]

Just me is that tenorite grey stunning and was it petrol or diesel you drove...What didn't you like on the steering.

 

[Zafiro]

Just me is that tenorite grey stunning and was it petrol or diesel you drove...What didn't you like on the steering.

- Petrolversion, C200. (I have to change what I said above, 184 hp and not 156 hp.)
- Tenorite grey.
This car came loaded with many things, like HUD display. So the car was kinda pricey.

There is not much feel coming through the steering wheel, it felt fake, yes its accurate but its also slow to respond to sudden moves. I was playing around with Comfort, Sport and Sport+ to hope for a difference but it didnt help. The new C-class is clearly aiming for comfort and not sport.

You can read more about my impressions here:
http://www.germancarforum.com/commu...s-benz-c-class-w205.50002/page-43#post-686473

 

[Merc1]

This about steering is hilarious.

M

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

- Petrolversion, C200. (I have to change what I said above, 184 hp and not 156 hp.)
- Tenorite grey.
This car came loaded with many things, like HUD display. So the car was kinda pricey.

There is not much feel coming through the steering wheel, it felt fake, yes its accurate but its also slow to respond to sudden moves. I was playing around with Comfort, Sport and Sport+ to hope for a difference but it didnt help. The new C-class is clearly aiming for comfort and not sport.

You can read more about my impressions here:
http://www.germancarforum.com/commu...s-benz-c-class-w205.50002/page-43#post-686473

I haven't driven the new C class yet, but I can tell you that after owning an F30, and having seat time behind a buddies A4, the F30's steering is pretty darn bad, and the A4's...lets not talk about the A4's steering.

 

[Zafiro]

I haven't driven the new C class yet, but I can tell you that after owning an F30, and having seat time behind a buddies A4, the F30's steering is pretty darn bad, and the A4's...lets not talk about the A4's steering.

I have my experience with new bimmers as well, including F30.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

I haven't driven the new C class yet, but I can tell you that after owning an F30, and having seat time behind a buddies A4, the F30's steering is pretty darn bad, and the A4's...lets not talk about the A4's steering.

Yup. Have been reading nothing but praise for MB's steering since the launch of the W204. Which is more than can be said for Audi and BMW.

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Road and Track's turn: 2015 Mercedes-Benz C400 4Matic - First Drives

When the corners came, it pulled sports-car grip numbers, but it leaned toward the outside like a whore in a packed church. It might have been a good performer, but the 190E made no pretense of sportiness whatsoever. And guess what? Mercedes sold a gob-smacking 1.9 million of the things.

As W201 was replaced by the W202, which became the Mr. Peanut-headlight W203, which eventually gave way to yesterday’s W204, and the C-Class lost all contact with its big-daddy S. It became a 3 Series clone with far too much emphasis on driver involvement (“dynamism” in Mercedes-speak) and far too little emphasis on being a luxury car. In total, 2.4 million W204s left Mercedes dealers. That’s hardly a small number, but it’s also not vastly more than the W201 did all those years ago, before luxury cars actually became mainstream.

As W204 retires, the W205 C-Class is on the horizon, set to go on sale this fall. And to put it mildly, Mercedes is back.

Just like it took a trained eye to tell the W201 from its bigger siblings, the new C looks like a shrunken S-Class. The new design language finally marks a return to the simple, elegant styling that once flowed onto Mercedes automobiles from the pens of masters Bracq and Geiger and Sacco. The C-class’ front overhang is impossibly small, its side flanks largely unadorned, and its stance at once muscular and elegant. With the exception of its in-your-face face, it’s a stunning work of restrained simplicity.

And then you open the door. Close your eyes and picture the most expensive luxury car you’ve ever been in. Then shrink it in size but not substance. That is the 2015 C-Class. Every element of its cabin is a piece of modern art.

We’ll let the photos do the talking here, but when you sit in the new C, whether up front or in back, you’re sitting in the nicest cabin in this class. The still-pretty A4 has nothing on this; the 3 Series’ best materials can’t compare to the worst in this car. Wow.

The U.S. market C-Class will come in two flavors, initially: the C300 4Matic, with a turbo four, and the C400 4Matic, with a twin-turbo V6. As their names suggest, both come with all-wheel drive, though the C300 will be available with rear-wheel drive shortly after launch. (Which, incidentally, will be late this year—and U.S.-spec C-classes will be built in the US for the first time.)

The C400’s 3.0-liter V6 pumps out 329 hp and 354 lb-ft, more than enough to move it with serious speed (assisted by weight savings of up to a claimed 220 lb, thanks to the generous use of aluminum in the W205’s structure.) The fixed-split all-wheel drive system (45% front, 55% rear) puts all of the power to the ground, all the time—wheelspin in the dry isn’t a remote possibility.

Unfortunately, the 7-speed automatic proved clumsy, slow, and clunky. And if I’m being honest, the twin-turbo V6 makes the perfect argument for its rumored straight-six replacement. Not only is it too loud and coarse, but the whiny V6 engine note doesn’t match the elegance of the rest of the car.

The better engine choice is, quite unexpectedly, the four-cylinder. Preliminary estimates peg the turbo 2.0-liter’s output at 241 hp and 273 lb-ft for the U.S. market, but the European-spec car we drove was far less powerful.

Wearing a C250 badge, the rear-drive Euro car is rated at 208 hp and 258 lb-ft and can still accelerate to 62 mph in 6.6 seconds, according to Mercedes. It is more than quick enough, and the engine is not only far quieter than the V6, its sound is far less offensive. Better yet, the C250’s transmission is smoother and quicker to respond—and it felt like it wore a half-ton less weight over the front end. Indeed the smaller engine and lack of all-wheel drive would save a good amount of pounds.

Rear- and all-wheel-drive C-Classes use steering racks from different suppliers, but they feel similar (though the rear-drive C250’s was significantly lighter.) Feedback is completely eliminated thanks to the electric power assist, but the rack’s variable ratio tightens progressively as you add lock. It’s slow enough on-center to eliminate any chance of nervousness, but then quickens naturally. It’s brilliant—and a major improvement on the nonlinear, surprise-ratio-change rack on the current SL roadster.

Our test loops consisted of roads with nary a bump on them, so we’ll have to wait until we get the C-Class on our own soil to make a final comment, but the C’s ride was exemplary. Airmatic air suspension is available as an option—but don’t be fooled into thinking the system gives a plusher ride. By using air springs, it means the C-Class won’t experience degradation in ride quality when it’s fully loaded.

The C400 demonstrated a marked reluctance to turn, but the lighter C250 turns in quickly and remains fairly neutral in corners, with exemplary body control. Mid-corner bumps are met with a substantialthwack!, which might be an issue on our horrendous roads.

But this C-Class isn’t trying to be a sports sedan—and that’s a key point. As a luxury machine, it’s spectacular.

Mercedes loaded the new C-Class, of course, full of active and passive safety features including autonomous cruise and emergency braking. The latest version of COMAND infotainment system has gained additional functionality, but lost a lot more in usability

Everyone using it was continually confused—there are redundant screens, redundant menus, redundant controls. There’s a new capacitive touch-sensitive pad that towers above the circular controller, used in theory for pinch-to-zoom commands as well as spelling out destination entries. Unfortunately, it has tiny buttons on it that are unusable while driving, and if you reach past it to use the circular controller, it senses your hand and does all sorts of things you didn’t intend.

Ironically, we sampled the distracting new system the same week that Mercedes announced its partnership with Apple. So let’s hope this version of COMAND is short-lived—and that Mercedes, and every other car company—can stop distracting itself from the business of building cars.

Because, as the new C-Class proves, Mercedes is still very much able to produce some of the best cars in the world. It just needed to stop pretending it was BMW.

 

[Amat46]

Must say that was a well written article.

 

[sucu123]

YES They say the C400 4-matic screams out loud when reving high. There is still hope for a nice V6 Sound. I've driven that engine in the W212 e-class and barely could hear the engine which was a big disappointment.

Other than that the road performance will be tremendous

 

[deity]

"The still-pretty A4 has nothing on this; the 3 Series’ best materials can’t compare to the worst in this car. Wow."

Exactly my thoughts!

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

so I should wait for the straight 6 and the 9G, and then I'd have the perfect car?

 

[Amat46]

Straight 6 is still two years away.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Road and Track's turn: 2015 Mercedes-Benz C400 4Matic - First Drives

Loves the reviews acknowledgement that Mercedes has gone about building a Mercedes and not a BMW chaser.

It seems that the C is now so incredibly refined, the 9G and straight sixes can't come soon enough. It's a shame we may have to wait until the FL for this.

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

so I should wait for the straight 6 and the 9G, and then I'd have the perfect car?

No, add a twin turbo V8 THEN you have the perfect car.