Martin
|
Mercedes C250cdi Sport AutoI've was offered an extended test drive of a C250cdi, from Friday to Monday, so it would have been rude to turn it down!!
My first impressions were the same as I gave when I went to look at one in the showroom. I like the looks of the Sport from the outside and all versions are now much improved since they changed the design of the wing mirrors as they looked like they had huge slabs of chrome on the top before. The interior is disappointing, the quality is OK but nothing more. The lowlights are the door panels and the flap that covers the display screen. In the Sport model you get part leather seats, but the leather part is actually Artico which is a man made substitute and would never pass for the real stuff.
The other poor thing is that the armrests (door and centre) are rubberised plastic, not even Arico, which considering they are parts of the car you touch the most, it pretty poor imo. Mercedes are not alone with this, Audi do the same and are even cheeky enough to charge you more for leather armrests in the A6 (right up to the RS6!!).
The test car is an Auto, which I was interested to spend more time with as making the move to the dark side is something I've thought about. Even though it has paddles which (as part of the playstation generation!) I've always fancied, I will stick with a manual. I don't like the way the transmission feels elastic at low speeds and the manual override is only partially successful. If you pull a paddle or move the shift lever to the left in drive, then it is really just a suggestion of what you might like, you don't get the gear you've asked for until its ready!! It's fine for dropping a gear or two to give you some engine breaking but that's it.
In full manual mode, it is better, but still not right. For example, if you are on an A road and your speed drops below 50mph, then it goes from 5th to 4th which isn't completely necessary and means you then need to change up again shortly after. The your speeds drops below 50mph again..... 
I need to drive it on my own to find out what it's like when pushing on more, so will find out what sport mode is like and whether the manual mode will work better when pushing harder.
The engine is the highlight and the main reason for wanting to try this car. It's the new twin turbo 2.2 4 cylinder diesel that is also fitted to the new E Class. It has 205hp and a huge 500nm (367 lb-ft) of torque. However, the headline torque number is a little misleading because it's only between 1,600 and 1,800 revs! It does have 295 lb-ft from 1,400 to 3,200, so it's not all that bad. Peak power is at a heady 4,200rpm,
The engine revs well and is pretty linear, but it is noisy. It's at least as noisy as the CR engine in the Jetta and definitely much noisier than the 520d I drove. It's at its worse past 3,500 revs, so the auto box doesn't help its case. It would be better with a manual, so you could use the torque and keep it out of the noise zone. It certainly is a punchy engine though and you can easily get the ESP light flashing!! It makes for a good overtaking car and a good motorway car as it gets back up to speed very quickly without needing to drop down from top gear.
The interesting comparison is with the C220cdi as that produces its peak power of 170hp at a lowly 3,000rpm!! If you look at the power and torque graphs in the brochure, you can see that it starts off being exactly the same as the C250, but is electronically strangled, as it produces 170hp all the way from 3,000 to 4,200. The torque curve is the same. Well, I found it interesting........ 
Fuel consumption wasn't great, but I suppose it was what you'd expect. I managed 38mpg over 90 miles, driving the Jetta in a similar way at similar speeds in the opposite direction, I managed to get 52mpg.
As far as ride and handling is concerned, it rides firmly but it fine for me. I need to push it a bit more to find out how it really handles, but it seems like it will be OK. The 520d I drove was more enjoyable and 'talkative' at the sort of speeds I've been doing today (I loved the steering in that car), but we'll see.
There are a couple of reasons that despite an engine that I really like and would suit my sort of driving very well, that I can't see me getting one.
Firstly it feels small and a bit cramped inside. It's not a problem specific to the C Class, as the 3 series feels exactly the same and I think the C is marginally nicer inside. It feels slightly smaller than the Jetta and just too small for me. I don't need more space than a C Class estate would give me, but I prefer something 5 series/A6/E Class (or Passat!!) size.
Secondly, we both have sore backs after about 2 hours in the car, which isn't good. We'll see what it's like over the weekend, but it didn't feel comfortable from the start and even with a lot of adjusting, I couldn't get right.
I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I will when Mrs M isn't looking 
|
DaveGibson
|
Re: Mercedes C250cdi Sport Auto | Martin wrote: | | ......... It's fine for dropping a gear or two to give you some engine breaking but that's it.............. |
Well, you know all about engine breaking, Martin. 
|
Martin
|
Re: Mercedes C250cdi Sport Auto | DaveGibson wrote: | | Martin wrote: | | ......... It's fine for dropping a gear or two to give you some engine breaking but that's it.............. |
Well, you know all about engine breaking, Martin. |
Oops! Quite right though!!
|
Boxer6
|
Good write-up Martin. Definitely sounds like it isn't for you, if only for the sore back scenario. If you can't get it sorted, then it will HAVE to be no, given your mileage.
I must admit it took me quite a goodly amount of tinkering to get the Leggy seat "just so", but now it's spot on AND memorised for when Helen moves the seat during her (very rare) excursions in it. Like SpecB, I have a pretty knackered back, and I would have had to turn it down if I couldn't have got comfortable.
|
Martin
|
I was definately right about the seats, we were only in it for about 45 minutes today and I was most uncomfortable. I've tried all sorts of seating positions but nothing has made it right. I think that part of the problem is the size of the backrest as well as the shape. The top of the backrest is about 3-4" lower than the top of my shoulders, in the Passat it was about level and in the 5 series it's 1-2" above!
It's also definately too small, which you may think is a little strange when we have a MINI!! It just feels a bit too cosy in the front and the kids have kicked the backs of the seats even more than they do in the MINI, which must be to do with them getting in and out as obviously the front seats slide forward in the MINI.
Whilst I do like the exterior, the interior is not growing on me at all. It feels solid enough, but I don't get the comments in the car mags about the quality and 75% luxury car feel at all. It really isn't much better than something like the Jetta and is miles behind the 5 series. In my opinion!
I do still like the 'oomph' though. A lot. A 523d would be absolutely spot on. I know there is the 525d for that, but that isn't in my band because of the total running costs and a 523d would be about the same to run as a 520d if they didn't charge too much more.
|
|