Raising the roof!

Let’s all hear it for this Mercedes convertible that makes a big statement

THERE’S something either admirably hardy, or oddly perverse, about booking a test drive in a convertible in Ireland in January. I like to think I fall into the former category, and it’s not as bad as you think.

So long as the windows stay up and you wear a couple of layers and turn on the heated seats, your body usually is grand. After that, a thick scarf, gloves and an insulated beanie do the rest of the work. Indeed, my test car had an AirScarf vent installed to blow warm air onto my neck as I drove.

In truth, though, you’re usually restricted to local driving; with the best will in the world, I wouldn’t be doing 120kph on the motorway with the roof down at this time of year, unless actively seeking out a dose of frostbite.

And fun and all as open driving at any time of year is, you never quite shake the feeling that it really should be summer. The heat of the sun should be on your head, the skin on your arms should be going brown as you watch, and shorts and sandals (never flip-flops, incidentally – they’re dangerous when driving and indeed are banned for drivers in Germany, France and Spain) the order of the day.

Fortunately, I had a brief drive in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet (it’s just another word for convertible) last autumn on a beautiful sunny day, on the roads around the Sugarloaf in Co. Wicklow, and I immediately felt it was the car to beat in the large convertible segment. A week in winter gave me no reason to change my mind, because everything about it showcases the best of Mercedes-Benz’s technologies and grafts them all onto brilliant handling and comfort. My test car came in a shade called Designo Hyacinth Red Metallic, and while it does look great even on a dull, grey day, I think you easily could upgrade that impression to fantastic if the sun was splitting the stones. It’s scorching.

It’s a good shade to highlight the beauty of the design, with its undulating curves, rising shoulder line and short front overhang that gives it a lovely bullet-like snub nose. In my time, I’ve shared three Saab convertibles, and to me, the E-Class Cabrio is the most beautiful in the premium segment since the early-century Saab 9-3, before General Motors took over and destroyed the brand by making the 9-3 a slightly posh Opel Vectra.

With the soft top in place, the E-Class is a fine car, but with the top down and tucked away (a 20-second all-electric operation that can be performed at speeds up to 50kph), it is wolf-whistle stunning. It also still manages decent boot space, with 385 litres on offer with the roof up, and 310 litres when it’s recessed.

Interior comfort is just as good as in the standard E-Class saloon. The convertible is a four-seater, and there’s plenty of leg and shoulder room in the rear, though the seats are a bit upright for maximum comfort on longer journeys. No such worries up front, with height and rake adjustability possible, and lovely manmade leather upholstery in seats that be heated in winter and ventilated in summer. If there are no rear passengers, there’s also a load-through function when you drop the seats.

The AMG Line version offers all sorts of pleasures, from 19-inch five-spoke alloy wheels to ambient lighting available in 64 colours, making night driving a total pleasure. There’s a 12.3-inch infotainment and navigation touchscreen, voice command, Bluetooth, parking pilot, reversing camera, multifunction sports steering wheel, active brake assist and lots of other goodies.

You can select your preferred driving mode from Eco (to maximize fuel efficiency), through Comfort, Sport and Sport+. The latter really does make driving on back country lanes a lot of fun, and I seldom switched out of it for the week.

The 9G-TRONIC automatic transmission is as smooth as anything else out there right now and it really does make driving a total pleasure. Fuel consumption is low at between 4.3 and 4.9 litres per 100km in the combined urban and extra-urban cycles, and emissions of 126g/km make for annual motor tax of €270.

The only real competitor in size is the BMW 6 Series convertible, though that is set to be replaced by the revived 8 Series line-up starting from later this year, and likely to be much more expensive.

So, for the moment, for anyone looking for a large convertible, this E-Class is the main game in town. Just as well, then, that it’s a brilliant one.