2019 Mercedes-Benz C300 4Matic Coupe The Daily Drive

2019 Mercedes-Benz C300 4Matic Coupe The Daily Drive

1620) is required if you want heated and cooled front seats, but especially in our tester鈥檚 black/brown combination, it further dressed up an already classy interior. The coupe that returns to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class lineup for 2017 starts out stylish enough right out of the box. Making it sportier or truly luxurious takes some doing鈥攁nd some cash. 2000 boost over the rear-drive model). However, leather upholstery, wood trim, navigation, heated and cooled seats, satellite radio, head-up display, a premium Burmester audio system, dual-zone climate control, a rearview camera, various surrounding-traffic monitors, and a WiFi hotspot are some of the things that cost extra. So do uprated brakes and a sport-tuned suspension. 7860鈥攂ut others are stand-alones. 50K seems a likely destination for most of these cars. The rear seat is only for kids or smaller adults, and even then, only if the person in front is under about 6鈥?tall. What makes this kind of expenditure a little harder to swallow is the limited passenger and cargo utility of the coupe body style. The C300 is a compact, after all.

Rear seating is limited to two passengers, and even then they dare not be too tall or rangy. This 5鈥?10.5鈥?reviewer had to slouch a little to clear the sexy roof slope, a process complicated by a fairly upright seating position. Legroom is none too generous either. The 10.5-cubic-foot trunk is easy to load and will hold a week鈥檚 worth of groceries for two, but not much else鈥攖hough there is some underfloor space for small items. Rear seats fold in a 40/20/40 split (the middle section can be deployed as a long-item pass-through) but they don鈥檛 lay especially flat. The best places to appreciate the C300 are from the outside and behind the wheel. It鈥檚 easy on the eyes and satisfying to drive. The turbo four produces 241 horsepower at 5500 rpm but generates 273 lb-ft of torque between 1300 and 4000 revs. It鈥檚 not supercar output by any means but it is enough for strong getaway and easy cruising, even in the 鈥淐omfort鈥?setting in the Dynamic Select menu. 鈥?further tweaks the powerteam and damping. Stomps of the pedal in this mode sound off with a sporty burble, and trans kickdown is quick鈥攂ut smooth鈥攐n the highway.

Trunk space is reasonable for a coupe, and there鈥檚 a good amount of additional space under the floor. Rear seat backs fold level with the cargo floor, but it鈥檚 awkward to reach in through the cabin to raise or lower them. There is some attention paid to fuel economy. A fairly unobtrusive stop/start system to save gas while idling is standard. There鈥檚 also an 鈥淓CO鈥?drive mode that tones down engine performance and alters climate-system operation to nurse fuel. EPA mileage estimates are 23 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway. In a small sample (about 66 miles, 45 percent of which was in city driving) this tester averaged just 19.18 mpg, most often in Comfort mode and only briefly in ECO. Outfitted with the Sport Package, which includes the tuned suspension and cross-ventilated brake rotors in addition to some cosmetic items, the test car rode and handled wonderfully. In Comfort or ECO mode the ride is wonderfully compliant. Surface imperfections are hard to miss in this setting, but the sacrifice for this feedback is less than you might expect.

Stopping power starts early in the brake pedal鈥檚 travel and hauls down this nearly 3800-pound car in good order. The arrow-shaped console controller (bottom) has a built-in touchscreen on top, with a volume 鈥渞oller鈥?knob to the top right. Those and a couple console buttons are the only way to adjust all infotainment functions, as the large dashtop screen is not a touchscreen. The generously optioned test car showed off a polished interior. Soft surfaces were seemingly everywhere anyone might want them to be. MB-Tex pseudo leather with contrast stitching鈥攁 Sport Package feature鈥攃overed the top of the dash. When the backrests are tilted, the comfortable and supportive front seats power forward automatically to give some aid to rear-seat entry or exit. Personal storage has some quirks. When the glove box is open, the curved lid is somewhat in the way. The console box has a split top with hinges on either side; these 鈥渨ings鈥?obscure the view into the box and require users to reach over them.

A covered bin at the front of the console conceals a pair of cup holders. There are long pockets in the doors and a small net pouch on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel. Rear-seat occupants have exposed cup holders between the seats, and small open bins in the sidewalls. Main driving controls are well placed and easy to read. A central controller on the console makes selections for audio, navigation, and other systems. It鈥檚 not hard to figure out the drill for making audio settings through the controller, but there are too many taps and twists of this device necessary to select and save stations. Certainly space-per-dollar is not the C300 coupe鈥檚 strong suit. For that you鈥檇 be better served by the sedan. However, it is an attractive and stirring-to-drive alternative in a segment in which coupes are rare. Before you鈥檙e lured in by the C300 Coupe鈥檚 svelte profile 鈥?something that鈥檚 easy to be 鈥?note that it brings with it some required sacrifices.