A JUNIOR S-CLASS? THAT’D BE NO SMALL FEAT

MERCEDES-BENZ C300

HAVE YOU ever paused to wonder why there aren’t any small luxury cars? You know, all of the features and quality of an expensive car only poured into a more conveniently sized package? The reason you tend not to see these cars is the same reason why you don’t expect a large car to handle as crisply as a smaller, lighter one: physics. Put simply, a small car will never travel down the road with the comportment of a large one. It can’t. Its wheelbase is shorter, the sprung to unsprung mass ratios are different and so on. So when Mercedes-Benz informed us that the next generation C-Class aimed to deliver the luxury of the S-Class limousine in a smaller package, you can perhaps forgive a little initial cynicism. This never works. Thing is, Mercedes has become extremely good at figuring out what works with the C-Class. More than 10.5 million have been shifted since 1982 in more than 100 markets around the globe. The last model, the W205, which was sold between 2014 and now, sold a massive 2.5m units alone. That number will continue to grow, as C205 coupe and A205 convertible versions of the body will live on, for the time being at least. Here in Australia, the W205’s relative successes against its rivals were even starker, selling more than 60,000 in total. Last year marked a shift, however. While Mercedes will still easily able to cover off the Audi A4/A5’s sales, the ageing C-Class found itself comfortably eclipsed by the new BMW 3 and 4 Series, Munich outselling Stuttgart by 28 percent in this instance. The response is this, the W206 generation, a car that performs a substantive feint in terms of focus. Where BMW doubled down on sportiness, Mercedes has instead leant into luxury. A more spacious body features subtly revised proportions. Perhaps tweaking the profiles of cars is in vogue at Mercedes right now. Where the SL lost its long bonnet, cab-back proportions, look at this C-Class compared to its predecessor and the short overhangs and longer bonnet suggest sportiness, as do the power domes on the bonnets, which open to reveal nothing bigger than a fourpot, more on which later. Like all modern Mercedes designs, medial swage lines have been deleted where possible to create a smooth, lozenge-like finish, although all Australian-market cars will be AMG Line trim, which helps amp up the visual impact with a diamond grille inset with tiny stars, the brand insignia in chrome, a set of side skirts, a different rear bumper and bigger wheels. Drop inside and things are a big step forward from the dated feel of the W205. Where that car’s centre stack featured a small screen atop a huge trio of air vents, rocker switches, piano black buttons and a clumsy lid before terminating on the transmission tunnel with a rotary controller housed beneath the claw of a questionably useful touch pad, the W206 tidies things up significantly. This cabin really does ape the architecture, at least, of the S-Class. Ahead of you is a 12.3-inch LCD display housing the main dial pack which can be configured to a minimal, discreet display, a wall-to-wall map or even a sporty display which pulses red. The big news is the huge 11.9-inch Tesla-style portrait-oriented touchscreen, angled ever so subtly towards the driver. This

remains one of the very few examples of its ilk where ventilation controls are adequately rendered. Even should you mirror your phone using the standard wireless CarPlay or Android Auto, this reproduces in an agreeably large square, leaving a rectangle of touch screen at the bottom where the intuitive and responsive ventilation controls are to hand. Top marks, Mercedes-Benz. The materials quality has improved markedly, from the rather scratchy finishes found in the W205, although there’s still too much use of piano black, which scratches easily, attracts fingerprints and produces distracting reflections. The open-pore vertical grain wood finish is beautiful, and the metal weave trim designs also offer an agreeable point of difference. Fitted to this car is the optional colour head-up display which sits in a huge bucket atop the dash top and can project augmented reality driving directions. That additional length and width means that the interior is relatively spacious; front headroom is the only key metric where the C-Class has shrunk. The revised MRA2 platform now affords up to 35mm more knee room, 15mm more elbow space and 13mm more headroom in the back, with 22mm more elbow room in front. The standard-fit AMG sports seats are generously cut, but perhaps lacking a little in upper body lateral support. This C-Class is fully 107mm longer than its predecessor, with 25mm grafted into the wheelbase which, at 2865mm, is now longer than that of a 2009 W211 E-Class. The boot measures an identical 455 litres to its predecessor; a little less than the 480-litre class norm of the A4 and 3 Series. So, those engines. At present, Mercedes offers only two models in the C-Class sedan range. You choose from the C200, which generates 150kW and 300Nm from its 1496cc four or the erstwhile flagship, this C300, which features a 1999cc M254 unit good for 190kW and 400Nm, both paired with the 9G-Tronic transmission. Later on this year there will be an AMG-badged C43 and next year the intriguing performance halo C63e arrives, all powered by four-cylinder engines. If you are absolutely wedded to the creaminess of a six or the charisma of a V8, then you’re going to be disappointed. Take a broader view and both of these engines have a lot to be said for them, the baby one in particular. This C300 is running the optional $3400 Engineering Package which, with its tri-mode adaptive dampers and rear-wheel steering set-up, seems a box that needs to be ticked but you shouldn’t. Come to think of it, you can’t right now.