A wee whiley back I drove the estate version of the Mercedes C-Class, in 250 CDI format (review here). This time round it’s the smaller-engined C220 CDI in saloon guise.
All C-Classes (apart from the bonkers AMG versions) come with Mercedes BlueEFFICIENCY technology stop/start, low rolling resistance tyres and the like to make them more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient.
So the 220’s pretty darn frugal, sipping just one gallon of fuel for every 64.2 miles, according to official figures. Fit the seven-speed auto box my car came with and that drops to a still-decent 58.9mpg.
I took the car on a mammoth 600-mile round trip from Dundee to Yorkshire and, while it didn’t quite match the official figures, it still turned in a handy 50mpg or thereabouts.
The C220 has 170bhp on tap, enough to get it from 0-62mph in 8.4 seconds. The more powerful C250 will do it in seven seconds dead, but I never found the smaller-engined car wanted for power.
The saloon is quieter than the estate and slightly more composed on bumpy surfaces. Disappointingly, though, the rear seats don’t fold down meaning the 475 litre boot is all the luggage space you have to play with. The estate only has 10 more litres of space (485) but at least you can fold the rear seats to get 1500 litres.
Another bugbear is cost. Although this list price is just under £31,000, my test car came loaded up with enough kit to knock that north of the £40,000 barrier.
There’s metallic paint at £645, £1350 leather seats, an excellent seven-speed auto transmission at £1500, heated front seats at £330, a £1350 panoramic sunroof, £2245 for the COMAND information system, and so on.
I could do without the COMAND unit (though it’s handy and easy to use) but the rest are things I’d want on my C-Class, and they make a big difference to price.
If you can afford the steep price for a well equipped model, though, the C-Class is a delight. The diesel engine, while a bit noisy on start-up, fades away to barely audible levels once you’re going.
The ride is soft and comfortable and handling fairly agile. I was glad to have it as my steed for a long blast up the A1 it’s one of the best cruisers I’ve driven. The front seats are armchair-comfortable, though room in the back is better in many rivals.
If your kids have flown the nest or you’re not a tall family, the C-Class is excellent. And prodigious retained value means you’ll get a good price when it comes time to sell it on which might make the high upfront cost more bearable.
Price: £30,980.0-62mph: 8.4sec.Top speed: 144mph. Economy: 64.2mpg. CO2 emissions: 133g/km.