Glyn M Ruck

At the W203 facelift in 2005 suspension elastomers were softened between 22 & 56% depending on location. This was carried over onto W204 so isolation is not bad. Eibach is an extremely capable company & engineers it's products well.

Glyn M Ruck

The W204 still carries over some of the feel. Just not to the level that traditionalists want. The car has a lighter feel not helped by slightly overboosted power steering. A common complaint.

Sportstick

Well, Glyn, you've finally convinced me I'm not a traditionalist!! I'd rather be in my lighter but stiffened 204 than my wife's 211 4Marshmallowmatic anytime!

But, I do agree with you about overboosted steering.

Glyn M Ruck

I've always meant to ask you. Why don't you & your family drive American cars? Jeep discounted. Maybe other Chrysler products?

Sportstick

Grew up in a GM family...Chevy, Olds, and my grandfather only drove Pontiacs. No one we knew would be seen in a Ford, a remnant of reaction to Henry Ford's sympathy for the Third Reich. My first hand-me-down was a Chevy Impala. When I had a chance to buy my first car, it was an Audi 100LS, followed by BMW 2500, a 320i, and then a VW Jetta GLI became a third car when VW became a client. Kept the 320i for 13 years and then sold it at 50% of sticker! All of these were manual transmissions.

Then, I started what turned out to be 24 years inside an American domestic, and had the privilege of ordering whatever I wished (that they made!) at no cost, including gas, insurance, washes. I was able to reorder about twice a year. Once I retired, I was appreciative of the career, but wanted to enjoy again the kind of driving experience I had earlier in life. The C300 is an OK first rebound car, but I know what I want next and no one on this continent builds it. Even McDonald's employees can prefer chateaubriand to cheeseburgers!

alsyli

Not even a Cadillac ATS? It's supposed to be an outstanding driver's car....

Sportstick

Driven it in six cylinder automatic form. Chassis is outstanding. The 2.0T/6speed combo (which would be my preference) is not the high point of the car, and it's still too "glitzy" for me. I'm one of those who likes the pre-facelift C Class interior better for its simplicity. The Bavarians are calling my name, although I am curious about the Alfa Giulia once it launches. Yes....I know.

MBNUT1

I absolutely hated that about my w211. There is one stretch of road on my way home from work which is straight but bumpy. The car was all over the place. The suspension had to be one of mercedes worst. It didn;t handle for S**t yet had a very uncoordinated reaction to bumpy roads. The W204 is more of a Mercedes Mercedes in this regard. Far more solid feeling car.

mac911

Same from me. The Mercedes feel, solidity is there for me with W204. I'm simply comparing it to the many other cars I drive when traveling, etc. It's a very unique, solid feel, like a vault.

I guess that must have been even more exaggerated in other Mercedes.

Furthermore, even with the sport suspension, I find the ride fairly comfortable. I drove a 2005 C230 sport that seemed much harsher.

I guess so much does come down to the specific model you compare against each other than just the series, W203 versus W204.

I do get the lighter steering complaint. I find the steering bit heavier/better than cheap cars on the road, but it is certainly lighter than my SLK with the mechanical speed sensitive setup.

Glyn M Ruck

The W211 was a product of computer simulated testing instead of doing it on the road & it showed. Not Benz best effort by a long way. With W204 & all other models of the era they went back to testing on the road in SA, Namibia & Finland. I even have a DVD from MBSA of the W204 testing regime. That's why it has been a relatively trouble free car.

RavenMDX

This is getting worse by the minute. The more I see what the new W205 looks like, the more disappointed I am.

First, that 'installed-at-the-last-minute look' iPad nav screen really sucks. There's no way to put it away and looks out-of-place. As Steve Jobs would probably say, "There's no seamless integration between the software and the hardware. That guy is fired".

Secondly, who designed the new lines for the car? more bloated and rounded all around. It seems Mercedes and BMW are sharing the same designer for their latest models.

Thirdly, as Sportstick pointed out, what target market is this new model made for? it has lost most of its precise, masculine exterior lines in favor of a metrosexual look.

Sportstick

The members of this forum are a non-representative subset of C Class owners, and bring our own biases as hyper-involved with our cars. The mean C Class buyer in the U.S. is a 58 year old man, and the typical attitudinal positions are most certainly less enthusiastic than in our community here. That is for whom in the U.S. the car is designed.

RavenMDX

Agreed. it looks like that 58 year old (who couldn't afford the S class), will settle for the new C...

But for me or others here, this is a turn off.

Doa

in that case they could have saved much money over the years and stick with the W201 design

alsyli

For you and *some* others here, it is a turn off. In LA, my impression is that the vast majority of C-classes are driven by females of all ages. I've never thought of any C-class, including the current one, as being particularly masculine.

I also don't judge a car simply by spy pics (or even official pics, for that matter). I thought the A5 was utterly boring looking in pics; it's quite the opposite (for me) in real life. I also didn't think the W204 looked good in spy pics but think it's quite handsome in the flesh.

I've seen light camouflaged W205's driving around my area. The proportions definitely seem to be more upright and conservative. I personally like this....

Sportstick

The data I can access shows a slight majority for male buyers in the US national sample. The actual age mean is clearly in the 50s. But, as for age, experience has shown that "young at heart" and "old at heart" mindsets can be found in bodies of all ages.

alsyli

Oh, I wasn't doubting the accuracy of your data. I'm sure LA lies outside the mean in a variety of ways.... My point was more that styling is so subjective, so people should perhaps be careful of generalizing their own opinion onto a whole population.

In LA, my impression is that the C-Class appeals to be people who are relatively new to the brand and/or can't afford a more expensive MB and to "empty-nesters" who like MBs, perhaps can afford more, but simply don't need or want a bigger car (esp w/ gas prices being what they are nowadays). I'm myself am not new to the brand but can't afford a more expensive one (and probably wouldn't want to fork over the $ if I could) and simply don't need a bigger car....

Glyn M Ruck

+1^ and no surprises there.

Whether by design or accident, one would hope by design & as with the W220 they have launched the new S Class (W222) ahead of the W205. This will hopefully create pull for the W205 as it did for the highly successful W203.

A Class & especially CLA at it's price point for the US market is supposed to be the offering to the younger buyer.

While MBUSA has stated that W205 will not see price rises over W204 I suspect that this is to a degree disingenuous & that 4 cylinder models of W205 will keep entry price down while 6 cylinder versions will see a price hike over time.

EDIT: The US probably messes up the Benz overall global strategy by not offering the full product range.

CisternaChyli

Thats exactly what happened with my father. He can definetly afford an E class, but decided to go with a C250. He only drives in town from home and to his medical practice and to the hospitals in town. I'm the one who takes the car out of town. The gas mileage is also great, he doesnt have to fill up that often either.

Glyn M Ruck

Makes sense. Many around the world are trading down even if the can afford the more expensive models.

Then you have the company car influence & they are trading down. One must remember that a large proportion of Benz cars go into company fleets or to individual execs as company cars.

Riviera

For the same price I prefer a smaller car full of options than a bigger one entry level.

In europe big cars are often a pain to drive and park in old towns where parking places and streets were made for fiat 500.

Taxes are really high for big blocks and the gazoline price is around $8/$9 a gallon where it's around $3/$3.5 in the us almost 3x more expensive...

Pascal

CisternaChyli

i think MB recognizes this; which is why the W205's interior and features are top class, and directly lifted from the S class.