Mercedes-Benz, is a name that means safety, innovation, good looks, and luxury, and is one of the old ones. In fact, Mercedes-Benz is one of the original car makers, period. Like all car makers, it isn’t perfect. There have been mistakes over the years, and as cars get more complex there is less wriggle room.

When the new C-Class came out early 2022, I thought the understated looks gave it a quality worth investigating. Even in the AMG forms, C-Class looks mild mannered and unassuming.

Like the first C-Class, the 1982 Mercedes-Benz 190, the 2022 C200 looks and feels expensive. Our test car had a bunch of extras too, adding to the appeal. Mercedes-Benz is aiming to give C-Class buyers, and S-Class experience, and it certainly does feel posh, just not S-Class posh.

The exterior speaks for itself.

The star-field grille, with a million 3-pointed stars, the complex LED headlamps, and facetted lower skirt, give the face has a slim yet wide appearance. If, like me, you miss the free-standing bonnet ornament and big chrome bumpers, you might think it all looks a wee bit plain.

Our car came with 19” wheels, and with the gracefully arched roof, gives the side profile a regal elegance.

The rear also has LED lamps, but the arrays have been simplified to a slightly stylized teardrop. Body sculpting has been kept to the bear minimum.

The test car was given a touch extra “Wedding Limo” elegance with the addition of the $2,384 Opalite white bright metallic finish.

This Week Review: 2022 Mercedes Benz C200 Sedan FULL REVIEW

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ABOVE: 2022 Mercedes-Benz C200 and C-Class Range

The Cabin:

Some of you will be horrified by the man-made leatherette adorning the interior. It has the look of leather but lacks the feel of a decent nappa. I think it looks great, is easy to keep clean, and is longer lasting than the real thing. My advice is don’t tell anyone, and they’ll be none the wiser.

The driver gets a 12.3” LCD display that sits on the dash like a tv on a wall unit. There is surprisingly little glare off it even in the brightest sunlight. The same goes for the central 11.9” portrait style touch pad which runs the 2nd generation of the MBUX interface. Finally, the HUD is huge, and I do mean enormous. Only essential data is displayed depending on function, but in navigation mode, the HUD appears to be the same width as the driver’s instrument LCD, but twice the height. It’s like a see-through TV screen right there on your windscreen.

MBUX function takes getting used to, and at first, feels downright awkward. It is augmented by the Hey Mercedes voice assistant (also operable by button), but this system, rather like your home google, is always listening. It isn’t as smart as it thinks it is, and often gives random advice.

Seat Kinetics is something new to me, and feels daft at first. Once activated by menu or voice, the little Merc moves the back and seat in the tiniest of increments. You can have one or the other if you want. Like almost all of the drive assist and safety systems, customisation takes but a moment, as long as you can find it in the MBUX menu.

The mood lighting can only be described as spectacular in single, or bi-colour. The effect, especially at night, enchanting.

The feel is spacious yet cosy, but the seating is a trifle firm for my liking.

There were a couple of annoyances:

  • The 12v outlet is deep under the glove box and impossible to see even if you know where to look. Imagine how hard it is to get at, and never while on the move.
  • Next is the Qi pad which is deep in the centre console sandwiched under the tablet screen and in front of the cup holders.
  • The vents look quite sexy, and while they may look a million bucks, they feel light and flimsy.
  • Finally, the vanity light is above the visor, and with the mirror cover hinging upwards, the light is almost covered.

The Drive:

A press of the starter brings the 1.5L turbo to life with zero vibration. You may not even be aware that it is ready to go. Not only acting as a starter, the 48v mild hybrid system also adds power and torque recovered and stored during braking and coasting.

Steering is delightfully light and the experience is further enhanced by drive modes. Many of the controls are electronic slider/press buttons. They aren’t something I look upon with unbridled enthusiasm. VW and Jaguar have done the same thing, and all are difficult to master. The faster you’re going, the better you should become aquatinted with the voice assistant.

Navigation is best done by voice, and with practice is more efficient than punching buttons. The windscreen becomes your guide. The display is enormous, and in case the cinema-sized HUD isn’t enough, the augmented reality directions pop up in the centre display. The AI genius places arrows over a real-time video of what is in front of you. No more being in the wrong lane at the wrong time.

Ride via the 4-link front end and multi-link rear, has all the hallmarks of an even posher car, as if Mercedes isn’t already uber-posh. You can even option rear steering if that is your thing.

The semi-autonomous assistants aren’t too intrusive and if one could imagine the way a car drives from how the cabin looks, C-Class is one such car. The cabin looks sumptuous, and the ride and handling are equally so.

You may be surprised by a 7.3 second 0-100 sprint from a 1.5L 4 cylinder, but we failed to get anywhere near the 6.9L/100k fuel figure.

Despite the seat kinetics being used with gay abandon, the seat felt way too firm after more than an hour at a time in the saddle. I needed frequent stops, as has been the case in many Mercs over the decades.

We took the C200 shopping, and on several trips outside Sydney. The Mercedes did well on country roads, and while the handling isn’t sporty as such, it certainly was fun. Remember, C-Class is meant to be most things to most people, and has been Mercedes most popular model for a very long time.

Conclusion:

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz C200 was not love at first sight. I thought the looks a little bland, the engine a little small, and the user interface a little too cumbersome. But, and this is the point I make about short test drives, the longer is was in it, the more I liked it.

In the end, I really didn’t want to return it.

2022 Mercedes-Benz C200

  • Price: $78,900 (as tested $88,093)
  • Engine: 1.5L turbo 48v mild hybrid
  • Power: 150kw/300nm
  • Econ: 6.9L/100k
  • Trans: 9-sp automatic

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