Estate’s are a thing of beauty, they’re sleek and elegant for the most part. They fit in with the conservative saloon crowd and they carry extra cargo that won’t fit into the everyday hatchback or saloon. Whether it’s lifestyle cargo or life cargo (children, dogs, significant other’s etc), Mercedes have for many years produced some elegant Estate’s. King of the load being their E Class estate with massive amounts of presence and cargo ship carrying capability. Here we have the baby brother to the E- Class, the C-Class Estate. Following on from the saloon, the estate adds load lugging to it’s many talents.
The interior is similar to the saloon, the same dash with high res screen (either a 7″ or 10.25″) where your Nav, Media and Settings are all accessed. These are also mirrored on the instrument binnacle directly in front of the driver. If you so wish you can select split screens on both to display Nav and Music on the display dash while showing Speed and Economy on the other, or whatever you choose really. You can control the settings from the 3-spoke multi-function sports steering wheel, which happens to be covered in a very nice to the touch nappa leather. The panel for your left thumb controls the phone and favourites functions. On your right, you’ve got the cruise control and speed limit functions. There’s a little haptic touch square on both sides to scroll through the menu’s which works well on the left side but I found my right hand endlessly scrolling through menu’s or triggering the limit function via my right hand resting on the steering wheel. I seem to be one of the few Irish drivers to use cruise control, but I don’t use it often enough that I need it as a quick function on the steering wheel. I’m guessing in Europe it’s used much more frequently on the Autonahn’s and Motorway’s. Even so, the placement meant that I triggered it accidentally, too often.
Also included in this spec is the seat comfort package with aluminium trim around the dash with the door centre panels, dashboard and door beltlines covered in Artico. The remainder of the trim is covered in black open pore ashwood trim, which doesn’t feel as organic as it sounds, but adds to the luxury feel of the interior cabin.
The cabin space is well laid out with enough room to carry 4.5 passengers in adjustable comfort along with all their bags for a week or two at home or away. There is 450 litres available in the boot with the seats up and nearly 1500 with the seats down. You can open the boot via keyfob, drivers side button and also clicking the usual under the boot lid button. The auto access is lovely and smooth and you can bring down the rear bench via two easy access button’s in the boot. You get a moveable floor to even the boot space, under which is a storage cage for holding any items that are likely to roll around.
When stacking up the C-Class Estate up against it’s rivals, it comes down to the finer things. The Mercedes has a really pleasant aura about it and generates goodwill with it’s passing audience. The Audi has a tech laden cabin and is similarly relaxed in it’s driving style, and the BMW touring is more of a drivers car with slightly less rear passenger interior space.
The AMG Line extras don’t come cheap, extras added to this press car included 19″ AMG twin spoke alloys €1,700 (mated to run flats €500), the Advantage Package (parking assist, Mirror package and the MB Nav with 10.25″ display €3,301, AMG Line €1,557, Ash Wood Trim €609, Artico Leather €805, the eye catching Brilliant Blue Metallic Paint €1,396 and Smartphone integration €626.
The Sports Suspension with Sports direct-steer is excellently weighted and with the run flats you might think the ride a little harsh but I tested this theory by taking the C-Class Estate across some lumpy and very bumpy terrain in the form of Irish bog roads. It handled the rough terrain with aplomb and gets extra marks for comfort and stability while maneuvering across the bumpiest of terrain. In general, keeping the Dynamic setting in comfort yields best results for everyday driving, and when switched into sports mode, just made the diesel engine coarse and unruly.
Special mention : The Brilliant Blue Metallic paint made even the greyest of days a joy.
Needs work : The 2.0 Diesel engine is a little gruff under acceleration. The Dynamic driving modes are more for show as Comfort works best for all occasions.
Specs:
| Max Power 150bhp | 2.0 Diesel / Auto |
| 0-100 km/h in 8.4s | Road Tax € 280.00 |
| C200d Estate price starts at €45,183 | Claimed economy 4.7-5.0 l/100km |
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATfD2nxeosI&w=560&h=315]