For executives who own the earlier model, this is a full-blown upgrade from “Lufthansa” Premium Economy to Business Class.
The controls on the dashboard, doors and steering wheel/column follow the familiar Mercedes template, but they’re shinier and tighter than those in the superseded C-Class. Not only that, the switches, stalks and door locks sound nicer when operated, and there’s a rich click whenever an air-con vent is returned to its centralised position. Even the loudspeaker covers are posh, with their photo-etched structures and stainless steel borders.
Other shiok “touches” are the steering wheel (leather-trimmed, three-spoke and with two sets of six user-friendly hot keys), the parking brake (now an electric device rather than the predecessor’s clumsy, foot-engaged, hand-released manual affair) and the gear selector (repositioned from the centre console to the steering column in the new C-Class, like last year’s facelifted 4-cylinder E-Class).
There’s an elegant touchpad that supplements the usual rotary knob for infotainment functions, which are presented neatly on a 7-inch central monitor (8.4-inch with higher resolution and a bonded glass cover if you order the full-featured Comand system).
Both the touchpad and the knob nestled below its overhang operate “in duplicate”, so the user can choose his preferred interface, but this might confuse the less tech-savvy and the indecisive.
I, for one, was twisting the knob to scroll through the menus and tapping the touchpad to “enter”, or pressing the former and finger-swiping the latter, or being all thumbs at some stage. And I was using my right (master) hand in the left-hand-drive test car, so it would be even trickier for me to use my left hand to work the touchpad in the right-hand-drive C-Class bound for Singapore. Yup, the “duplicate” interface is quite confusing for me.
But there’s no confusion at all with the optional head-up display (HUD), which is simply the clearest I’ve ever seen, regardless of ambient light conditions. Yet it’s unobtrusive, so there’s no issue leaving it “up” in my field of vision while driving.
The height of the projected/reflected image relative to the road and bonnet can also be adjusted, and it always stays sharp. Besides showing vehicle speed, posted speed limits and navigation instructions, the HUD also relays messages from the cruise control. The driver can choose what content is displayed, and enable/disable the HUD anytime.
As clear as the HUD is the pictogram of the car depicted by the 360-degree camera system on the main screen. It looks like a real-life car-toon. And this animated “toon” can even park itself when in the real world, thanks to Parktronic with Active Parking Assist.
Yet another example of clarity in the C-Class is the crystal-clear music (and deejay jabber) played by the standard 10-speaker, 100-watt hi-fi. Pay extra for the Burmester surround sound setup and your mobile concert hall will have 14 speakers, a 9-channel amplifier and a total output of 640 watts (loud, in other words).
The best infotainment unit available for the C-Class is Comand Online, which boasts, well, the best mix of information and entertainment – fast Internet access, on-board Wi-Fi hotspot, DAB radio receiver, digital TV tuner, multimedia plug-in/playback, JPEG viewer, traffic data updater, 10GB hard disk, plus a good old CD/DVD drive. The unit also supports Linguatronic, Mercedes’ convenient voice-operated control for the audio, telephone and navigation.
Also, the car’s manual has been digitised and built into the Comand browser, so instead of a chunky 450-page handbook for the owner, there’s a handy 100-page booklet that covers the essentials.
