Mercedes-Benz C300 BlueTEC Hybrid AMG: car review

The Mercedes-Benz C300 is compact and frugal, yet also smart and luxurious –
perfect for the undercover boss

 

 How to be both: the C300 hybrid likes to party without drinking too much. Photograph: Mark Bramley

 

£38,120
Combined 78.5
Top speed 152mph

This week, as Meridian Dan raps in his hit song, “I’ve been driving a German whip.” It’s a new word on me, but then I’m always playing catch- up with these grime artistes. A “whip” is any buff car, and specifically a Benz. Dan’s lyrics are genius: “Dem man wanna mess with my aura / Someone said that’s bang out of order…” Anyway, with its tinted windows, imposing spoilers and multi-spoke alloys, I think Dan may, in fact, have had the C300 BlueTEC Hybrid AMG in mind when he wrote the song. Clearly he was referencing the car’s 30-year corrosion warranty when he rapped: “Who told you that I got rusty / draw for the WD40.”

Such is the impact Mercedes-Benz has on our culture that it comes pre-loaded with lifestyle references. It’s a synonym for aspiration and affluence; the car of choice for street swanks. I once heard that Mercedes-Benz owners reverse park so as to dazzle passersby with that famous three-pointed star on the grille.

The C in C300 stands for compact. This is a compact executive saloon. Compact and executive aren’t words that often share the same sentence, but small-scale up-scale motors are now a thing. Just look at BMW’s 3-Series or Audi’s A4 – two other small and snooty German whips.

 Inside story: the plush and well-appointed cabin does everything to make the driver feel like

they are playing the part of the CEO.

 

Mercedes isn’t joking about the C300 being compact. It really is cosy. Its big face and dramatic styling mean it looks large in the picture, but in real life it’s surprisingly small – like a film star. But for metropolitan motoring and coping with the barbarities of parking, the reduced scale makes it very easy to live with. Besides, on the open road it still drives like a big ’un. It’s powered by a 2,143cc biturbo diesel that works hand-in-glove with an electric engine to drive the rear wheels through a seven-speed automatic gearbox. Despite the 152mph performance, the car emits less than 100g km/CO₂ and does an austere 78.5 miles to the gallon. Today’s executives are all about that bottom line.

The car is as smooth as a shaved shin and has virtually no wind drag. This means there’s little buffeting and road noise is minimal. It’s incredibly quiet on the road. An executive doesn’t want to be troubled with background chatter.

Delegation is also important, and Mercedes helps the budding CEO offload the more tedious/dangerous aspects of controlling a car. The “Intelligent Drive” package will automatically brake and accelerate in response to what the vehicle in front is doing. It will also detect a car in your blind spot and, by means of one-sided braking, change your direction if there is a risk of collision. The truly toffee-nosed don’t care about such trifling matters – they have chauffeurs. But if you don’t have a man in a cap, the C300 will park itself for you.

Humble brag: the sober exterior belies the lavish interior.

 

Inside, it’s a riot of soft-touch rubbers and lacquered plastics. The model I had was polar white with a blood-red leathery interior, so it felt like I was hiding inside a corpse. I’d rather have a red exterior with a cream interior. The sound system, satnav and media interface are all controlled with a touchpad where the gear shift normally sits. It’s like a little smartphone screen, but I never got the hang of it.

The car’s jammed with clever stuff, but in the manner of brainy things a lot of them are pretty stupid. Would you really pay £350 for a fragrance Air-Balance package or sign up for the world’s first aircon system controlled from space – where a GPS trace starts air recirculation automatically when you enter a tunnel? And your passengers can watch a “Drive Show” with an on-screen graphic showing where you are, like those you get on a plane. Anything to make the executive feel like they’ve made it.

Ride of your life

Live to ride, ride to live: time for a new set of wheels? Photograph: Alamy

 

The sun’s out, the women are competing in the Tour of Britain and Chris Froome is in the form of his life for this year’s Tour de France… if that doesn’t inspire you to get on a bike, then nothing will. If you fancy a new set of wheels, eBay is a good place to start. Bicycles, and all things bike related, is one of the online marketplace’s fastest-growing categories – I’ve just checked and seen that there are currently 776,374 bikes listing live on the site – the cheapest starts at £15. I know we all love a list, so here are the Top 10 bestselling bikes on eBay at the moment.

 

1. Cervelo S5
2. Merida Ride Carbon 94 Road Bike
3. Pinarello Angliru
4. Cannondale SL3 MTB Hardtail
5. Claud Butler Road Bike 53 CM frame
6. Scott Foil 30 Carbon
7. Scott 2011 Scale 80 MTB
8. E-GO Fold Up Electric Bike
9. Trek Superfly Carbon 29-er Pro Race
10. Carrera Vengeance Ladies MTB


Original Article http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/21/mercedes-benz-c300-bluetec-hybrid-amg-car-review