Typically, car manufacturer model codenames mean little to anyone but car manufacturers – but not always. German car aficionados aren’t alone, for example, in nodding sagely at the casual mention of a W124, a W140, an R107 or, super-keenly, a W198. Some Mercedes-Benzes, it seems, are so legendary that to refer to them by their proper names seems almost to do them an injustice.
The Mercedes-Benz 190E established the modern-day template for the C-Class. The Mercedes-Benz 190 and 190E, launched in 1982, was the W201, and it was followed in 1993 by the W202, which first bore C-Class badging. Mercedes introduced a two-door coupé version alongside regular saloons and estates with the W203 in 2000.
This is the first Merc, however, based on an all-new aluminum/steel hybrid rear-wheel drive platform that’ll be adopted for a whole phalanx of bigger sibling models. From body to chassis to powertrain to interior, it’s a sign of things to come from Mercedes. There’s plenty riding on it. At the car’s launch, Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche confirmed that, despite the army of smaller, cheaper front-drive models launched of late, the C-Class remains the company’s biggest-selling model.
View Price on AmazonThe C-Class has generally held up well, not being blighted by the rust they have previously been associated with. That said, rattles are commonplace on the interior (which really should have been better screwed together) and the four-cylinder petrols can suffer from turbo and thermostat failure. Both are expensive to rectify. For more information, read our used buying guide.
The range of engines consists of 134 horsepower 1.6-liter, 168 horsepower and 201 horsepower 2.1-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesels in the C 200 d, C 220 d, C 250 d and C 300 h models respectively, and a 181 horsepower 2.0-liter turbo petrol in the C 200 and C 350 e, while the range will be headed up by the 3.0-liter V6 C 43 and the 4.0-liter V8 C 63. The coupé and cabriolet models come with the same engine range bar the hybrid models and the inclusion of the C 300 - which uses the same 2.0-liter petrol engine but produces a hefty 242 horsepower.
Source: autocar.co.uk
