SA Road Tests

 

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.

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The blues lift as we experience the 2010 Mercedes Benz C200 CGi BlueEfficiency a/t

The lion awakes

Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday December 18, 2010

It would take a dedicated fan to spot the differences between C-class Mercedes Benzes built before and after the July 2010 annual model year update. These are not facelifts or revisions, just unobtrusive incremental improvements. Apart from a couple of small badges, there is a change in the shift program, a new look to the interior mirror and the "ESP off" switch has been moved. Central locking by means of the button on the key is now accompanied by a discreet "parp-parp-parp" of the hooter. The unintended effect on an attractive cougar in my local supermarket parking lot was hilarious, by the way.

Seriously though, there are some changes under the skin as well, the most important being new CGi (charged gasoline injection) four-cylinder engines for the C180 and C200.  A switch from conventional port injection to direct fuel injection permits use of a higher compression ratio for greater efficiency. Further, replacing the belt-driven supercharger (kompressor) with an exhaust gas driven turbocharger not only saves power, but it increases torque output on the C200 from 250 Nm to 270 Nm while keeping power output the same at 135 kW. The result is up to 12 percent fewer emissions, a claimed 10 percent increase in fuel efficiency and as much as four tenths of a second off the zero-to-100 sprint time.

Our test car arrived with a boatload of extras including a panoramic glass sunroof and a five-speed automatic in place of the standard six-speed manual shifter. Before you scorn the "mere" five-speeder because even MB uses seven-ratio 'boxes on some of its cars, consider this; it works - very well indeed. With peak torque delivered all the way between 1 800 and 4 600 rpm, there is absolutely no need for added gears. If one was talking about a peaky engine requiring a whole toy box full of ratios in order to keep the pot boiling, perhaps, but in practical terms any more is good only for bragging around the braai fire.

The interior, apart from a few minor details is standard Mercedes; seen one, seen them all. The front seats adjust eight ways and can be moved back far enough to accommodate even the tallest of drivers. Steering wheel adjustment goes up and down and forward and backward, as one expects of cars at this price level, so pretty well anybody can get comfortable. My only reservation is that really large people might find things a bit cramped between the central island and the doors, while the steering might not adjust high enough for them, either.

For six-footers seated behind tall people in front, rear seat head- and legroom is a little cramped, although the headroom issue could be because the sunroof steals some space from the headlining. It nonetheless provides a pleasant fresh air experience at town speeds but gets noisy out on the freeway, although buffeting is never a problem.

The boot is nicely shaped, big at 475 litres and loads at just above knee height to this tester. The curved arms of the lid hinges nestle in recesses in the sides of the boot, so it's impossible to pack stuff underneath and jam them.  Emergency triangle and first aid equipment stow away in a netted niche on the left, while the full-size alloy spare rests as usual in a wheel well under the carpet.

I confess to having been unimpressed by Mercedes' 180s and 200s in the past, especially as this "200" is really only an 1800cc with attitude. But what attitude! Just as the C220 CDi I drove a couple of years ago rattled some preconceptions, so too did this "greened down" C200. It flies. There is a choice of 'E' or 'S' driving modes, with the system defaulting back to 'E' upon restart, but unlike most other cars that give you the option, you don't actually need to use the 'Sport' setting on a daily basis. It hangs on to gears marginally longer and is a split second quicker kicking down, but if you don't need it, leave it alone.

Although our test unit wasn't fitted with any special suspension tuning kit, the car proved to be solid, sat firmly on the road and turned and handled well. Because Mercedes' have always enjoyed a reputation as farmers' cars, I took it out on the rougher of my chosen provincial dirt roads.  Nothing has changed; it was as comfortable and stable as ever.

MBSA might call its mid-year changes incremental improvements, but the combination of direct fuel injection and turbocharging has awakened the lion's heart that beat within the kitten the C200 was before.

The numbers

Price: R381 504 (automatic)

Engine: 1 796 cc, 16-valve inline four cylinder

Power: 135 kW at 5 250 rpm

Torque: 270 Nm at 1 800 to 4 600 rpm

Zero to 100 km/h: 8.2 seconds

Maximum speed: 237 km/h

Fuel index: 8.2 l/100 km

Warranty: 2 years/120 000 km with roadside assistance

Maintenance plan: MobiloDrive 120 with partial owner contributions after 60 000 km

 

 

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax. 

So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

 

Comments?

Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously. Contact me here

 

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