Driving Report: Mercedes-Benz C400 4Matic

Marseille. If there was such a thing as a blind tasting for automobiles, I would have failed miserably. An engine hung up on the accelerator, a chassis that is unfamiliar with the term “understeer”, all of this wrapped up under the crisp body of a limousine: I would have looked straight to Munich. The ingredients alone would not get you on the right track: six-cylinder biturbo engine, all-wheel drive, adaptive dampers, sports suspension, 19 “mixed tires, electromechanical parameter steering, four-piston braking system. It would never have occurred to me that I had just moved a product from Stuttgart. But one can be mistaken. Because while BMW currently prefers front-wheel drive vans to the start, Mercedes-Benz prefers to slam the sporty gauntlet in the face called the C400 4Matic. A damn quick driving report.

Mercedes-Benz C400 - Motivated by two turbochargers

You can tell me a lot and the bare numbers called "consumption" and "CO2 emissions" speak against me, but a four-cylinder will never be as characterful for a car as a sonorous purring six-cylinder. This is also the case since 15. March at the dealer's fourth generation of the C-Class not otherwise. If you look at the proportions of the 4,69m long middle-class sedan, then the long bonnet literally screams for six cylinders and with the 400er, it gets this too. Although in V-shape, but that does the smoothness no demolition. Additionally motivated by two turbochargers, the half-liter large combustion chambers produce hefty 333 PS, as well as 480 Nm and while the four-cylinder brothers emit a rather pathetic tone into the interior, embeds one of the future top models (below the on the horizon looming V8 C63 AMG Thunder) in a pleasantly warm sound carpet without ever being intrusive. The beautiful thing, that happens without any acoustic amplifiers.

The front axle sniffs at the apex

But enough to drive, because the driving data has not revealed us Mercedes-Benz anyway. So into the perfectly cut sports seats and out of Aix en Provence, off into the rolling hills around the small university town. Quickly flipped the agility control switch of the air suspension on Sport + and the show can begin. Incomprehensible! A Benz, which does not carry the AMG insignia and so neutrally rush around curves, that never existed with the Swabians. The front axle of the W205 sniffs right after the next vertex and thanks to the four-wheel drive, the rear axle cleanly follows the turned radius without surprising with sudden tail pans. This creates confidence and accordingly the pace increases. With arrogance you slow down after a short sprint with far too much speed deep into the next corner. But thanks to a clever torque vectoring brake system, the 1,6 Tonner remains stoically on track with targeted additional braking interventions. The only downside is in this Gaudi really only the automatic transmission. In manual mode, after a short pull on the right-hand steering shift paddle, it may simply not shift back into a lower gear fast enough, as one would expect to benefit from the engine brake effect.

Nevertheless, the Swabian engineers succeeded with this C-Class one thing: Driving pleasure without restriction in everyday life and in a brilliance, which is second to none in this class. Because it's over with the frenzy, because a dreamy farmer drove his dried lavender flowers in the Renault Fourgonnette to the next market, then put the switch back on "Comfort" and not only damping, steering, transmission and engine mapping can relax, but also the driver at the wheel. Burmester sound, perfumed air and ionized air and seat climate control contribute as well as countless driver assistance systems and the design highlight of the series W205, the cockpit. But if you roll so well through the Provence, then you notice it too: 35er or 40er cross-sections of an 19 "tires are not really beneficial for the slow driving comfort. Querfugen can not filter out even the air suspension then.

Conclusion for the Mercedes-Benz C400 4matic

But I stick to it: the C400 4Matic is the best BMW 3er Mercedes-Benz has ever built. But unfortunately one of the most expensive, because of a base price of around 55.000 Euro is expected, if this C variant rolls in the fall to the dealers. Regrettably, then comes that most of the equipment details listed here are not included. So if you want to be fast, you have to suffer, but the good thing is: the C-Class does not need to mature compared to the blind tasted wine. It only means paying, getting in, driving off and enjoying.