Mercedes-Benz C-Class vs Audi e-tron GT

What's the difference?

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class C200 is such a stylish sedan and I would totally have one. The driving performance, luxurious features and practical size made it a winning combo for my family. The price point is definitely up there but you do get a high-end build for the cash. I've seen bigger boots in other sedans and not being able to fit a third child seat will limit some families, but this still easily earns an 8.5/10 from me.

My son really loved this one. The ambient lighting was the highlight for him and he thought it looked like a "space car" inside. He gave it a 9/10.

The e-tron rightfully takes its spot at the top of Audi’s range. It’s a harbinger of all things electric in the performance realm for years to come and to look at, touch, and feel, it’s Audi all the way through.

The spirit of the Taycan also lives here, though, so while it’s a little less imposing to look at, it’s almost every bit as impressive to drive, making it compelling if you’re looking for an early slice of what performance electric motoring can look like.

Our pick of the range? The base is really all the GT car you could ever need, but at the end of the day most buyers will opt for the RS anyway...

The C200 is a sleek and elegant steed.

Initially, you may think this is just a standard Merc showcase. There's the nice big badge on the pronounced nose. Beautiful sleek lines in the body... but it's the attention to detail that make this feel special.

There's a repeated badge motif in the grille and a cute cursive Mercedes logo tucked into the corner of the windscreen. The puddle lights on the doors project the badge at night time and you can often spot a badge etched into the LED lights.

However, it's the interior that's the highlight for me and I feel like it's a big step up from previous models I've been in.

Our model has the grey 'Artico' synthetic leather trim (says grey but it's really white) and a lovely mix of piano black and shiny chrome inserts that are set against soft touchpoints throughout.

The quality of the build oozes through every stitch and join. Don't even get me started on the cool customisable ambient lighting system inside, which makes this feel like you're on the set of Tron and really elevates the interior.

It's quite fun to build one of these in Mercedes' online configurator. You can customise your trims to make it feel like your own and their blue paintwork options are great (I do love a blue car).

I was an e-tron doubter. When I first saw pictures of Audi’s flagship electric offering I thought it took the brand’s oval formula to the extreme, with the silhouette of a bar of soap on wheels.

Up close and I couldn’t have been more wrong. The e-tron is spectacular to gaze upon, with awesome details which really cement its place at the top of the brand’s performance range.

The best angle is by far the rear three-quarter, the imposing stance of this car, the way its glossy rear diffuser lifts up to reveal the ultra-wide track of its rear wheels, and the enormous ‘blisters’ which curve over the rear arches are elements poorly communicated in pictures.

When seen up close, though, it leaves no doubt of this car’s aggressive intent and alludes to its on-road prowess.

The rear light fittings, which look flat and like any other Audi in the pictures, are all alluring and three-dimensional in reality.

The side profile has elements of RS7 in there, touches of Taycan, but a signature overall Audi shape, with the most interesting element being the wheel designs.

Like many new EV wheel designs, they’re optimised for aerodynamics, and consist of alloy elements with plastic hubcap-like pieces integrated into them.

The ones on the RS in particular have an interesting effect of looking entirely different depending on how close you get.

The black contrast elements serve to shrink the car from a distance, making it look less intimidating than its Taycan relation.

The front is the least complex part of the car, but the way Audi’s designers have managed to blend the blanked-out grille but maintain the contrasting face shape it shares with the combustion range is admirable.

It doesn’t scream ‘electric’, but subtly blends the best parts of both worlds. I like it.

Inside is equally impressive. I like it almost as much as the rear haunches, if only for the fact that it feels like an Audi, and not just a re-skinned Porsche, which is what I was expecting.

Instead, the flat, minimalist, and almost retro appeal of the Taycan is swapped for a dash design more deeply three dimensional in the e-tron GT, complete with signature Audi elements like a rhomboidal theme, angular detailing, and flush-set screens.

All the materials and buttons feel properly Audi, as well as the refreshingly simple three-spoke wheel which the GT shares with the e-tron SUV.

Personally I wasn’t sure about the Alcantara finishes on the wheel or centre console of our RS test-car. They look nice now but won’t in a few years with enthusiastic use. I’ve seen enough older performance cars to know the Nappa leather is the better choice.

I'm not going to lie – there are sedans out there that have an almost limo-like space inside but the C200 isn't one of them.

It's not small by any means and all occupants enjoy the comforts of decent legroom and headroom but it's not cavernous considering the specs (1437mm high/1820mm wide/4751mm long).

The optional panoramic sunroof does cut into the headroom for back seat passengers, which is something to consider if your family is very tall.

The storage is maybe a tad leaner-than-average for a car of this size. The glove box and middle console aren't massive but will suffice.

The cupholders up front can be removed if you need extra storage space for larger items and back seat passengers enjoy retractable cupholders in the armrest.

The way the front doors curve out creates a larger than normal storage bin and drink bottle holder – which help make up the difference. There is a dedicated phone pocket, to tuck it out of the way.

The boot space is 455 litres (VDA), which isn't as large as some others on the market but it was plenty big enough for my family's needs.

There's a handy under-floor storage pocket for smaller items, like the puncture repair kit, because you don't get a spare tyre in this.

When it comes to ease of use, my six-year-old loved not needing my help to get into his seat and he still enjoyed a decent view out of the wide back window.

The amenities in each row are good but not class-defining. Still, creature comforts have be well-thought through.

Front occupants enjoy heated seats and fantastic lumbar and under thigh support. Dual-zone climate control sorts out the temp, and the cool circular air vents that make loud audible 'clicks' when manoeuvred give the interior a jet cockpit vibe.

While I've never had an issue opening or closing a sedan boot, the powered lid was a nice feature to have this week.

The tech throughout is great and intuitive to use. The massive 11.9-inch touchscreen multimedia system is cool and is easy to use once you become acclimatised to Mercedes system.

The customisable digital instrument panel makes the driving experiences feel individualised.

The interior is a chilled out space with gentle scrolling touchpads taking the place of most 'push' buttons and dials.

Think of each surface as being a bit like a touchscreen tablet in how you operate it. I was a little worried the touchpads would be laggy but they're very responsive.

There's only one USB port in the whole car, which limits charging for other passengers but I did enjoy the easy connectivity of the wireless Apple CarPlay.

The electric heated front seats are a nice touch but I was amused by the 'kinetic' function on both. It's what you might call a 'massage' function on another car but here they don't really work. It's best to think of them as a way to do some (very) gentle stretching on a long trip.

The 360-degree camera view is super clear and crisp but the dynamic guidelines (which tilt the camera angle) are a bit too dynamic for my liking and I relied mostly on the bird's eye view to park.

As I've mentioned, the ambient lighting system creates a stellar atmosphere inside. I've often wondered why other car manufacturers haven't jumped on that bandwagon because it's a relatively cheap way of creating wow factor. And it generates massive wow factor in here.

As with most performance cars, there are some wins and losses here. The e-tron GT gets off to a rolling start though with its front seat (let’s be honest, this is where the action is meant to happen anyway), offering great adjustability, a sporty low position, and plenty of headroom and arm space for the front two occupants.

On the downside, storage space isn’t as stellar as I’ve come to expect on cars with new EV platforms. Most of this is down to the GT’s intent as a sports machine first, with low-set seats meaning less room to carve out for batteries under the floor, and hence less storage cutaways down the centre.

The two cupholders are nice and big, and the console armrest box is okay, complete with a little side-mounted wireless charger, but the door pockets are embarrassingly small with no bottle cutouts, and there’s precious little storage elsewhere.

The low seat and curvy roof means you have to duck down low to get in, and oddly the big fixed sunroof doesn’t have a retractable shade, so this car is going to get hot being left out in the Aussie sun.

The screens, as usual with Audi products, are a highlight, offering super fast, sharp hardware, and attractive and functional software, with the only real downside being some of the touch areas when phone mirroring can be quite small with such a high-resolution screen.

The back seat lays claim to this Audi’s big EV party trick, the fact that there are sizeable cutouts in the under-floor battery pack so adults can enjoy usable legroom.

It works. I have airspace for my knees behind my own seating position, and headroom is surprisingly good, too.

Technically the e-tron GT is a five-seater, but the centre rear position is all but useless, at least for adults, as it is very narrow.

There’s nowhere to put your feet thanks to a raised centre floor to facilitate additional battery space, almost like a transmission tunnel in a combustion vehicle.

Rare amenities for rear passengers include two USB-C ports and a third climate zone with a control panel, although, unlike some EV rivals, there’s no full-size household power outlet.

Boot space comes in at 350 litres which isn’t huge considering the e-tron GT’s rather large footprint.

As a result it could only hold two of our three CarsGuide test luggage cases. There’s no under-floor storage here, although you do get an elastic net.

The GT also scores a surprisingly large under-bonnet space, perhaps a good spot for keeping your charging cables.

There are two forms of the Audi e-tron GT, the regular GT version with prices starting from $180,200, or the full-fat RS, which takes a healthy jump to $248,200 along with a corresponding rise in performance and standard equipment.

Audi promises the e-tron GT is better value than its Porsche Taycan rival like-for-like, starting with all-wheel drive only as opposed to the Taycan’s rear-drive base-spec.

For those worried about EV value, consider the e-tron GT is both faster and much more affordable than the R8 was before it was discontinued in Australia last year, with the latter starting from a whopping $316,377, before on-road costs, before it met its end.

Taking its spot at the helm of Audi’s range, the e-tron GT certainly doesn’t want for standard gear, with equipment on the base version including 20-inch alloy wheels, adaptive air suspension, a fixed glass roof, LED matrix headlights, a 12.8-inch digital instrument cluster and 10-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 710-watt audio system, and of course all the expected safety gear.

The standard GT variant is slightly less powerful than the RS with its dual-motor set-up producing ‘just’ 350kW/630Nm, but maintains the rather unusual two-speed transmission and, of course, the all-wheel drive system.

Let-downs for this model include the surprisingly average feeling synthetic leather seat trim, and the plastic filler panels adorning the dash which the RS replaces with much more attractive carbon-look inserts. These are no deal-breaker for sure, but the seat trim in particular feels a bit rude on a vehicle which costs over $180,000.

The RS e-tron GT meanwhile ups the power to a whopping 440kW/830Nm, increases the standard wheel size to 21-inch, adds actual Nappa leather seat trim with an additional ventilation function, as well as an all-wheel steering system, rear differential lock, upgraded laser headlights, and tungsten carbide brakes as standard.

The car we primarily tested for this review had further options, taking the price to nearly $280,000, including a more hardcore carbon ceramic brake package, coming in at a staggering $12,500.

The e-tron GT also offers an extremely rare option in the world of EVs, a 22kW AC charging inverter ($6900), which makes it the fastest charging car in Australia on this standard. Good luck finding a public outlet which will actually go that fast.

Thanks to its heavy-duty 800-volt battery hardware, it is also one of the fastest charging electric cars in Australia, full stop. More on this in the charging part of this review.

The C200 has a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine with an integrated starter-generator. 

What's that, you ask? So, glad you did. It's basically an electric battery that also acts as your starter... or alternator.

It smooths out vibrations from the engine and generates some power from braking. Making this a very mild hybrid. Note the 'mild'.

Is it powerful? Surprisingly, yeah. It has a maximum output of 165kW and 300Nm of torque. Combine that with the starter-generator and we have a powerful little engine that can push the C200 from 0-100km in 7.3 seconds, while still feeling like there's power in reserve.

The nine-speed auto transmission is damn smooth and there's no clunky gear changing at any speed. It's got great pick-up, too, for when you need to overtake or zip across traffic.

The e-tron GT is stupidly powerful. The 350kW/630Nm available in the base GT allow a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 4.1 seconds, while the even higher 440kW/830Nm available in the RS reduces that to a mind-melting 3.3 seconds. Not bad for a car which weighs nearly two and a half tonnes.

Like the Taycan, the e-tron GT sports a two-speed transmission, with the low gear primarily used in sport mode as a take-off ratio, with the second made for highway cruising or when the car is set to 'Eco' mode.

Two electric motors allow for fully adjustable all-wheel drive to enhance handling while the RS goes a step further with its subtle all-wheel steer system and locking rear differential which enhances its agility at both low- and high-speeds even further.

The official combined cycle fuel figure is 6.9L/100km. Real world testing saw my figure at 7.2L, which was awesome for the heavy driving I did this week on a combo of urban and open-roads.

The light regen braking probably helps this coast comfortably into being a very efficient sedan for its size.

Minimum fuel requirement is 95 RON premium unleaded and you'll need 66 litres of it to fill the tank.

Driving range using the official consumption figure is around 950km, and 915km using our real-world number.

There is just one massive battery in the e-tron range, a huge 83.7kWh (net) lithium-ion unit. This grants the GT a driving range of 540km to the more lenient NEDC (rather than WLTP) standard, while the RS scores 504km of range.

The battery is an 800-volt unit, with an integrated water-cooled design which helps the e-tron GT join the Taycan, Kia EV6, and Hyundai Ioniq 5 as one of the fastest-charging EVs on the market.

On a compatible DC charger which can hit this car’s 270kW peak, the e-tron GT can charge from 5-80 per cent in just 22 and a half minutes.

To help this process along, setting the destination to a charger in the car’s built-in navigation will help to pre-condition the battery to ideal charging temperatures.

Other impressive charging specs include the option to install a 22kW AC inverter, bringing the ‘slow charging’ time down to just four hours if you can find a compatible unit.

Otherwise the standard rate is an acceptable 11kW. The e-tron GT is also one of the only EVs on the market with AC charging outlets on either side, ensuring you won’t have to stretch to reach the nearest charging port.

The downside of all of this is the fact the e-tron GT, like its SUV sibling and Porsche Taycan relation, has a comparatively high energy consumption.

The official numbers are 19.2kWh/100km for the standard GT, or 20.2kWh/100km for the RS. These numbers are already high, but we saw significantly higher again on our test route.

While you probably won’t be driving the car as thoroughly during the every-day commute, I have experienced similarly high numbers in the mid-20kWh/100km range in the e-tron SUV during standard weekly testing, so expect similar. Good thing it charges quickly.

The steering feels solid and concise. The tyres seem like they're glued to the road, making winding roads downright fun to tackle. Oh, and the sharp 11 metre turning circle is wonderful.

The handling makes this your best friend in a car park. The lower ground clearance did elicit some unladylike grunts when I parked on a hill, but otherwise the wide door apertures makes it easy to get in and out of.

The only thing I would note is the low-profile ground clearance. Just be aware of your speed and angle when you handle car park ramps or road bumps in this. They are not your friends.

You’re probably wondering if you can even see out of the e-tron GT given its low-set shape and seemingly small windows, but the answer is yes. Mostly.

There’s decent visibility out the front with surprisingly good mirror coverage to see out the rear, although the rear window is a bit hopeless, offering just a letterbox aspect of what’s behind you.

The seating position is excellent, though, allowing you to sit nice and close to the ground, rare for an EV.

It feels every bit the sports car it claims to be, and when you step on the accelerator pedal it is ridiculously, enormously fast.

Even if you’re already at velocities higher than 100km/h, the e-tron can draw from a well of seemingly limitless torque to jolt you forward even faster.

One of its most impressive traits, and I think the e-tron GT shares this with the Taycan, is how the car seems to shrink the faster you drive it.

Particularly in RS trim with the four-wheel steer, this doesn’t feel like a two-and-a-half tonne, five-metre long grand touring monolith, responding to your inputs with the agility of a much lighter two-door coupe.

It ducks and darts around corners, and while its steering seems to have a noticeable artificial component, regardless of drive mode, the all-wheel steer isn’t as invasive as you think it’s going to be.

In fact, it’s only noticeable when driven back-to-back with the base car which doesn’t have it, with the RS having noticeably better road holding with the tech equipped.

It furiously holds onto corners, with the electric all-wheel drive and fat tyres keeping everything under control. You have to be really irresponsible in this car to get the tyres to even scream out in pain, let alone slip, a feat I suspect 90 per cent of buyers won’t come close to experiencing.

These observations, mind you, come from exclusively on-road use of the e-tron GT. It will be curious to see how it handles more punishing conditions on-track, for the rare set of buyers this will appeal to.

For those keeping it to road-use, the adjustable air suspension grants pretty impressive ride quality considering the size of this car’s wheels and its overall weight.

It’s excellent at smoothing out corrugations and shrugging off smaller bumps, but when dealing with bigger hits this car can’t quite hide its limitations. Things go from ‘ooh’ to ‘owch’ very quickly as the dampers and bump stops intervene.

On the whole though, this car is hugely impressive. Does it feel like a Taycan? Yes, actually. This is one area where the two EVs feel their most similar. But the Taycan is awesome, so this is high praise for the Audi.

All the key active gear is present, and refreshingly, aside from the arguably unnecessary laser-equipped LED headlights, nothing is on the options list.

The e-tron GT is equipped with autobahn-speed auto emergency braking with vulnerable road user (cyclist and pedestrian) detection, as well as intersection assist.

There is also lane keep assist with lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and rear auto braking.

This combines with the clever all-wheel drive system and array of front, side, and curtain airbags to make for a theoretically safe car, although the e-tron GT is yet to be rated by either ANCAP or EuroNCAP.

The C200 comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is standard for the market.

There are multiple servicing options and on the five-year plan, the services average $1090 annually, which is quite expensive.

Servicing intervals are pretty good at every 12 months or a longer than usual 25,000km, whichever comes first.

Audis now have a competitive five year and unlimited kilometre warranty, and the e-tron GT also scores a separate and industry-standard eight-year warranty for its high-voltage battery components.

The additional ownership perks for this car are significant, however. Audi throws in complementary installation of a 7.2kW wall charger at your home, as well as a six-year Chargefox membership, making your energy consumption free from public outlets for the first six years of ownership.

There’s also free servicing for six years (covering the first three bi-annual or 30,000km visits). A truly premium car with no truly premium service costs? What’s not to like about that?