It's been ,I chromed run for Mercedes-Benz in India, Without taking anything away from its foresight is settling up operations in the country when red tape was thick and not many predicted demand for premium luxury vehicles, you've got to admit it has had a fabulous and unchallenged run in the Indian market. In nearly a decade since they started assembling cars in India growth in demand for luxury vehicles has been explosive and, barring a few dealer imports, that translated into a captive (and rapid growing) market for Mercedes-Benz.
Now, with the other stars of the German holy trinity setting up assembly operations in the Country things have heated up for Mercedes, BMW already assembles the 3 and 5-series in India, apart from the X3 and X5. Audi assembles the A6 with the A4 to come sooner rather than later. There's even Volvo mixing things up and Lexus is round the corner. All of Merc’s models the S, E, C and M now face stiff competition and it's a situation that's every new to M-B in India.
Which makes the launch of the fourth generation W204 C-Class all the more significant. The C has been Merc's largest selling mode, the previous generation car selling model, the previous generation car selling nearly two million units over the past seven years in saloon, estate and sports-coupe body styles. And it’s model with which Mercedes has made a determined effort to go one up on the BMW 3-series, internationally the segment benchmark and best-seller over the past decade. Which is why, for the first time, the C-Class is being offered with a choice of styles and driving experiences to appeal to both the traditional Merc buyer Classis and Elegance models get the traditional multi-bar Merc grille with the three-pointed star atop and softer ride-focused suspension while the Advantgarde gets lowered suspension, more direct steering and an aggressive coupe-style nose with wide louvers and a huge three-pointed star India we get the more traditional Elegance with two engines, supercharged 1.8-litre petrol in the C200K and a significantly reworked version of the 2.2-liter diesel in the C200 CDI that’s on test here.
STYLE & BUILD
Baby S
It was with the current S-Class in 2005 that Mercedes turned a new styling page; soft, gentle and curvy lines replaced by pumped up wheel arches and sporting aggression highlighting power and performance. The new C takes forward that styling direction (albeit with some of the overdone detailing toned down), ditching the four round headlamps and conservative lines for a strong nose and pumped up wheel arches.
The Elegance trim of Indian cars has a traditional chrome multi-bar grille with the three-pointed star on top. Overall the new C has real street presence and the crease that runs up the side of the sedan gives her a sporty stance and highlights the wedge shape.
Lot of aerodynamic work has gone into new segment benchmark, one of which are the tail lamps with ventilating slits that negates the need for a conventional boot spoiler and thus gives the sedan cleaner lines. The new C has grown in every direction – length is up by 68 millimeters, she’s wider by 42mm and wheelbase has grown by 45mm. The front seats retain their enormous travel while rear seat leg room increases by 10mm and shoulder room is up by 40mm. The rear is still a touch too cozy for large sized adults, the raised central transmission tunnel leaves little leg room for the middle seat passenger and head room is just about sufficient - but it's not cramped like before and up front travel is first class. The 475-litre boot is huge for its class.
The interiors have seen a massive leap forward in quality and are very stylish too with ' a prominent wedge theme carried from the steering wheel to the central console. The instruments are modern and very stylish, all the switches and even the rotary knobs for and climate control operate with a manufactured yet chunky weight and for the first time there is Merc's command user interface that controls audio, telephone and system menus. Command operation isn't as intuitive as we'd have liked; for instance we took a whole day to figure out how to play music through the auxiliary port.
The colour display is housed under a flap on top of the central console though considering that will be open more often that not it doesn't come across as a particularly elegant solution. Elegance trim also includes a multifunction steering wheel and Bluetooth pairing with your cell phone.
Initial impressions are of very high build quality - the doors shut with a bank vault thud and even slamming shut the glove box shut feels first class.
Safety, like in every Mere, has been accorded high priority and the new C has a full 5-star EuroNCAP crash safety rating. There are front, side and driver's knee airbags, ESP, ASR, seat belt tensioners, belt force limiters, anti-whiplash head restraints and pre-safe that senses an impending crash and prepares all systems accordingly.
ENGINE & TRANSMISSION
Uprated performance, uprated fuel efficiency
Almost 90 components of the old 2148cc four-cylinder common-rail diesel engine, including the turbocharger common-rail direct injection system have been modified to improve both performance as well as fuel efficiency. The all-aluminium unit with near square cylinder dimensions makes 172.4PS of power (up by 30PS) while max torque has gone by up 21 per cent to 410 newton metres developed at 2000rpm.
Crank the engine and she settles into a typically clattery common-rail idle, though once warned up she’s admirably hushed and move and on part throttle the engine is barely audible though once you start motoring you’re less likely to hear the engine note and more likely to be impressed by the performance.
The engine is mated to a five-speed automatic transmission with manual mode engaged by nudging the gear lever to the left or right. Responses are good though there is no Sport mode that holds gears longer and automatically goes down gear when you're seriously motoring.
PERFORMANCE & FUEL EFFICIENCY
Sub-10 seconds to 100
The increase in power and torque has brought about an increase in performance quick saloon into a scorcher. The 100kpmh comes up in less that ten seconds, 9.5 to be precise, while the quarter mile takes 16.67 seconds, almost a the old manual transmission car. Even her in-gear acceleration has improved and overtaking rarely requires the 5-speed auto knocking down a gear. Her top speed is now 219kmph.
Responses for a diesel engine are amazing but even more impressive is her fuel efficiency, the C220 returning 17.2kmpl on the highway and 12.4kmpl in the city for an overall figure of 13.6kmpl.
Braking is handled by 34mm ventilated discs up front and 320mm discs at the rear, backed up by ABS and 'adaptive brakes' that includes start off assist for uphill gradients, priming the braking system in critical situations and light contact to dry the brake discs in wet conditions. From 100kmph to rest takes 40.73 metres while from 80kmph it takes 28.95 metres.
CHASSIS & SUSPENSION
Better agility without sacrificing comfort
The new C retains the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and uses the same MacPherson struts at the front with two lower arms and multi-link rear that's done exemplary duty in the past. This is mated to an 'agility control' package in which the suspension adapts according to the road surface and driving situation. The hydraulic system incorporates a bypass valve that remains open under normal driving reducing damping forces for better ride and closes under enthusiastic driving firming up the damping and stabilising the car.
The improvements in ride quality over the outgoing car are significant and especially around town the C is plush and comfortable. Sharp ridges and surface imperfections do find their way to the cabin though overall comfort levels are high.
The agility control package also includes a quicker steering rack with a ratio of 14.5 that's six per cent more direct that before. Together with the adaptive damping it gives the C excellent agility and very high levels of cornering grip. The stiffer body shell (13 per cent more rigid torsionally and made of 70 per cent high or ultra high strength steel) gives her excellent body control and you can push her hard round corners before she rolls into understeer and sets those 205-section 16-inch tyres ahowl.
If there's any criticism it's the steering that's over-light - great at parking pace but not so involving when you're driving enthusiastically. And it has not much feel either. The speed sensitive steering is more direct than before though and responds more precisely and accurately.
SUMMING IT UP
The C220 cm (and the petrol C200K) will be launched at the Auto Expo in January and prices will be revealed then. However with the old C220 cm retailing for Rs 29.36 lakh ex-showroom in Pune and her main rival, and the BMW 320d costing a similar sum, the new C won't stray too far off 31 lakh rupees.
We love the new styling direction at Mercedes; a premium saloon that you pay so much for has to convey power and aggression and that's what the new C does. Not only does the new C look deliciously desirable quality of materials has improved, the cabin layout is more attractive and interior space generous. Dynamically too the bar has been raised and the added agility, immediacy and handling don't come at the altar of a traditional Merc strength - ride quality. Combined with the fact that in many parts of the country, most parts in fact, a three-pointed star is the one and only status symbol- you're looking at yet another winner.