cawimmer430

2008 Mercedes C220 CDI (W204) Testdrive

Well, I finally managed to properly testdrive the new W204 C-Class, and I came away very impressed indeed. It's a sweet little car with some fantastic qualities and it's got character too. A nice blend between comfort and sport - but much improved, much improved. It's more capable now in both departments. Fantastic car.



The dealer had two W204 C-Classes available for testdrives, a 6-speed manual and a 5-speed automatic version. I choose the automatic car (a proper Mercedes should have a an automatic in the first place). Here's some information about the car I drove. It was an Iridiumsilver C220 CDI with Avantgarde trim level. The price for this car, with the list of options, was 42,120.05 Euros with the most expensive extras being the Avantgarde trim level (1,680 Euros), 5-speed automatic transmission (1,830 Euros) and Audio 20 radio (1,000 Euros). The C220 CDI uses a 2.2-l 4-cylinder turbodiesel engine with common-rail technology. It used to make 150-horsepower and was very popular in the W203 C and W210 and W211 E-Classes. Now, the engine has been beefed up to 170-horsepower and the refinement has been improved as well.



Indeed, this is the first thing you notice when you start the diesel engine. The cabin is well isolated and you hardly hear the diesel clatter, especially once the engine is properly warmed up. Refinement wise, the engine is very quiet for a diesel. Open the doors or roll down the windows at a flick of a button and you hear a hardly audible soft diesel clatter - hardly something to get annoyed about. Engine vibrations can't be felt, at a standstill or when driving. As mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, the cabin sound isolation is very impressive. It manages to keep the engine and much of the exterior sounds out, and this adds to the premium feel.



The W204 C-Class design to me is a fresh change from the boring W203 C-Class. I feel that the new W204 brings some dynamic design language into the Mercedes range and as a passionate Mercedes fan, I detect past styling cues in the W204 design that originated in the W201 190-Series (1982-1993) with a bit of W202 (1993-2000) thrown in and molded into something dynamic and almost un-Mercedes-like. Interior space is decent for this class. The transmission tunnel is small which means that there is a lot of leg space for bigger drivers (like me) and since I was testing the car alone, I could afford to slide the seat all the way back and make the most of the interior space. At the rear, the fun ends. It's small alright and tall individuals better have a shaved head or their hair constantly touches the roof. A trend which seems to be rampant in this class, where the rear roof tends to take a drastic dive for the sake of design while sacrificing head space.



I personally like the athletic design of the interior and having spent time in both Elegance and Avantgarde C-Classes at the premier in Mühldorf, I have come to favor the Avantgarde interior over the Elegance interior. Wood looks great here, but smooth aluminum applications like here just look much better, or maybe it's that way for me because I want something sporty. Either way, the interior materials feel and look decent, definitely on par with the best in this class, but not class leading I am afraid. Still, it's a nice place to be and feels like a premium interior should and that's what matters in the end.



The steering wheel was often criticized for its design, but I hardly noticed. From the driver's perspective, it looked pretty decent. There was nothing offensive about it, so I felt. What was great about the steering wheel was its size. It was compact and designed with excellent driver grip in mind and this made driving the car a joy. The compact steering wheel gave me the feeling that I had the car completely under my control. With the engine properly warmed up, I began to abuse this demo car.



My first kickdown was met with a brutal burst of speed. The C220 CDI has never been a slow car, no matter what some people might tell you. With an extra 20-horsepower and a massive 400 Nm of torque on tap, the C220 CDI accelerated eagerly and fluidly. Mercedes claims an 8.4 second 0-100 km/h time, it felt a tad quicker, probably because of the extra and useful torque reserves. Even better was the ease with which this car performed in midrange acceleration. It was no problem at all. The brutal bursts of speed always resulted in almost violent driver throwbacks, thanks to the massive torque ratings the engine produced. I enjoyed it, I really did!

The old 5-speed automatic transmission was also overhauled and perfected for service with lower end C and E-Classes and it worked flawlessly. Shifts were hardly felt and selecting gears manually was also possible. Best of all, the automatic responded instantly when I manually shifted making for a sporty driving experience Mercedes style. It was fun selecting a lower gear and slamming the pedal and enjoying the 170-horses and 400 Nm of torque work their magic.



The handling aspect was great. The little C220 CDI could take on corners without problems, aided by the awesome steering feel. The only aspect that was a little dissapointing was the suspension. But before I go into detail, it has to be said that the car handled confidently and was easy to control in all situations I encountered. I felt that this was mainly due to the excellent and direct steering response. You felt the front wheels, you know what they were up to and your steering input was instantly forwarded to them. Brilliant. This of course was all part of the Paramaterlenkung, a device which adjusts the steering feel and directness depending on speeds. Low speed handling tends to be direct while at higher speeds, the device softens up the steering a bit to ensure comfortable handling at Autobahn speeds.

Anyways, the suspension was very comfortable and quiet. Those were the plusses. Here's my problem. This was the Avantgarde model, which is supposed to be sports oriented - and it was, but the suspension just felt a little too soft. Body roll wasn't much of an issue (there hardly was any in curves), strangely, but for some reason, I found the suspension a little too soft in feel. In defense of the Avantgarde C220 CDI here, this car didn't have the optional sports package, which will include some serious suspension tune ups. And to me, this means one thing. The car is still aimed at the traditional Mercedes clientele who prefer cruising over sport. Younger buyers and others thankfully have the option of a sports package which will transform the C-Class into a more hardcore sports sedan. Generally though, the handling qualities of this C220 CDI Avantgarde were excellent. I'll give it a 9/10. Here's why: solid handling, excellent steering feel, hardly any body roll and easy to control. These four qualities made for excellent handling and also inspired the driver to drive the car a little more aggressively. The results were impressive. It's a comfortable luxury car and it's also a capable sports sedan. With the sport package though, it will be much better.



So, in the end, the new C-Class proved to be a most capable and fun car. Everything about it is better than the old W203 C-Class. Comfort, solidity, handling, interior, everything. The prices might be high, but I felt that the car was worth it, especially since the prices didn't increase by that much over the W203. You get a solid car with impressive capabilities in the sporting and luxury departments. A nice blend between sport and luxury, like most modern Mercedes' tend to be. It's not quite a BMW 3-Series in terms of handling I imagine, nor does it try to be, but most kean drivers will be more than satisfied when they give this car a try - especially with the sports package. The C-Class retains part of its traditional Mercedes personality: comfort above sport, but with sport much improved. Much improved...

A great car - this market segment just heated up big time.

THE END


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RETARDED WIMMER VIDEOS

0-100 km/h NOT A KICKDOWN, JUST A PUSH ON THE GAS PEDAL


YOUTUBE IS TAKING FOREVER TO PROCESS THIS VIDEO. WILL POST IT LATER!

Wimmer talking about something...


0-100 km/h KICKDOWN


Driving update...


360 degree walkaround with Wimmer talking...


Got to go, Bayern Munich is going to whoop AC MILAN tonight!!!

GTA8.5

Great review Wimmer, just great. I believe MB finally has a winner here. I thoroughly enjoyed the article, pics and the video. You know the W203 C-Class is incredibly popular here in the US. I can only imagine how popular this new one will be!

It`s just amazing how quiet it is for a diesel

ree

Great review! Looks like the C 220 CDI has enough power...
Maybe I should convince my dad to make a little testdrive in may, too.

klier

Nice review man.

I testdrove the C220 CDI too, but I didn't at all like the 5-speed auto tranny. The manual up and down shifting is totally non responsive and quite a joke. But I guess that's from a BMW owners point of view. The suspension was a tad bit soft too. For the rest, it's a very good car. Speed was a bit slow for such a big heavy car, and the engine sound was there all the time, being a diesel (I still hate the sound of a diesel)

I will put a review of the C280 Avantgarde very soon in the review section. That car was ten times more fun to drive as the C220 CDI

mrkc77

Great review on the 220CDI, as always

Tycoon

As always, great review, Christian! I can only imagine what will happen when you get your hands on 350 with AMG package....

Oh $h!t! ...

Mr. M

Don't you have to work, Wimmer?

Thanks for the comprehensive review. I was wondering, do you have any close-up pictures of the interior? I really want to see how the plastics look like.

cawimmer430

ANYTIME.

I enjoy posting these testdrives myself and I love sharing my passion for MB with others. Anytime.

Here's the second video.

cawimmer430

Anytime.

Definitely worth a testdrive. But the car is so small at the rear, nothing for a big family sadly.

cawimmer430

Thanks.

The 5-speed auto is pretty good, did you perhaps have it in W (Winter) settings? I know the 5-speed auto in our E320 is a little jerky when in winter mode. And it also shifts slower I've noticed.

The W204 C220 CDI is actually pretty quiet. You get that impression if you've been around the W203 C220 CDI a lot like me, big improvement here. And like I said in the videos, you do hear a little diesel clatter when stepping on the gas, but if you engage cruise control, the engine is very quiet. Also, when you slam the pedal, the engine performing doesn't sound much like a diesel, it sounds like a Japanese 4-cylinder turbo engine.

Pretty cool!

Looking forward to your review.