“Baby S-Class” is a term that’s often used now to define the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. But is it really worth that claim? How much of the S-Class goodness can it boast of? Watch the video to know more as we review the India-spec C-Class C 200 petrol and C 300d.
Now if you look at different generations of the c-class you will notice that each and every one of them has been instrumental in establishing a new design philosophy for every other mercedes-benz car of that generation to follow despite that every c-class has had its own distinctive design that made sure that it looked like none other from the mercedes-benz
Lineup things however have changed because what you see next to me and what looks like a baby s-class is actually the new w205c class honestly it’s the exact same thing that i would say about the new w206c class but before i tell you more about this car please do subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already and do consider giving us a like and sharing this
Video with your friends and family you see unlike the bmw 3 series which feels like a 5 series on a diet or the audi a4 which feels like an over-engineered vw jetta the mini s-class formula has worked extremely well for the c-class so it’s no surprise that the new one continues to follow suit so you could think of the new c-class to be a cocktail sausage to the
S-classes frankfurter but it has the same tasty recipe of advanced electronics and telemetry and that is something that’s going to make the competition feel outdated for a similar price in fact because this car is locally assembled that price is very competitive and that locally assembled c-class will not miss out on any of the new features that you will see here
On these cars there is no limited launch edition so to say the new c-class looks handsome with the power bulges in the bonnet the curvaceous bodywork and that beautifully laid out dashboard which seems like it’s copied and pasted from the s-class on the c300d which copies styling cues from amg’s you get a more bling grill it’s evolved the diamond grill to a more
Sophisticated grill where you can see these little three-pointed stars a pattern very similar to what i have on my shirt how many things are you copying what does the c stand for cat copycat well let’s call it a familial design instead of calling it a blatant copy but it certainly goes after the angry cat of the segment the jaguar xe in terms of the dynamics it
Also challenges the a4 on the elegance and targets the new bmw 3 series on space and convenience to that effect the new c-class is longer and wider than before without compromising on the aerodynamic efficiency and it also sits on a longer wheelbase that liberates more room at the rear with the increased dimensions of the car what’s also increased of course
Is the rear seat space and here’s bert telling you all about it well the c-class was always a comfortable car in the back seat and this seems to be a little more spacious though i would have liked the backrest to have had a little more inclination so that you could rest back right now you’re sitting a little more upright if you notice my position it is fairly
Upright though there is a lot of room under the seat to spread your feet the sea glass continues at w206 continues to be ideally a four-seater the middle seat right here well children would find space for themselves in here the other problem being that the transmission tunnel if you look over here comes right in the way of keeping your feet and that would take
Away precious foot room for the other passengers but on the whole it is a fairly comfortable space to be in and i’m hoping over a longer distance and on these tight twisty narrow roads it gives me a comfortable enough ride quality sure it’s no match for the 3 series grand limousine if you are going to be driven around but most buyers in this segment aren’t this
Is why all the goodies are at the front the cabin design of the outgoing c-class is a timeless classic now while the new one looks tech laden with the 11.9 inch infotainment screen hey mercedes how may i help you it runs the latest ntg7 software os telematics which not only gets you wireless apple carplay and android auto but also gives you a more intuitive and
Slick user interface replacing most of the switches and placing most controls easily at hand it is complemented further by a floating digital instrumentation which lets you cycle between multiple styles to suit your mood or taste there’s also a full screen navigation on the instrumentation both systems are easy to read while on the move and the number of features
They pack makes the competition feel outdated features i would have liked to see however on this generation of the c-class would have been ventilated seats a massage function 360 degree cameras head-up display and soft touch materials even in the lower sections of the doors and seats otherwise the new c-class is loaded with many small but useful features do check
Out our detailed walk around review to know more about what i’m talking about as before mercedes benz will let you choose between three variants for the c-class there’s a c200 petrol and two diesels the c220 and the c300 and what variant you choose essentially dictates the kind of color options that you will get inside the cabin you have a brown a white that
You see right now and an all black when you choose the c200 or the c220 and if you were to go with the c300 you get a two-tone brown and black or you can have an all-black now why i’m pointing this out is because this is a ckd and getting this kind of an options list on a ckd for interior choices now that is a big deal it’s not an easy feat to achieve so full
Marks to mercedes-benz for that and it’s not just the upholstery even the dashboard layout is different not the layout but the dashboard materials are different the c200 or the c220 will give you this combination of matte wood and aluminium the entire design looks like it’s inspired from the cabin or the trims that you see inside a yacht this is something that
We’ve seen in the my box and now that inspiration continues with the c-class it filters down to the c-class so that s-class inspiration is highlighted every now and then speaking of the sportier appeal the c300d has a different dashboard design in terms of the materials that it uses it has those metal inlays and then you also get a flat bottom steering wheel with
Those two horizontal slats so it just adds to that sporty touch whereas the c200 or the c220 take the elegance route irrespective of what variant to choose getting a good visibility all around is not a problem at all so even if this is going to be your first luxury car almost 50 of the c-class buyers are first-timers into the luxury world this is not going to feel
Unnerving at all i mean i’m driving here in missouri the roads are narrow and there are cars buses everything running at you and still you don’t mind getting a good line getting a good visibility of all these tight corners blind corners is not a problem at all the a-pillar not too intrusive despite the presence of a speaker the wing mirrors are also designed in such
A way that they don’t intrude in your peripheral vision they also don’t have a lot of wind noise coming off them even at higher speeds and in terms of the seating portion it’s all electronically adjustable including the steering even on the base c200 so that is good news also you do get memory functions so you can store your seat and your cr and your steering data
But you also get the user profiles on the infotainment which means that the moment you or the spouse or anyone who’s using the car gets inside the car and uses their finger to use the fingerprint scanner here the profile is selected and all these settings are restored including settings for the audio settings for the ambient lighting etc the enthusiast in me also
Likes these power domes that you can see on the bonnet i think especially our winding roads like these they add to the sportier appeal of course those power domes would seem more natural on a v6 or a v8 engine but the non-amg c-class saloons coming to us are only available with in-line for turbocharged petrol or diesel options they are longitudinally mounted to
Feed power to a rear-wheel drive system and that is why the c-class continues to have the long bonnet and the stubby boot like its predecessors there is no rear wheel steering on the india specsy glass but honestly i never really felt the need for it even on this drive which was full of narrow roads irrespective of what variant to choose you will get at least 200
Horsepower at your disposal and to add to it mercedes has finally now brought the isd or the integrated starter generator and a 48 volt mild hybrid system to the india spec c class it was introduced with the previous generation the facelift given to the previous generation and now it makes its way with the new c-class into the indian market so essentially what it
Does is that it will give you that additional torque fill it will give you 200 newton meters of additional torque boost or 20 ps of power boost as and when the system needs it it’s a mild hybrid system at the end of the day and the 48 volt electronics mean that it responds quickly and gives you that top fill as and when you need it so if you were to pull a quick
Overtake or want to negotiate a gap in traffic you don’t have to wait for too long for the power to build up that instantaneous eq boost comes into function and you can pull that overtake without much planning that said if you are in eco mode that is essentially where you are going to be maximizing range and you are going to be conscious about the economy that
You’re getting in that mode under 20 kilometers an hour this system takes a while to respond so if i were to quickly want to build speed from uh you know from as low as say 15 20 kilometers an hour it takes a moment before the entire system the gearbox responds and gives you that shove of power but about 30 kilometers an hour the roll-ons are super quick just as
You would expect of any 200 horsepower engine the isg is the only hybrid tech that you will get with the new c-class at the moment don’t expect any plug-in hybrids from mercedes-benz india until there are favoring policies on that front the c300d is undoubtedly my pick of the lot with the kind of throttle response and the on tap performance that it offers the
C200 petrol feels subdued in comparison sorry new delhi for the rest of the country the talkie c200 diesel should achieve a great balance in between if you aren’t necessarily looking for sportier styling or 3d audio what the new c-class doesn’t get is adaptive dampers and that is to save costs both on the selling price and maybe service costs as well for all
Newcomers to the brand but i quite like the kind of balance that they’ve achieved with the regular suspension setup the standard suspension setup so of course dialing up sport mode isn’t really stiffening up the chassis in any way it’s only making the engine and gearbox responses sharper there’s also noticeable uh change to the way the brakes behave the brakes
Feel nice and progressive in the sport mode but the moment you shift to comfort or to the eco modes the first three four millimeters of brake pedal travel you don’t really feel any bite it feels very spongy so to say and only then you get that sudden grabby bite from uh the from the brakes so the sport mode is what i prefer in terms of the braking but when you
Go into the individual mode you can only set how the engine responds how the esp responds and how the steering responds they don’t have an individual setting for the braking response which i think they ought to have done especially given the kind of difference that you have between these three modes but like i said no adaptive dampers which means that you get only
One suspension setup that is common across all driving modes but i quite like the balance that they’ve achieved it is quite sporty around winding roads like these and even over poor road conditions it doesn’t feel like something you would complain about it’s just as comfortable as you’d expect a mercedes benz to be so yes it looks like a baby s on the outside it’s
Almost like a baby s on the inside there’s a lot of tech as well but no you’re not going to get that magic carpet right that you get with the s-class or even with the e-class for that matter so that’s something for all c-class owners to look forward to when you want to upgrade that said the firm setup does make the car a bit bouncy at the rear when you negotiate
Undulations ruts or joints at speed and while it is a sportier drive it still isn’t a match for the three series the turn-ins don’t feel as sharp as the three but the new c-class certainly feels lighter on its feet compared to the outgoing car if you are a casual driver then you will love the balance between the sporty handling and the comfortable cruising that
The new c-class continues to achieve add to it the amount of new htec that the c now brings to the table along with the beautiful cabin design and you realize that the new c-class is even more compelling than before
Transcribed from video
2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Review (India) – Is It Really A Mini S-Class? By CNBC-TV18liveBroadcastDetails{isLiveNowfalsestartTimestamp2022-05-09T082117+0000endTimestamp2022-05-09T083741+0000}
