C-Class Ready to Battle 3-Series

SEATTLE – Without question, the Mercedes-Benz CLA sedan, the brand’s latest low-cost entry point, is achieving its objective in welcoming more luxury aspirants to the fold. Stuttgart can’t make enough of them.

Before the CLA, Mercedes customers often joined the club by purchasing the C-Class, a popular, trusty waypoint until one could step higher into the E-Class or S-Class or a sporty roadster.

Thankfully, the hoopla about the CLA has not taken management’s eye off the C-Class.

Instead, the new fifth-generation C is a proper redesign integrating many of the features that made last year’s S-Class flagship such a luscious car.

The new C-Class gets two clean-sheet (and excellent) gasoline engines, more space, top-notch active-safety equipment, solid driving dynamics, an available air suspension (for $1,200), a spot-on interior that looks and feels truly premium and a standard central digital display that is graphically engaging and easy to use.

OK, the 7-speed automatic transmission can feel a bit lazy, the steering could be a bit more direct and the styling might be considered pleasantly evolutionary.

Where the sheet metal of the previous-generation C (codename W204) was angled downward toward the front, the new model (W205) is designed to emulate the S-Class, with a more prominent front end and a character line that slopes down toward the rear. Point is, the restyled C looks great, but the old one remains handsome.

The new sedan is just the beginning, to be followed by C variants that will include a coupe, high-output AMG model, diesel engine and plug-in hybrid (but no wagon). Until the new coupe arrives, Mercedes will continue selling the current C250, C350 and C63 AMG.

Gap Narrowing

The car sets up a showdown with the BMW 3-Series, consistently the best-selling luxury car in America and one that has pummeled the C-Class for years.

But look out, Bavaria. In the past two years, the C has been catching up with the 3.

Last year, Mercedes sold 88,251 units of C-Class (an all-time high) to BMW’s 121,331 3-Series sedans and 4-Series coupes, according to WardsAuto data. And C-Class sales have remained brisk through the first half.

Mind you, that C-Class closing in on a still-fresh 3-Series is being built out at the end of its lifecycle, so Mercedes brass is convinced the new model and its coming variants represent the best chance yet to break Munich’s stranglehold on the Lower Luxury battlefield.

The C-Class brings potent ammunition to the fray, particularly the new 241-hp 2.0L turbocharged 4-cyl. that will come from joint-venture partner Nissan’s engine plant in Decherd, TN.

That powerplant in the C300 will be available next year. Initial builds (including pre-production units driven here) are using 4-cyl. engines sourced from Germany.

There are a lot of fine 2.0L turbos, which means Mercedes is late to the party. But the engine is up to speed, delivering on the promise of both better fuel economy and good performance relative to a naturally aspirated V-6.

Expected to make up 85% of the C-Class mix, this engine will not satisfy those needing throaty exhaust or a hair-trigger throttle, but it’s fine for customers who just want to cruise around town.

During our moderate-speed, mostly suburban 75-mile (121-km) test drive here, the C300 achieves 27.3 mpg (8.6 L/100 km). 

The EPA fuel-economy rating for the new I-4 is not yet available, but it is for the C400 with the new 3.0L twin-turbo V-6 from Germany: 22/29 mpg (10.6-8.1 L/100 km).

Our 268-mile (431-km) drive of the C400, which included extended idling due to road construction in Mt. Rainier National Park, yielded an average fuel economy of 24.2 mpg (9.7 L/100 km).

That’s respectable for an engine pegged at 329 hp and 354 lb.-ft. (480 Nm) of torque. Relative to Audi’s benchmark 3.0L supercharged V-6, the new Mercedes powerplant trails slightly in horsepower but trumps it handily in thrust.

Sitting still in the mountains waiting for construction traffic to clear yielded two conclusions: The stop/start system operates smoothly, almost unnoticeably, while the climate-control system struggles to keep the cabin cool in the midday sun.

Cranking up the fan speed triggered a racket that made us wonder if a Cessna was landing on the roof. Engineers are looking into the problem.

All vehicles currently have 4Matic all-wheel drive, but a rear-drive 4-cyl. model will be available in early 2015. The V-6 will be offered only with AWD.

The new C sedan is longer and wider than the model it replaces, and yet it’s 200 lbs. (91 kg) lighter, thanks to a structure that is nearly 50% aluminum (compared with 10% on the outgoing model).

That agility, combined with a lower center of gravity and re-engineered 4-link front and 5-link rear suspension, makes for a pleasurable drive through the twisties.

Like many luxury cars today, the drive settings are adaptable, from economic to comfort to sport to sport-plus, with each step up the ladder weighting the steering feel and delaying the shift points. There’s also an individual setting for a tailored experience.

Big Changes Inside

The new C-Class interior represents a massive overhaul, with clean flowing surfaces and a few knobs and switches replacing the blockish upright disjointed mess of buttons that included an old-school telephone keypad.

The previous steering wheel may have been more handsome, but the rest of the new interior is superior in every way, especially the standard 7-in. (17.8-cm) central display that resembles a tablet and seems twice the size of the old readout.

Keeping pace with the iPad generation, the graphics on this new screen are stunningly crisp and readable, again carrying over many of the customizable elements of the S-Class (however, the S gets two much larger displays).

Many of the metallic-looking accents are high-quality plastic and are difficult to tell apart from the actual metal bits, such as window switches. Deep-grain black ash wood trim veneer is used extensively and has handsome matte finish. Walnut and linden wood also are available.

Synthetic MB-Tex leather is offered in black, beige, grey, Deep Sea blue and Espresso brown. For $2,300, customers can get real leather in the same colors, plus Cranberry Red.

Prices are up slightly from the previous C, to $40,400 for the C300 and $48,590 for the C400, both with 4Matic and available in September (plus $925 destination charges). The RWD C300 arrives in early 2015 for $38,400.

Mercedes is building this new C-Class for the first time in Tuscaloosa, AL, likely improving profitability. It’s now the only German luxury car built in North America. That, alone, could seal the deal for some domestically inclined shoppers.

Based on the early production models driven here, build quality appears to be first-rate.

Through June, the previous-generation C-Class has outsold the CLA more than 3-to-1.

The new C-Class is a fine car – well-appointed and appropriately priced. Expect it to widen the gap with the CLA (while drawing closer to the 3-Series) when Alabama cranks up full output in the coming months.

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'15 Mercedes C400 4Matic Specifications