C230, C350 Sport and C280 Luxury review

Background:

Last summer, I did a internship out in West Palm Beach Florida, and since I own a truck out in Arizona, it was more economical for me to drive a rental car rather than driving my truck crosscountry or getting it shipped to and from Florida.

I ended up chosing Enterprise since they gave me a very good rental quote and I drove a Ford Fusion for the first two weeks out there. However, soon afterwards the transmission went out on the car and thanks to a very nice and apologetic manager, I received a upgrade to the luxury class for the remainder of my rental term (meaning for another two months!!!). This is what allowed me to sample the 2006 Mercedes C-class lineup over the course of my summer in Florida.

Mercedes Benz of Fort Pierce contracts with Enterprise to operate their dealer's service loaners and thus that Enterprise office (which operates out of a trailer set up in the parking lot of the dealer) keeps a fleet of 25 C230s, 5 C280s, and 3 C350s as service loaners. I learned of this from the Enterprise manager while inquiring about the models they offer in their luxury car lineup and so ended up renting from there. My first luxury car was a Infinity G35 which I had for a week (I had a really long daily commute and the horrible gas mileage and funky looks turned me off the car. The performance definitely was up there though), then a Acura TL which I drove for two weeks (got great mileage, looked good inside and out, and had respectable power, unfortunately that front wheel drive really detracted from the car as well) before moving on to sample the Mercedes lineup.

C230 Sport:

The first car I drove was the C230 Sports Sedan with the 2.5L 200hp V6 in metallic blue with a grey interior, the sunroof package (sunroof and rear window shades), power seat package, 6 cd changer and 7speed auto transmission. The retail price for the car as equiped would be $35,305 and the base (aka stripper) car starts at $30,425.

I really liked the exterior look of the car, especially the aggressive stance thanks to the AMG bodykit, lowered sports suspension, and big wheels with wide tires (225/45R17s front, 245/40R17s back).

The interior was also very nice, though somewhat small. I really appreciate the 05 redesign since about two years back I had test drove a new 03 C230 Kompressor Sports Sedan at my local Arizona Mercedes dealer and was very dissapointed with the interior. The highlights are a much better looking and more user friendly gauges, very nice leather wrapped sports steering wheel (with bulges at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions for a sportier feel), and a much more user friendly and classier looking radio headunit. Despite the interiors in all three Mercedes being composed of synthetic leather with only the seat inserts being real leather, the ambience is very luxurious in a classy and typically German cold sort of way.

The other and biggest reason why I decided to drive a C-class for my summer (Enterprise also offered the CTS, Acura TL, and Infinity G35 sedans as rentals in the luxury class) is the awesome and supremely comfortable sports seats. They look great, hold you excellently in sporty driving, and are very comfortable. For about three weeks, I had a daily 2 hour commute to my office and the seats really strutted their stuff there.

The steering, handling, ride were all to my tastes in that while they were quick/sporty/firm they were not harsh and so still provided that expected Mercedes sense of luxury.

Unfortunately, the biggest downfall of the C230 is that the performance of the engine did not live up to the image displayed by the car's sporty exterior and aggressively bolstered seats.

The new for 2006 2.5L NA V6 engine is rated at 201 hp and 181 torque while the older supercharged 1.8L inline-4 C230 Compressors had 189 HP and 192 torque. While most people look at the horsepower figures, the torque is what gives a car that feeling of power (which is why a Full size F150 with a 5.4L V8 though much slower than RSX Type-S feels much faster accelerating from a stop).

Though the C230 is deinitely driveable, it was lacking that extra bit of over the top power a luxury branded self proclaimed sports sedan should possess. I remember the old C230 compressors being much more peppy and the specs prove me right. A 06 C230 does 0-60 in 8/8.5 seconds with a manual/auto while a 05 C230 Kompressor does 0-60 in 7.2/7.5 seconds.

A one second difference in 0-60 times is huge in the performance area and that really hurts the new C230. It is really dissapointing seeing Mercedes fix nearly everything that was wrong with the old C230 and then kill the one bright spot of the C230 which was its peppy supercharged engine.

And to head additonal insult to injury, the 2.5 V6 only got 21/30 mpg while the old 1.8 SC got 24/32 mpg! You gotta really wonder what corporate was thinking having them "upgrade" a car with a engine that is a whole second slower 0-60 which also getting 3mpg less mileage! I think Mercedes really dropped the ball in this area and that is the critical weakness of the C230 sport. It would have been much wiser for Mercedes to have used the new 3L V6 in the C280s in place of the C230 or just simply carried over the old 1.8L SC. I am sure since for 2006, the C-class got the new 7speed autos, the 1.8L SC engine would have even propeled the car faster and gotten better mileage.

C280 Luxury sedan

After a weak of enduring the C230's slow acceleration, I went back to the enterprise office to demand a higher powered C-class. The office at that time had a C280 luxury seden available so I opted to switch to that instead.

That car was a Petwer Metallic (gold) with a brown interior with the Sunroof Package. It comes standard with a 7 speed auto and my example would have retailed new for $36,645. The starting price for the C280 is $34,175, which represents a $$3,750 premium over the C230 but keep in mind the C280 comes standard with the 7speed auto transmission and Power/memory seats package which is a $1,390 and $600 option respectively on the C230. So in reality, if you were going to get the auto and power seats for the C230, the C280 is only a $1,760 upgrade which would be well worth it for the huge improvement for the increased engine performance if not for the fact the C280 strips all the sport out of the car.

This car felt like a old school Mercedes both in looks and driving. The differences between the C class Sports and Luxury trim immediately became apparent as I drove home. looks wise, i think the Luxury trim looks plain boring and lacks the pizzaz of the Sports trim since they lack the AMG body kit, lowered suspension, and have generic looking 16" wheels with thin tires in place of the 17s. The ordinary pewter color didn't help.

The interior had wood trim instead of the sport's aluminum, a standard steering wheel, and much less bolstered seats. Driving feel wise, the ride of the car instead of having the sports sedan's connected to the road feeling, felt much more like a Lincoln town car with its pillowy ride, though it did soak up road imperfections with nary a bump! Also, the steering power asist is noticibly amplified since the effort required to turn the wheel is much less.

The C280's handling is capable though it is much more biased toward traditional luxury and thus eliminates the (for me atleast) sporty character out of the car. Pretty much, the car's driving feel was not to my taste since I wanted something sporty though the C280 made a truely great cruiser.

The C280's 3.0L V6 is also heads and shoulders above the C230's engine. The 0-60 time is 6.9 seconds with the mandatory auto and also gets 22/28 mpg. Rated at 228 hp and 221 torque, it had 27 more hp and much more significantly, 40 more torque. This engine was a jewel, pulling hard at any rev and is completely at odds with the rest of the car's fairly staid character. This ties in with my earlier puzzlement of how Mercedes Corporate dropped the ball and really should have made the C280 the sports sedan and the C230 the luxury sedan since typical entry level luxury customers would have prefered the softer ride and less aggressive looks of the C280 and I am sure, would have been delighted to have a $30,415 base price rather than the C280's $34,175.

C350 Sports Sedan:

After I got the C280, I went back to the rental office daily to see if I could get lucky and swap for a C350 and after about a week, I hit jackpot and managed to swap out for a C350 Sports Sedan Metallic black/black with the sunroof package, 6 cd changer, and 7speed auto.

Other than the badging and powerplant, this C350 is the exact same as the C230, possessing the same interior, stereo, seats, and exterior down to the exact same wheels. You would think for the $8,300 price premium over the C230 sport, Mercedes would have thrown in more than a just a formerly $600 power/memory seat option gratis! Since Mercedes is definitely shooting for BMW with their C class sports sedans, for the $6400 upgrade to a BMW 335i from a 328i (the performance jump from the BMW 328 230hp engine to the definitely underrated 300hp twin turbo 335 engine is as big a jump as the jump from the C230 to the C350 engine), BMW throws in bigger/wider wheels and tires, HID lights, power/memory seats, and the upgraded Logic7 sound system along with a array of visual cues that distinquish a 330 form a 325. This is the other area besides the engine model placements where I feel Mercedes stumbled severely.

I was disappointed by the feature content of the C350 since even at a loft $43k price (meaning it already had $4,300 in options), the car still lacked some of the features a luxury car represents such as the full leather interior($1,500 option) (only has leather on the seat inserts, rest is synthetic leather), HID lights ($790 option), upgraded stereo system ($990 option), DVD navigation ($2,210 option), heated seats ($680 option), or folding rear seats ($290 option). Fully loaded with all these options, the C350 would have retailed at over $50,000, which is a price level that even the mercedes badge will have extreme difficulty justifying for a compact sedan.

The base car starts off at $38,775 and as equiped, this car would have retailed for $43,055, which essentially means there is a $7,700 price premium for the bigger engine. But oh, what a great, sweet engine it is!

Making 268 hp and 258 torque, the car can tear to 60mph in 6 seconds flat and still got a good 20/29 mpg rating. Compared to the C230, the C350 has 66 more hp and a kicking 67 more torque, meaning it could accelerate 0-60 2.5 seconds faster. That 2.5 second performance gap is huge, akin in the speed differential of a 2001-2005 BMW 325 with 187hp versus a BMW M3 with 333hp! (about 7.5 to 4.9 seconds). Even more amazing, the C350 only gives up 1mpg for all that extra performance.

The C350 really proves a worthy successor to the 2005 C320 sports sedan. The C320 had 215hp, 229 torque, did 0-60 in 6.9 seconds, and got 19/26 mpg. In comparison, the C350 has 53 more hp, 30 more torque, gets up to 60 nearly a full second faster, gets better gas economy, and is priced very similarly.

The 3.5L V6 really corrected the weak point of the C sports Sedan in a big way and really made the C350 extrodinaryly fun to drive. I happily drove the C350 for last month or so that I had left in Florida.

Conclusion:

The Mercedes Benz C class lineup is composed of one poser (the C230) and two great cars. The C280 is a excellent pint sized luxury car, representing the luxurious ride and comfy old school luxury interior that Mercedes has become known for while C350 really lived up to its Sports Sedan image, easily equaling or beating the other sports sedans in its class (Audi A4 3.2, BMW 330i, Acura TL, Infinity G35 sport, CTS 3.6) while giving the owner unparalleled brand cachet at a similar price point.

If you must own a new mercedes and don't have a fast or aggressive driving style, the C230 will serve your needs as well, although you will have to put up with the stiffer suspension, faster and noiser riding tires, and more aggressive look which will inspire many other drivers to challenge you at the traffic signal for performance which the C230 does not possess.

For the street racing outlook, the C350 proves to be a real sleeper since due to that huge eight thosand dollar price difference between a C230 and C350, 90% of the C Class Sports out there will be C230s. Since the C230 and C350 sport look exactly alike, that means many street racers will mistake you for your lesser sibling and thus hugely underestimate you.

However, the draw back of the C350 is that now the common person will not be able to distinquish the fact that you own the top of the line C class or that you had spent nearly ten thousand more dollars more than a identally looking C230. Since a significant portion of new Mercedes owners buy their cars based on snob appeal, this lack of distinquishing visual characteristics for the C350 will prove to be a huge sorepoint.

Afterwards:

Afterwards, when I got back from Florida and started driving my truck around again, I was hugely let down and went into the market to buy my own personal sports sedan.

My experiences with the C class this summer eliminated them from consideration since my budget had a max of around 35k out the door and I could not stand the sluggish performance of the C230 while really not preferring the more luxurious character of the C280 and the C350 was priced out of my level. Also, the German auto brand's recent reputation for unreliability and long standing reputation for very pricey maintanence and repairs turned me off as well.

I shopped around, considering the new G35 Coupe (didn't like the sedan's looks), Subaru Legacy GT Limited, Lexus IS250 and IS350 (same problem as the C class, 250 priced well but too slow and 350 was perfect but too pricey), and Acura TSX and TL (TSX lacked torque and TL's front wheel drive handling and turning characteristic was a big minus), and used Infinity I35 before finally ending up picking a preowned Lexus GS430 which was very fun to drive, comfortable, maintained great resale values, and is very reliable. I will post a review of my new GS soon here as well.