When the all new W206 Mercedes Benz C-class was launched in Malaysia, Mercedes Benz Malaysia threw a huge party to welcome the arrival of this C-class. This shows the importance of this model line up in the Mercedes Benz family. Fully imported from Germany, the new C-class arrives in 2 different variants, the C200 and C300. This time round, I’ll be checking out the all new W206 C200 and see what Mercedes Benz has brought to the table with this new model.
In order to ensure the new C-class maintains its family look, the exterior design of the new C-class inches ever closer to looking like a smaller S-class. Even with the sportier Avantgarde trim, the elegant design of a smaller S-class manages to maintain the elegant body lines on the new C-class. The new C-class body lines now flow even more naturally, and plenty of the more prominent body lines from the previous generation car have been smoothen out on the new car. 
To spot the differences between the C200 and the C300, some of the exterior components have been changed to make the differences more obvious. Apart from the C200 badge at the rear, the C200 gets a simpler looking front grille with a chrome stripe that runs across the grille. The C200 is also equipped with smaller 18″ rims, which contributed to a more comfortable ride. Lastly, the C200 did not come with a sunroof that is available on the C300. As for illumination, the C200 and C300 share the same high performance LED headlights and taillights, and hopefully when the local assembly starts, Mercedes Benz Malaysia will upgrade the headlights on the C-class for our local market. 
Mercedes Benz designers have the habit of drastically changing the interior design of their models when a new generation arrives, this is obvious with the W206 C-class where it instantly made the W205 interior look outdated. With this new design, we see the arrival of the portrait style infotainment screen, and it measures in at 11.9″. Plenty of controls have been integrated into the new infotainment screen, which means there’s only a handful of physical buttons left on the dashboard. 
On the surface, the user interface on the infotainment screen may look new, but there is a sense of familiarity to it where the operating system has been optimized for this latest model. With the new infotainment screen, Android Auto and Apple Carplay can now be connected wirelessly. While using Android Auto, Mercedes Benz engineers ensure that the Android Auto will fully utilize the available real estate on the screen for a more intuitive experience. Apart from these functions, the new infotainment screen has plenty more functions available for future owners to explore it themselves. 
As for the audio system, the new C200 did not come with any form of premium audio system, which takes away some of the premium feel for the car. Despite not having any premium audio system, Mercedes Benz still retains their signature ambient lighting for the C200. The updated ambient lights now cover even more locations around the cabin, making it more prominent to the driver at night. As for charging devices, Mercedes Benz has removed the 12V socket from the interior of the C200, which leaves only 3 USB-C charging slots for recharging purposes. 
Apart from a larger infotainment screen, Mercedes Benz has also increased the size of the instrument cluster to 12.3-inch for better viewing experience. The new instrument cluster has been updated with new graphics that are now color coordinated with the infotainment screen. Even though on the surface, the C200 and C300 may share the majority of the dashboard layout, there are still minor differences between the 2 cars. The differences include the diamond patterned dashboard trims, steering wheel design, and comfort seats. 
While the seating position and ergonomics are well thought out, I still find that the cushion on the comfort seats are on the harder side. Driving on twisty roads, the seats don’t really provide much lateral support to keep the driver secure in place, which is due to the thinner side bolsters on the comfort seats. Even with all these little niggles, I still consider the front seats decently comfortable to seat in over long journeys. 
As for the rear seats, the rear seats do provide decent legroom and headroom for the rear passengers to get comfortable over long journeys as well. If any of the owners would like to load longer items in the C200, they could fold down the rear seats to expand the 420L of boot space. Due to the height differences between the boot floor and the seat back, some lifting action is needed in order to slide any cargo forward from the boot opening. 
Under the hood, we see the return of the 1.5L turbocharged 4 cylinder engine that is equipped with a 48V mild hybrid technology system. The mild hybrid technology uses an integrated starter generator (aka ISG) that is located in between the engine and the 9-speed transmission to provide additional torque when needed. This engine has the ability to produce 201 hp at 5,800 rpm, and 300 Nm of peak torque at 1,800 rpm. The C200 can hit 100km/h mark in 7.3 seconds, and to a top speed of 246 km/h. 
On the go, there’s only 1 word for me to describe this powertrain, smooth. For day to day drive, it’s hard to tell that the C200 is powered by a 1.5L engine instead of a 2.0L engine. The C200 has the ability to pick up speed effortlessly, but the rate of acceleration feels more wafty rather than urgent. Even under hard acceleration, the engine did not feel like it’s lethargic, which makes the driver unaware that the car is doing 3 figure speeds without looking at the speedometer.
To further enhance the smoothness of the C200, the engine start up is handled by the ISG, which eliminates the usual vibration created from engine start up. For a 200bhp car, the C200 is a very economical vehicle to drive around in. During my time with the car, I’m getting about 8.7L/100km of fuel consumption figure, which is very impressive. With some careful driving, owners can get even better fuel economy than what I’ve achieved. Lastly, the 9-speed automatic transmission does provide smooth gear change, while the extra gear ratio further enhances the fuel economy over long distances.
Apart from having a smooth powertrain, the suspension on the C200 is tuned to provide the maximum comfort for all passengers. The suspension is soft, and the car rides over bumps and uneven roads with a sense of sophistication. Being a soft suspension, the C200 tends to bottom out when going over road humps, which forces the driver to slow the car down drastically when going over it. The C200 may come with a soft suspension, but vehicle body control is still very well setup to tackle fast bends without much drama. 
In order to compliment the good body control of the C200, Mercedes Benz has equipped the C200 with a precise steering rack that gives the driver confidence in taking corners. In order to slow the car down, the C200 utilized the ISG and physical brakes to provide strong braking performance. The brakes on the C200 feels similar to a full on hybrid vehicle, where the initial engagement of the brake pedal utilizes the ISG to recharge the mild hybrid battery, and the physical brakes will take over when the brake pedal is depressed even further.
In terms of safety, the C200 do come with standard safety systems found on most modern day vehicles. Whereas for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, some basic Driver Assistance systems are available on the C200. The Driver Assistance Systems include Lane Tracking package, Active Blind Spot Assist, Active Lane Keeping Assist, and Active Brake Assist.
With a price of RM 288,334.11, I feel that Mercedes Benz engineers benchmark their C-class against their S-class to provide the smoothest and most comfortable driving experience. Design wise, I think the new car is better looking than the outgoing car due to the cleaner lines around the vehicle, while the interior receives vast improvement from Mercedes Benz engineers. Personally, the C200 is not the car for me as it’s too focused to be a comfortable vehicle, and I prefer something that is more engaging to drive.
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