Mercedes C280 2007 Review

So, just what does 'sporty' mean any more? Tack a spoiler, decals and some bling rims onto the humblest Korean econo-device and the thing boasts a 'sport pack.'

Honda's CR-V automatic, a vehicle from which every scintilla of driver involvement has been meticulously removed, comes in an iteration known quite without irony as 'The Sport.'

It's taken as read these days that 'sport' pertains to appearance as opposed to performance in the same way most tracksuits are sold not to athletes, but the obese.

With its new C-Class, however, Mercedes-Benz have taken semantics to the next level. Instead of handing down the same, conservative device for wannabe junior executives, they've done two entirely different versions. That's to say two versions whose difference is entirely visual.

There's the Classic and Elegance models (ie, more traditional Merc shape and trim) and then the so-called Avantgarde models, with three-point star slapped on the grille in a manner intended to evoke Merc's, ahem, 'sportier' models.

This gambit in the most popular Merc model line-up is considered necessary in order to reel back the average age of the marque's buyers. Indeed, the Avantgarde is felt to be more attractive to those under 50.

This demographic had to be conquered without alienating the hugely profitable core of constituents who go for cars with the three-pointed star not because they want to get around corners quickly, but because they want everyone to see that they own a Mercedes-Benz.

Certainly, this line has worked to the extent that you'd find few published reports that have not obligingly called the Avantgarde 'sportier.' One game chap managed it several times, further distorting the auto world's most misused adjective by applying it even to the instrument panel.

What next, pray? A racier glovebox? A performance-enhanced 12-volt socket?

We got to grips with the top of the currently available line-up, the $84,974 C280 Avantgarde. The only six-cylinder at the moment, it's chief rivals are BMW's 325i, the Lexus IS250 Sport Luxury and at a stretch, Audi's A4 3.2 FSI quattro.

True, the Avantgarde does represent a marked visual departure from the Classic and Elegance models, though still obviously within the perceived idea of what a Merc should look like ... and drive like.

Within, it's more spacious than the previous generation. Rear passengers are better served. Though this is the allegedly sportier version, those up front will do a good deal of sliding about on wide, unsupportive seats when cornering gets physical.

Still, it'd be a rare physical specimen who couldn't find a perfect driving position with two-way adjustable wheel and a throne that adjusts seemingly endlessly. No lumbar support, though. The stop and go pedals are offset slightly to the right to accommodate the foot-activated parking brake Mercedes persists on using.

Most of all, the cabin looks and feels better than before, even the plastics having been imbued with an almost tactile quality.

The multimedia system is all too similar to BMW's rightly loathed i-Drive, but surpasses it for ease of use, even without the latter's recently acquired idiot buttons.

At activation, a warning message flashes on the screen, which has emerged to sit atop the dash, not to allow it to distract you. It's a bit like giving a kid a loaded paintball gun for his birthday and asking him not to shoot his guests.

The C-Class has all the surety of Mercs' Pro-Safe crash avoidance and safety set-ups as standard. Active measures include ESP, Adaptive Brake (ABS, EBD, EBA et al) and Pre-Safe, which readies airbags and seatbelts should on-board sensors detect an imminent bingle. A five-star NCAP rating is surely inevitable.

In terms of wattage, if not Newtons (the diesel C220 CDI has a whopping 400Nm), the C280 is the most potent new C-Class to be had with its 170kW/300Nm V6.

At least, it's rumoured to have an engine, for the most part, the thing is almost hybrid-quiet.

Even when attempting to emulate Merc's claimed 7.2 0-100km/h sprint time, the engine's note is more refined than ferocious. Driven through the marque's seven-speed automatic transmission, a combined cycle economy figure of 9.6 litres of premium unleaded per 100km is claimed, but not likely if your right foot is heavy.

Off the mark, it's handily responsive, quite able to bemuse one thrusty Commodore SV6 owner. The ride/handling compromise is markedly in favour of the former, there being no greater contrast than the absorbency and composure of the Merc's suspension on the very same roads that so rattle the BMW with its run-flat tyres.

While no sports suspension option is available, the C280's inherent balance makes for predictable and accessibly enjoyable handling that can be enhanced on a winding B-road by making use of the transmission's manual mode.

Driving an E350 to pick up our C280 was instructive. The impression that the latter is something of a junior E-Class comes right on home with steering that, while dead accurate, is pretty much devoid of feel.

There's a good deal more body roll than with any of the more rigid rivals we list.

But then Merc's remit is different. The marque's marketeers know on which side its bread is buttered — or rather on which side the sourdough is slathered in extra-virgin olive oil.

There's nothing about the C280 to frighten the horses or, as we've said of the E-Class, the horsy.

The difference is merely size and displacement. Of course, if it absolutely has to be a Mercedes-Benz, then nothing else will do. And the C280 will do just what you'll want.

Snapshot

C280 Avantgarde

Price: $84,974

Engine: 3.0/V6, 170kW/300Nm

Economy: 9.6L/100km

0-100km/h: 7.2 seconds

The rivals

Audi A4 3.2 FSI Quattro

Price: $86,700

Engine: 3.2L/V6, 188kW/330Nm

Economy: 10.8L/100km

0-100km/h: 6.9 seconds

BMW 325i

Price: $76,400

Engine: 2.5L inline six,

160kW/250Nm

Economy: 9.0L/100km

0-100km/h: 7.7 seconds

Lexus IS250 Luxury

Price: $78,974

Engine: 2.5L/V6, 153kW/252Nm

Economy: 9.1L/100km

0-100km/h: 8.8 seconds