2019 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Expert Reviews, Specs And Photos

2019 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Expert Reviews, Specs And Photos

The 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class is no all-out sport sedan, but it鈥檚 one hell of an appealing luxury car. If you want a taste of the good life without eviscerating the kids鈥?college fund, entry-luxury cars like the C-Class have answered that kind of call for more than two decades. 46,000 Sport Sedan Challenge (read it here). That was a turbocharged four-cylinder C250 Sport, and we drove a V6-powered C350 soon after that didn鈥檛 redeem much. If this is the baby Benz, a lot of bathwater needed draining. Drain it, Mercedes did. With the CLA-Class now anchoring the bottom of the lineup, Mercedes moved the redesigned C-Class upmarket in terms of both quality and price. The redesign hits dealerships late this month in all-wheel-drive C300/C400 form, and in early 2015 in rear-wheel-drive C300 form. From luxury to technology, it鈥檚 eminently more desirable than the car it replaces. I drove the all-wheel-drive (4Matic) C300 and C400 sedans, both with Sport packages. The C-Class coupe soldiers on in prior-gen form for 2015, but company officials said to expect a coupe replacement within a year or so. Oh, and yes, there will be a high-performance AMG version.

Mercedes-Benz has a habit of tailoring successive generations of the C-Class after the latest flagship S-Class, and the new C-Class follows that mold even more than usual. The sinewy headlights and curvaceous lower grille signal a clear resemblance to the brand鈥檚 top-flight sedan, which Mercedes redesigned just a year ago. The C-Class is now a little closer in size, too: Overall length is up 3.7 inches versus the outgoing sedan, and width is up 1.6 inches. Despite the extra size, overall weight is down as much as 200 pounds versus the old C-Class sedan thanks to a chassis that mixes aluminum and steel versus the all-steel chassis in the outgoing car. Officials say much of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class鈥?body panels 鈥?including the hood, doors, roof and trunk 鈥?are aluminum, too. Fire up the C300鈥檚 241-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, and this year鈥檚 extra standard power is immediately noticeable.

The engine has little in common with the outgoing C250鈥檚 201-hp, turbo 1.8-liter four-cylinder. It has a flat torque curve 鈥?273 pounds-feet that plateaus from just 1,300 rpm on up 鈥?that evokes the BMW 3 Series 328i鈥檚 excellent turbo four-cylinder. Where the 2014 C250 ran out of steam, the new C300 moves out. Accelerator progression has improved versus the prior car鈥檚 sleepy pedal, and the standard seven-speed automatic kicks down readily with little gear hunting, particularly in the drivetrain鈥檚 Sport and Sport Plus modes. You control all that through an Agility Select switch, which also adjusts steering assist, accelerator progression and (in Eco mode) climate control intensity in one convenient toggle. With the optional Airmatic adaptive air suspension 鈥?a first for the C-Class 鈥?Agility Select also changes suspension damping. In the all-wheel-drive, Airmatic-equipped C400 I drove, the system鈥檚 various modes dialed up subtle but noticeable differences in ride comfort. Still, the C-Class lacks the all-consuming isolation that characterizes other Airmatic-equipped Benzes. Mercedes-Benz expects fewer than 20 percent of C-Class buyers to opt for the C400, and it鈥檚 easy to see why.

It鈥檚 a capable car whose turbo, 3.0-liter V-6 makes a stout 329 hp, and the wall-o鈥?torque (354 pounds-feet from just 1,600 rpm) crests early to send you flying past slower traffic with half the pedal to go. But it鈥檚 unnecessary; the C300 does this in a pinch, too, albeit with less power in reserve. It handles better, too. Though Mercedes-Benz claims just a 2 percent difference in weight distribution between the C300 and C400, the latter feels more nose-heavy, with a touch more sloppiness up front in sweeping corners. Flip the Agility Select to Sport Plus, and the Airmatic seems to quell body roll better than even the sport-tuned fixed suspension, which pitches off-center a bit as you throw it around. Brake-pedal feel, at least, improves a lot versus the outgoing C-Class鈥?mushy pedal. And both the C300 and C400 steer with a light touch, even in Sport Plus mode.