Official documents state that this 1815kg car emits just 124g/km of CO2, 0.007g/km of NOx and 0.0002g/km of those ultra-fine, lung-infesting particles we all worry about. This information is available because the C220d complies with the RDE2 (Real Driving Emissions 2) regulations, which incidentally reduces its tax benefit rate from 32% to 28%.
It will be quite attractive for company car drivers. Certainly not as attractive as the 1% payable on an all-electric car, you may well counter, but can you name an electric car that has an official range of 873 miles? Yeah, I didn’t think so. And that official figure of 60.1 mpg isn’t entirely unrealistic either. Over 565 miles at an average of 35 mph, it achieved 57.8 mpg; and on a 65-mile morning commute on a congested highway, averaging 52 mph, it peaked at 66 mpg; all without any hypermiling technique. Music to our ears in these dreary days.
Do you know that the C220d is a diesel? Start it on a cold morning and you definitely would, but once it’s warmed up and moving, the engine performs very well. It packs a lot of punch, too, with the ability to blow off a mid-range torque surge, while remaining incredibly isolated from the cabin.
The nine-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox also has to take some credit, because while you can naturally feel its gear changes, they’re quick and responsive. Its behavior never clashes with a smooth driving experience, which is certainly no longer a given.
While the move from the Mk3 to the Mk4 C-Class was significant, this Mk5 is more of an evolution of its predecessor, using an updated version of the MLA platform. Suspension is similar to front, with double wishbones up front and a multi-link layout in the rear.
Driving comfort is better, but it must be said that this aspect of the Mk4 was somewhat disappointing and there is still room for improvement. Fortunately, it doesn’t suffer from an unpleasant stiffness trying to be a sports car, but the graceful main drive is occasionally joined by an unpleasant secondary drive when the going gets rough.
It is still a rather refined thing, so a very pleasant cruiser. And if you’re stuck in traffic on a rural track, you can enjoy the control of a surprisingly nimble chassis thanks to direct and precise steering. It lacks the meaty feel of rival BMW 3 Series Touring, sure, but there are faint echoes of the upcoming AMG C-Class models.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-27 23:01:22
