2022 Mercedes-Benz C300 review: Australian first drive

Have you ever paused to wonder why there aren't any small luxury cars? You know, all of the features and quality of an expensive car only poured into a more conveniently-sized package? The reason you tend not to see these cars is the same reason why you don't expect a large car to handle as crisply as a smaller, lighter one: physics.

Put simply, a small car will never travel down the road with the comportment of a large one. It can't. Its wheelbase is shorter, the sprung to unsprung mass ratios are different and so on. So when Mercedes-Benz informed us that the next generation 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class aimed to deliver the luxury of the S-Class limousine in a smaller package, you can perhaps forgive a little initial cynicism. This never works.

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Thing is, Mercedes has become extremely good at figuring out what works with the C-Class. More than 10.5 million have been shifted since 1982 in more than 100 markets around the globe. The last model, the W205, which was sold between 2014 and now, sold a massive 2.5 million units alone. That number will continue to grow, as C205 coupe and A205 convertible versions of the body will live on, for the time being at least.

Here in Australia, the W205's relative successes against its rivals were even starker, selling more than 60,000 in total. Last year marked a shift, however. While Mercedes will still easily able to cover off the Audi A4/A5's sales, the ageing C-Class found itself comfortably eclipsed by the new BMW 3 and 4 Series, Munich outselling Stuttgart by 28 per cent in this instance.

The response is this, the W206 generation, a car that performs a substantive feint in terms of focus. Where BMW doubled down on sportiness, Mercedes has instead leant into luxury.

A more spacious body features subtly revised proportions. Perhaps tweaking the profiles of cars is in vogue at Mercedes right now. Where the SL lost its long bonnet/cab-back proportions, comparing the shorter overhangs and longer bonnet of this C-Class with its predecessor suggests sportiness, as does the presence of power domes on the bonnet that, incidentally, opens to reveal nothing bigger than a four-pot. More on that later.

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There are also some C-Class design cues that you only notice when they're gone, such as the monobloc rear light clusters. Every C-Class ever built has had its lamp pods outboard of the boot opening. It's one of those things that's so normcore C-Class that you never even notice it. Then the W206 comes along and features a split light assembly and the back suddenly looks more like something cleaved from the CLA line instead.

Like all modern Mercedes designs, medial swage lines have been deleted where possible to create a smooth, lozenge-like finish, although all Australian-market cars will have AMG Line trim, which helps amp up the visual impact with a diamond grille inset with tiny stars, the brand insignia in chrome, a set of side skirts, a different rear bumper and bigger wheels.

The W206 generation performs a substantive feint in terms of focus. Where BMW doubled down on sportiness, Mercedes has leant into luxury

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Drop inside and things are a big step forward from the dated feel of the W205. Where that car's centre stack featured a small screen atop a huge trio of air vents, rocker switches, piano black buttons and a clumsy lid before terminating on the transmission tunnel with a rotary controller housed beneath the claw of a questionably useful touchpad, the W206 tidies things up significantly.

This cabin really does ape the architecture, at least, of the S-Class. Ahead of you is a 12.3-inch LCD screen housing the main dial pack, which can be configured to a minimal, discreet display, a wall-to-wall map or even a sporty display that pulses red.

Of more impact is the huge 11.9-inch Tesla-style portrait-oriented touchscreen, angled ever so subtly towards the driver. This remains one of the very few examples of its ilk where ventilation controls are adequately rendered. Even should you mirror your phone using the standard wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, this reproduces in an agreeably large square, leaving a rectangle of touchscreen at the bottom where the intuitive and responsive ventilation controls are to hand. Top marks, Mercedes.

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The materials quality has improved markedly from the rather scratchy finishes found in the W205, although there's still too much use of piano black, which marks easily, attracts fingerprints and causes distracting reflections. The open-pore vertical grain wood finish is beautiful, and the metal weave trim designs also offer an agreeable point of difference.

Fitted to this car is the optional colour head-up display, which sits in a huge bucket atop the dash and is able to project augmented reality driving directions. It can be quite a surprise when the nav hijacks the centre screen to overlay blue direction arrows or house numbers onto the forward camera image. This is only on offer when using the proprietary nav system, Mercedes doing its best to convince you that their way is best.

The materials quality has improved markedly ... the open-pore wood finish is beautiful and the metal weave trim offers an agreeable point of difference

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That additional length and width mean the interior is relatively spacious. The electric seat adjustment is a step backwards, however, as it feels as if you're going to snap the stiff, awkward adjuster as you hunt for a little more headroom to keep your bonce from brushing the sunroof surround. Front headroom is the only key metric where the C-Class has shrunk.

The revised MRA2 platform now affords up to 35mm more knee room, 15mm more elbow space and 13mm more headroom in the back, with 22mm more elbow room in the front. The standard-fit AMG sports seats are generously cut, but perhaps a little lacking in upper body lateral support.

This C-Class is fully 107mm longer than its predecessor in AMG Line guise with 25mm grafted into the wheelbase which, at 2865mm, is now longer than that of a 2009 W211 E-Class. The boot measures an identical 455 litres to its predecessor, a little less than the 480-litre class norm of the A4 and 3 Series.

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So, those engines. At present, Mercedes offers only two models in the C-Class sedan range. You choose from the C200, which generates 150kW and 300Nm from its 1496cc four or the erstwhile flagship, this C300, which features a 1999cc M254 unit good for 190kW and 400Nm, both paired with the 9G-Tronic transmission. Later on this year there will be an AMG-badged C43 and next year the intriguing C63e arrives, all powered by four-cylinder engines.

If you are absolutely wedded to the creaminess of a six or the charisma of a V8, then you're going to be disappointed. Take a broader view and both of the launch engines have a lot to be said for them, the baby one in particular.

This C300 is running the optional $3400 Engineering Package that, with its tri-mode adaptive dampers and rear-wheel steering setup seems a box that needs to be ticked – but you shouldn't. Come to think of it, you can't right now.

There's a lot that's right with the 2.0-litre engine. It sounds relatively refined with the sound symposer in Comfort, doing a relatively good impression of a straight six

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The reason for the latter is everybody's favourite excuse – global supply chain problems. The first tranche of cars to arrive here will have it, but should you order your car today, it's not available. That's no bad thing because, and there's no delicate way of saying this, it's a rare dynamic blunder by Mercedes. The dampers offer very little improvement in secondary ride between Comfort and Sport (or, for that matter, Sport+) modes. Yet when eased back into Comfort mode, the primary ride falls to pieces, lapsing into heaving, wallowing untidiness.

It feels happiest in Individual mode, where you can put everything into Sport bar the sound symposer that, in Sport mode, manages to make the car feel as though it's straining at 2000rpm on the freeway. An adaptive suspension system that only really functions adequately in one setting isn't a great result. Having tried the passive steel springs in the C200, they're more than adequate.

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As for the four-wheel steer, that's not something that we're huge fans of either. Yes, it shaves 43cm off the turning circle, but it feels very odd at low speeds. Turn out of a junction and you get that spooky feeling as if the rear has yawed on a patch of diesel, so quickly does the front come around. When exiting a junction below the 60km/h threshold (at which point it switches from counter to parallel steer), it feels as if you need to correct its neurotic excesses as it weaves up the road. Save your $3400.

There's a lot that's right with the 2.0-litre engine. It sounds relatively refined in Comfort, the sound symposer doing a relatively good impression of a straight-six up to around 5500rpm, after which it's betrayed a little by its primary balance acoustics. The 0-100km/h claim of 6.0 seconds doesn't sound overly optimistic.

As a standalone product, the C300 feels clever but not always convincingly cohesive

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Such is the velveteen smoothness of the 48v integrated starter generator that you'll never feel the need to reach for the idle-stop off button. The steering is clean and accurate, if lacking a little heft and feedback when pushing on.

Once you get past the initial few degrees of dead travel in the pedal, the brakes are well-calibrated, they have stacks of power and modulate beautifully. There's certainly a great deal of scope for AMG to get its teeth into here.

As a stand-alone product, the C300 feels clever but not always convincingly cohesive. There are choices made around the suspension, the 35-series Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres, and the NVH pathways that seem at odds with this car's luxury ambitions. I'd have preferred it if the C300 aimed a little higher in that regard, maybe offering air-sprung options and rubber with a more benign sidewall.

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History tells us that more often than not, Mercedes-Benz's judgment calls here are the right ones. The company understands the mores of a changing market, that digital integration and overall look and feel represent ever greater roles in the buying decision.

If Stuttgart, and the pesky diktats of simple physics, couldn't make this C-Class drive like a smaller version of the S-Class, then perhaps we shouldn't get too hung up on that. It's hard to establish quite what the measure of success was in the development of the W205. Sales will be the final arbiter, and now it's down to Australia to decide whether it sees value in a $90K four-cylinder sedan.

2022 Mercedes-Benz C300 specifications