Dema

I have participated in the event and found it greatly organized. Benz used cool gadgets for registration procedure and final filling survey. Waiting time was very short. I remember hours of waiting at taste of Lexus. Drive itself was long enough, although it went inside city with speed limit below 35 and multiple stops. Anyway, I got a good impression about capabilities of the new C class. I drove C300, although C350 were available. Exterior of new C is quite disappointing. I expected something more eyes catchy.Mercedes was always a leader in style, so I do not know what happened. Interior is Ok. I found the car comfortable and most controls were easy to reach. Ride quality was really good. The car is very quiet. Brakes reminded me Infiniti, very sharp. The car accelerates very smooth, however I felt some insufficient power. I think C350 can be adequate to desires in acceleration. Trunk is spacious. Actually car itself feels like not so small. I remember I felt some discomfort in previous C, but the new C seems a bit bigger inside. Navigation screen is huge and bright, I really liked it. I didn't test HK system in full, but I have feeling that it is a good system (Benz always had problems with a good stereo). I liked sound and feel of doors when I close them, a nice improvement though. For some reason C300 had non Benz like seat adjustment buttons in the edge of a seat. It is disappointing, and no memory seat. (Again I looked in C300). You may noticed that C300 and C350 have different grill design, so probably seat adjustments is also different. My conclusion that new C can be a great young woman car (age 20-30). I am not sure if it is a good car for men or older people who need a bit more space and more distinctive and expensive look. A bit warning for participants, here is a valet parking, so be careful driving your best car to the event. My car was taken for a ride by valet crew, so I had to wait until it was returned from a fun drive.


C350 from a side.

Steering wheel is really well done, good grip, and you can drive car really relaxed, very low driving efforts.


The dashboar a bit unusual for me.


C300 looks good from this point.


C350 as the drive heading cars.

livestrongONe

Thanks for the review. I just wanted to ask you was one of the colors Steel Gray by any chance and what did you think of it(is it better looking than black and palldium silver)

Dema

I think all colors were available. Silver car was on display and Steel Gray you could ride. However, I didn't take attention to Steel Gray too much, because I think Benz looks better in dark colors outside and light ones inside.

netboy

how long do you get to drive the car?

mbchris

I'm a current BMW owner, so won't comment on the car itself. We had a choice of 2 courses, one 30 minute street/performance course and one 12 minute street course. I drove both.

Suggestions on getting the best out of the event
- Get there at 8am. The lines never got shorter, and could be more than 1 hour for the performance course. I also read the first post. Getting there early allows you to avoid the valet and park the car yourself, on the street.
- When the presentation starts, be near the exit doors. As soon as they open, walk as quickly as possible to the line for the performance course. They had 12 cars for each course. Do the math...
- Don't agree to drive in the same car with your buddy/partner. If its easier, pretend you're strangers. Otherwise its a great way to cut your drive time in half. Plus, only one of you will be able to drive the closed circuit. They swap drivers as soon as you complete the closed circuit. The second driver just gets to drive it back on city streets to the staging location.
- Turn off ESP after the hard braking area. The ESP is very intrusive. Do this only if you feel comfortable doing so.
- For the performance cirtuit, you spend about 20 minutes driving to and from the circuit thats set up in a parking lot. The performance circuit is short. A sand launch (for ESP), hard brake (for ABS), slalom, then about 2 tight turns - that's it. No lane change, large radius corners etc.
- Drive whatever car they put you in. Of course they can say you can drive whatever car you like - however, that's like saying, you can go now, or wait another 30 minutes. Waiting is overrated.

If I had to choose a car:
- C350 sport.
- Beige interior. Black interior grains are more prominent, highlighting the harder plastics.
- Logic 7 DVD. The system is almost or just as good as the ML system in the Lexus GS.
- Burr walnut trim. Aluminium look plastic doesn't do it for me.

Pet Peeve:
- The anciliary partners were useless. Miele coffee makers, high end moisturizers, Continental tires...
- MB is trying to think that if you are buying a C-Class you'll be like the crowd that visits the theatre each Friday, shops at Neiman Marcus, hits the spa on Saturday, eats at Ruth's Chris etc. These days those folks who buy/lease these cars (and BMW 3 series owners) are more likely to be at Target followed by a movie. Its been a long time since a C-Class was a scaled down S-Class.
- Better partners: Apple, Starbucks, Ann Taylor, Aveda, Sony (OK these are the brands we're into).

RLE

Thanks for the picture of the Barolo Red C300 Lux with the beige leather interior. That's what I have coming and all of the pix are of mostly silver cars with coal mine black interiors.

white_w203

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white_w203

I found the styling far superior hands down compared to the 3-series (e90). the interior design is similar to an audi or vw. i do like the design of the navi unit tho. the rear seats seemed exactly the same to me.

performance wise still very poor. i did enjoy fish tailing the rear during the slalom course. braking wise perfectly fine where the steering didnt shake at all.

i say slam this ride on 20's and you're set to cruise.

livestrongONe

Thanks for the pics White. Could you tell me what did you think of the steel gray color on the new C class and if you have more pics on it ,that would be great. Thanks

white_w203

i think the steel gray color one is the sportiest color of choice. it really flowed with the lines of the car. if it were my choice it would be:

1) white
2) steel gray
3) red
4) black

sorry those are the only pics i took