Introduction

The sound a car makes can make a fan out of the unbeliever. There have been times when I’ve heard a loud car while walking the streets of Mumbai and have stopped, trying to make out what car it was, only to see a taxi going past, its driver in a hurry to ferry his passenger to the destination. In a country full of cars powered by four cylinders, the offbeat burble of a crossplane V8 is like manna from heaven. Even the strange there-are-aliens-under-the-hood sounds that emanate from diesel V6s are preferable to the frankly ordinary sounds from other engines.

Does the C230 Avantgarde pass the aural test? We put it in neutral, floored the throttle to find out, and did it again, because we didn’t believe our ears. It was like prodding a sleeping tiger in it’s eye – the tachometer needle gathered momentum as it raced around the dial, stopped only by the rev limiter. Accompanying the snarl from under the hood was a shimmy from the body on its springs, much like a muscle car. This was going to be a fun test!

Exterior

The C230 doesn’t differ much from its siblings on the outside. The few hints that distinguish it from the C200K and the C220 CDI are subtle: from the front, the Avantgarde grille is standard – it’s an option on the other two variants. The oval fog lamps with twin horizontal strips are also unique to the C230. The split-spoke rims add to the car’s allure from the side, and at the rear, the twin oval muffler tips hint at what lies beneath the hood. The traditional sedan silhouette remains, but with a youthful accent thanks to the wheels, grille and tailpipes.

Interior

Anyone familiar with a C-Class interior will be right at home in the C230. There isn’t any change in the layout of things, but we prefer the C200’s mostly beige interiors to the 230’s grey/black/silver/beige colour combination. There’s no doubt that the plastic quality, fit and finish are of the highest order, but the dark colours get ever so slightly depressing sometimes. Merc’s answer to BMW’s iDrive and Audi’s MMI interfaces is present here – the COMAND system has a click and scroll wheel near the gear lever to help you access all the functions of the car. There’s a lot of space in here for both the front and rear occupants, although if you seat five in the C the middle rear passenger might be uncomfortable due to the transmission tunnel. Everyone gets three-point seatbelts, however, even the third rear passenger. The driver’s seat gets three memory functions, which means that everything – including the headrest! – is electrically powered for adjustment.

The instrumentation follows a three-dial layout. A speedometer is flanked by two dials, one a combined fuel and temperature gauge, and the other a tachometer. The speedo has a floating needle that allows the centre of the gauge to double as a multi-function display, which shows the driver a tripmeter, odometer, ambient temperature, and what mode the gearshift is in, among other things. A lot of information is displayed on the screen on the top of the dashboard – all the car’s settings can be accessed through the COMAND wheel and this screen.

The audio system provides good FM reception and has good clarity for all frequencies. It would, considering it is a Harman-Kadon unit. It’s worth every penny, so if you’ve got a C230, you know which bit will impress your friends the easiest! We wish that it would read new discs a little faster and had a USB port to go with the auxiliary in jack, though. It can be controlled with the buttons on the steering wheel. A phone can be coupled to the music system via Bluetooth, a useful feature. The 475-litre boot is big enough for a trip to the airport or a weekend out with the family.

Engine, drivetrain, fuel efficiency

Engine

The 2496cc V6 musters 204bhp@6100rpm and a massive 245Nm from 2900 to 5500rpm. Open the engine bay and you’ll find everything is swathed under plastic, which makes everything look really neat, but will disappoint the people who prefer DIY work. That flat torque curve reflects in the way the car responds to every throttle input – not once did we feel that the car was underpowered. Of course, the A4 with the 3.2 V6 is much faster and has a 60bhp advantage, but that car is scary fast. The C never makes you feel like you’re biting off more than you can chew, it’s just a smooth surge to the redline and the next upshift…

It pootles along in the highest possible gear when driven carefully, never giving a hint of what it is capable of. Floor the throttle, however, and it will not snap your head back, but give you a strong shove in the small of your back, and before you know it, you’ll be doing silly speeds.

The engine has a relatively high compression ratio of 11.4:1, so it will benefit from fuel with a higher octane rating than regular unleaded. Try and fill up on 95RON or higher, or carry your own octane booster along for best results.

Drivetrain

Here’s another area where the C230 differs from its siblings: the 7G-Tronic gearbox makes an appearance on this car, as opposed to the five-speed older ones on the C200 and C220 CDI. The gearbox offers two modes, Comfort and Sport. It is best at the former, where it slurs through the gears without the occupants being aware of gearchanges. Ask it to shift in a hurry, though, and you’ll be disappointed. Even when switched to Sport mode, the shifts seem unhurried when compared to the competition. That 0-100kph time of 11.2 seconds could have been bettered with quicker shift times.

We missed paddles behind the wheel, which we’ve come to expect from a premium car, and are very convenient while driving quickly, especially through a set of corners or while braking hard.

Fuel efficiency

This isn’t what one will be concerned about, what with a 2.5-litre V6 and just over 200bhp, but under our harsh testing conditions, the C230 returned a surprising 6.5kpl, and we’re sure it will better that figure in normal driving – but not by much. The power is addictive!

Ride & Handling, Steering

Mercedes is the last word in ride quality, and it’s good to see that they’ve got the ride on the C-Class sorted now. The very first of the new C-Classes had a hard edge to their ride, but that’s been eliminated. The two-stage dampers do their job exceptionally well, keeping things soft at low speeds and firming things up on rough roads or while cornering hard. The handling is typically teutonic – calm and unruffled, no matter what you may throw at it. The steering is as brilliant as we remembered it to be – light at parking speeds, and weighing up beautifully at speed or through a corner taken in anger. The handling inspires so much confidence that the car’s limits can be approached without any trepidation, and should you go overboard, a net of Mercedes safety systems is present to prevent anything untoward occurring.

You’ll have to approach the biggest speed breakers with caution in the C230, but it certainly isn’t as low as its direct rival, the Audi A4 3.2. Ground clearance is adequate for the use this car will most certainly see.

Braking, Tyres, Safety

New split-spoke design for the C230's five-spoke wheels.

Braking

Initial feedback from the brake pedal don’t give you confidence, but you soon realise that it doesn’t bite ferociously, contributing to a smooth drive. Increase the pedal pressure, and you’ll be rewarded with shocking retardation from the discs. The system is extremely progressive, and when asked to do so, stopped the car dead from 80kph in 29.8 metres and 2.7 seconds.

Tyres

Standard fare on the C230 Avantgarde are Michelin Primacy HP tyres of the size 225/45 R17. Our test car also showed us that a Continental SportContact 3 will do just as well. The Michelins offer really good grip and are quiet at speed.

Safety

The usual (for a Mercedes product) plethora of safety features is present on the C230: seatbelts with pre-tensioners (except for the middle rear passenger,) six airbags, ABS with ESP and Brake Assist, and ‘Neck Pro’ which helps reduce whiplash injury, among other features.

Cost, Overall evaluation

At Rs 34 lakh, ex-showroom, Mumbai, the C230 sits in the middle of it’s competitors, the BMW 325i the cheapest at Rs 33 lakh, and the Audi A4 3.2 FSI at Rs 36 lakh. As such there isn’t much to choose on the pricing front. Complete petrolheads will still prefer the A4 with its 60bhp advantage and better handling capabilities, but we’d pick the C230 because it offers the most balanced ride and handling compromise of the six-cylinder-powered sedans, which is necessary considering the state of our roads. We’d still like that USB port, paddles behind the wheel and a quicker-shifting gearbox, they’d make the Merc a much better car for the money.

Test Data

Engine Specifications

2496cc, six cylinders in vee, petrol. 204bhp@6100rpm and 245Nm@2900-5500rpm. View specifications

Max in Gear

Performance Test Data

Fuel Efficiency