Mercedes C-Class (2006 On) - Mercedes C Class Car Review

A simple antidote to the hustle and bustle of 21st century living, is to drive across a bridge in one of our great cities. Not a little hump-back job. A big manly bridge. Like the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle or the Clifton Suspension Bridge near Bristol.

Driving across a good bridge on a sunny day, with a terrific view either side, is brilliantly uplifting. Unless the bridge is Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge has fierce speed cameras set to 20mph. Which is stressful enough, but lots of other drivers don’t seem to care and like to get right up behind, pressuring you to go quicker.

In the Mercedes, especially with the Automatic gearbox, its very easy to let speed creep up over 20 mph. Even more so if you are looking out the window at the river. Then you look down, and –aah – speeding again. Then look up, and – aah – the traffic’s stopped. And then you check the rear view, and – aah – that cab’s really close again.

But this doesn’t just happen on bridges. It’s what happens in heavy commuting traffic. The queues back up, then things suddenly start to move quickly and you want to try and get across that junction before things grind to a halt again. In a powerful automatic, you are constantly glancing down at your speed when really you need 100% of your attention on everything going on around you.

This is where Mercedes, provide the tools to get you through the job. Whenever I am in a Mercedes, I wonder, why don’t more cars give you a controllable speed limiter?

Across London Bridge I set it to 20 mph, as I turn right round St Katherine’s dock I put it up to 30 mph, where it stays until I come out the far side of the Limehouse link and can put it up to 40mpg. A bit after City Airport I take it off and head for the open road.

So rather than always glancing down at the speedo, then back up to see how close that cabbie is now, you concentrate on traffic, keep an eye out for kids running into the street, and, of course the view of the river. The speed-limiter is also better for contra flows that have average speed check cameras than cruise control. It’s amazing what a difference it makes not needing to look down for prolonged periods in aggressive and changing traffic conditions.

And you don’t want to look around the inside of this car very much. Compared to the BMW it seems to have more plastic than leather, less pleasant upholstery and even less equipment.

Initially this car will disappoint its passengers, but that’s partly because it builds its part up as you approach it. The styling –whether you choose the traditional chrome radiator with bonnet-mounted 3-pointed star or the more modern and understated grille – is very sexy. Much more attractive than the clumsy BMW and sharper, braver than the Audi.

So when you get in you expect to be met with a similar level of unique style and class. But instead, it’s rather old-school Mercedes. Big stalks off the steering column, hard seats, hard plastics and austere dials. Despite the bigger footprint (which means its slightly harder to park) it doesn’t have any more cabin space than the BMW.

The automatic gearbox is pretty much the same as the Audi A4’s; it struggles to decide what gear to be in around town and the delay is too long when pulling away or wanting to accelerate across the lights before they go amber.

Then, as I said, you get out of the city and start to use the little gear change paddles. You find the engine and gear box are responsive and the handling is as good as the BMW. But that can’t be right, can it? So you go into the next corner a little quicker. And if anything, because the steering response is instant, it might be slightly better than the BMW.

You cruise along the motorway and enjoy it, for it is as peaceful as a good night’s sleep. But after an hour and a half you find that the seats are not quite as forgiving as you first thought and the buttocks go a little numb. The sliver lining – no pun intended – is that when someone goes to buy this car in five years time the seat will probably still be as good as new, when the rivals are sagging…

Summary