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AS I have said in a previous column, its 25-year history, and six million Mercedes C Class vehicles, in various guises, has made the "baby Benz" the most successful vehicle ever from the Stuttgart plant, and the new version should continue that trend. The all new C Class is longer and wider than its predecessors resulting in greater occupancy space and yet, through extensive use of thinner yet stronger higher tensile steels, has retained the same weight, but the vehicles torsional strength is up by thirteen percent.

The subject of this weeks review is the C 200 Kompressor Avantgarde.

As with all new C class vehicles the C200 Kompressor is offered in three versions, the Classic, Elegance and our specific test vehicle the Avantgarde. The Avantgarde package is easily distinguishable by the front three bar intake grille with the large Mercedes insignia centrally mounted.

Interior of the C200 Kompressor Avantgarde is the epitome of luxury and comfort with leather trim standard and extensive use of brushed aluminium trim giving a more sporty appearance to the cabin.

The features are myriad and this column is not long enough to mention them all, suffice to say it has all the bells and whistles one would expect from a C Class and the option packages offer many more.

The exterior reflects the sporting look of the interior with a deep front spoiler and side skirts and five spoke alloy wheels on 225/45 R 17 rubber setting off the package.

Safety equipment includes the following: Electronic Stability Programme, Emergency Brake Assist, Acceleration Skid Control, ABS, Dual front and side airbags, full side curtain window airbags. Also standard are belt tensioners and belt force limiters for front and outer rear seats and Neck Pro head restraints.

For the first time the C Class features a system previously only available on the larger S Class, Adaptive braking. This system primes the braking system in critical situations and has the added benefit of start off assist for hill starts.

Another useful feature is brake lights that automatically start flashing when braking hard over fifty kilometres per hour, warning drivers behind you of your sudden stop.

Agility control is also standard across the range and this in fact an active suspension system that stiffens or softens the shock absorbers depending on the road surface, as well as giving more direct steering and a shorter gearshift.

Transmission
The C 200 Kompressor has a 1796 cc DOHC 16 valve four cylinder petrol engine, which utilises electronically controlled fuel injection and a supercharger with charge-air cooling. Delivering 135 kW at 5500 rpm and a torque of 250 Nm between 2800 and 5000 rpm, the C 200 Kompressor is surprisingly agile for a vehicle of this size.

Standard transmission is the six speed manual, but our test vehicle was fitted the optional five speed automatic gearbox with Touchshift.

As I wrote in my launch review of the new C Class, Mercedes Benz has produced a true driver's car. I never had the opportunity to drive this particular model at the time so it was a new experience.

I was a little concerned that the smaller engine would take away a lot of the cars capability, after all I had been driving the C 350 previously. I need not have worried the 1.8 litre engine provided more than adequate power to push the car along at a very reasonable pace. Mercedes use of super-charging eliminates all those lag problems associated with turbo charged engines and delivers a smooth delivery of power across the range.

On the road the C 200 Kompressor is superb, handling is crisp and precise, with the power steering perfectly weighted in response to engine speed. Braking is good with large discs all round, those up front being ventilated. Comfort in the cabin is excellent and road noise low, although on high revs I felt that the engine noise level was a little intrusive, but this is a minor complaint.

Fuel economy is claimed at a maximum combined cycle of 8.1 l/100 km, the best I recorded was 8.7 l/100 km.

Claimed performance for the C200 Kom-pressor is a top speed of 230 km/h and a 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time of 8.8 seconds.

As with all Mercedes Benz vehicles the C 200 Kompressor is a very well engineered, very safe vehicle, but the new C Class offers more than previously, it is a rewarding car to drive, no longer simply a comfortable mode of transport. The Mercedes Benz C 200 Kompressor pricing starts at R292 000.

Thanks to Rola Motor Group for the supply of the vehicle.

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