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By Richard Aucock
First Drives
12 March 2007 10:57
Mercedes has gone back to basics with the new C. Keen to banish memories of the E-class quality/breakdown/recall debacle, it has scrapped some of its old techniques and relied more on a computer-generated virtual C-class (its 2130GB of data might just crash your average PC) to iron out problems at the design stage. And to make sure it doesn't break down on a wet Friday night, it then spent five years and 15 million miles testing real cars... Has it all worked? Read on...
Well, for one, this is the first Mercedes saloon to be offered without a stick-up three-pointed star atop the grille. Ever. Traditions at Benz aren’t broken lightly, and approval for this came from the top – from Dr Zetsche himself. Merc also wants to give sporting handling as much priority as pampering comfort. Like hot ice cubes, this is hard to achieve. Unless, they say, you develop two clever forms of suspension – using both electronic dampers and, on standard cars, ‘amplitude dependent hydromechanical’ units (similar to the A/B-Class, but four generations on). Both are adaptive, but it’s the former, standard on even the boggo C180 K SE, that are most ingenious. They cost more than regular units, but this alone is proof of Mercedes’ aspirations with the C.
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Anonymous says
Sportivity? In order to...?
Let's admit: sportivity is overrated. Today most mid-sized cars are capable of cruising the motorway at 120+ mph (but don't seem to do often) in perfect space and comfort. Now, one can afford a premium car, so one "needs" (thanks, marketing) to point out above a perfect Mondeo, Mazda6, Passat, etc. and faces the car derby: Mercedes vs. BMW. The BMW has the driving edge, car journalists repeat, regarding the Mercedes as pity-not-as-sporty. So, which one? As a driver of 5000 miles a month in a diesel V6 7G-tronic E-class, what I regard most in my car is: the comfortable leather seats. Next come the silent ride and the good economy and 1100+ km. range. Mind you, on motorways my speedtronic is set up at a conservative follow-the-crowd scarcelly illegal 139 km/h. That's only 2100 rpm, so there's still a big gap of unexploided performance. It also accelerates, steers and breaks admirably. Ever. I enjoy action sports, speed and motorbikes, and I think Mercedes Benz designs the ideal car for my needs. More sportiness? So what? Drive real roads and the Mercedes belongs to a different (just sit in it) league above the BMW, whose on-the-edge advantage is only to be witnessed at... Laguna Seca? Am I the only one to think a base 3-series is vulgar, inside and out? And expensive. Why people choose it for its "sportiness" escapes my understanding: I see them around, driven like Mondeos. Oriol Solsona Girona - Spain
21 January 2008 21:06
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