I hired a car for work yesterday, booking Skoda Octavia size and I expecting to get a Nissan Note or something of that ilk. It was something of a pleasant surprise to be handed the keys to a newish Merc C200 CDI saloon, in basic SE spec with Mercedes' clever 7 speed autobox. In fact I was so pleased, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. I certainly felt smug having such a thing parked outside my house all night - take that you Joneses!
I ended up doing the best part of 300 miles of motorway cruising and London crawl with it yesterday, probably enough to get a good feel for the car. So, I'll inflict my thoughts upon you, if I may.
Firstly, this is one nicely adorned car. The appearance is spot on. Classy, conservative, timeless. Mercedes through and through. The interior materials are well chosen, everything is high quality; nice to look it and touch. Better than previous generation Mercs I thought. Aside from that I'm not sure why the electric seat had to move upwards at the same time as forwards? Do they not have people of normal height but shorter legs in Germany?
Looking back at older Mercs, one thing is still very much an aberration I'd have hoped that they'd moved on from by now - the switch gear. Why try to put all the controls on one stalk? In trying to wash the windscreen, I was determinedly flashing the car in front. Thankfully, being in a Merc, they probably took me for an arrogant so-and-so and ignored my frantic full beam display. After no more than a brief few hours, I finally figured out that I had to push the damn stalk half way into the column to get the desired effect.
However, I had no problems with the unusual foot operated "hand" brake, and quite liked it too. It probably helped that I was driving the auto mind. I imagine there's a good reason why there's so few manual versions around.
The engine, surprisingly, was a massive disappointment. I know it's the detuned version of the 2143cc 4 pot (around 134bhp, or so I hear) but having more torque than my 2.0 TDCI Mondeo, I expected a decent amount of go in it. It just wasn't there. I suspect the autobox with its 7 speeds was the main problem. The engine always seemed to be revving too low to be responsive. A decent kick of the right heel (even in sports mode) was required to find a useful gear and get moving. It wasn't just laggardly either, it was rather lacking in refinement, even at motorway speeds. Perhaps the rest of the car being so impressively quiet was exaggerating the engine noise? I don't know, but I couldn't help but compare it unfavourably to my Mondeo again.
The flip side of the low-revving engine was excellent fuel economy. The computer claimed an impressive 53mpg, even with about an hour of stop-start traffic around Heathrow and a couple of cold starts in freezing conditions. On brimming it, I calculated about 52mpg, close enough to call it accurate.
A major minus point for me was that the big Merc completely lacked any driver appeal. The steering was heavy but vague, the suspension was wallowing, but failed to absorb bumps completely and the pedal set-up made me feel like I was fighting the car, not working with it. The floor hinged accelerator and high set pedals appeared to be laid out for much bigger feet than my average sized 9s.
Overall I felt that I probably couldn't live with this car on an everyday basis. Aside from the fabulously well put together interior and parsimonious fuel consumption, my Mondeo trumped the E200 in every single way. But somehow, perhaps because of the power of brand and marketing, I still lusted after that 3-pointed star and was decidedly sad to see it go.
Maybe with a more powerful engine and sportier suspension, it could be something I could take a shine too. Or maybe not, when you start to look at the asking prices...
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