Mercedes-Benz CLC200 Reviews

When they really put their mind to it there are few who can stand beside the boys and girls from Stuttgart.Witness the new C-Class, the glorious SL and any of AMG's mouth-watering Black Series offerings.Yet all of those engineering and styling highpoints pale beside the sheer genius of a marketing department that can sell a superseded seven-year-old chassis as a new-generation sports coupe.Sheer geniusAccording to Mercedes, the original C Coupe was slated for the bin on the arrival of the all-new C-Class sedan. What kept it alive was a compelling plea from world markets — including Australia — where the thing had continued to sell even as it aged.That late change in plans has resulted in a new generation CLC without all the fuss and bother of actually building it up from nothing. Change the body, fix the steering and some of the ride quality and Bob's your mother's brother.Do people buying the "new" car really care? Apparently not as it continues to sell well enough to justify its existence — 87 last month.A key point of that is that there was nothing terribly wrong with the original Sports Coupe. It didn't ride particularly well, didn't go that hard and had abysmal vision out of the rear window.The "new" model rides a little better, goes a little harder, looks considerably better both inside and out and somehow, the abysmal vision out of the rear window is worse.It does, however, miss out on all the exceptionally good things athat the C-Class won — like its much tauter body, lighter suspension components and far stiffer chassis.Pricing and fit-outThe CLC is priced from $49,990 — not bad for a chance to get that famous three-pointed star in your garage.Standard equipment (for the $53,900 Kompressor Evolution) includes eight airbags, anti-lock brakes, stability control, rear park assist, lowered sports suspension, 17-inch alloys, dual zone air conditioning, cruise control, multi-function display, sports seats with manual adjustment, rain sensing wipers, fog lamps, bi-xenon head lamps, the direct steering system, paddle shift for the automatic and full fake leather upholstery.DrivingOn the road the CLC has manners that will not offend nor scare the average driver.You couldn't always say that about the first generation Sports Coupe.Where the CLC did impress was in its ability to soak up the worst of Sydney's very average roads. Potholes, expansion joints and general poor surfaces did have the capacity to upset the CLC but less so than some higher priced offerings.The 1.8-litre supercharged four-cylinder manages a reasonable 135kW of power but there ocassions when a little bit more than the 250Nm of torque would have been appreciated.Anyone buying the CLC as a performance sports car is going to be sorely disappointed ... but I doubt few would go down that road. Most of those who buy one will have done so because of its affordability, its styling and its badge — none of which they should find cause for complaint with.Something that should positively cheer a new owner is the real-world fuel consumption under 9 litres per 100km. Mercedes claim an 8.4 for a combined cycle and we were not far off that after a week of city living.The cabin is fresh and reasonably generous in space, particularly in legroom for the rear passengers — something you do not find a lot of in modern coupes.However, the shape of the CLC means that those long-legged rear passengers will find headroom a challenge.For the front seat dwellers there is ample shoulder and headroom but the seats lack a little in side bolstering.Another tick for the CLC is that there is actually enough space in the boot to put luggage for a weekend away or a full load of groceries.It's not new, but it could be you. Impressively enduring. CLC Sports CoupePrice: from $49,990Engine: 1.8L/4-cylinder supercharged; 135kW/250NmTransmission: 6-speed manual, 5-speed automatic, RWDEconomy: 8.4L/100km combined (supplied) 

Benzs were driven by well off old blokes in tweed jackets who were happy to pay big dollars for the privilege of having that famous three-pointed star on their bonnet. Luxury came at a cost.Not any more.Fast forward to 2008 and the average age of a Benz owner, now dressed in a Boss suit, has fallen to 52, largely thanks to the C-Class models which were deliberately pitched at a more youthful market.And along with the drop in age there has been a steady rise in Benz's value for money. Want to buy a classy mid-sized Benz for under $50,000? Certainly, what colour would you like?Enter the latest addition to the Benz family, the CLC Sports Coupe, a two-door, four-seater which comes into the market this week with two of the three versions sneaking under the luxury car tax of $57,180.The entry model has been sharply priced at a cucumber sandwich and latte under $50,000 at $49,990. And that makes the CLC one of the best new car buys of the year.It may look like the current award winning C Class, but the CLC sits on a seven-year-old chassis of the previous and smaller C-Class. Will buyers care? Probably not because the older C-Class wasn't such a bad thing apart from its dated and hard riding suspension.So forget the underpinnings; this latest CLC has been cleverly honed into a very likable, very driveable and desirable made-in-Brazil mousetrap.Benz has predicted it will draw in even more younger buyers, and importantly for a brand dominated by male owners, more females to the fold.Like the outgoing version, the CLC is immensely important for Benz as an entree model. It is expected to win over buyers from other brands _ Benz predicts conquest sales could be as high as 70 per cent — and once they are in the Benz family about 40 per cent of them will probably stay loyal to the brand.Benz is serving up three rear-wheel drive versions, all with the same 135kW four-cylinder supercharged engine and fitted with a five-speed automatic, although a six-speed manual will be available as a no-cost option.There is no diesel, which is a pity because the 2.2-litre version tested in Europe earlier this year was impressive.The CLC 200 Kompressor opens the batting at $49,900. Standard equipment includes eight airbags, anti-lock brakes, stability control, rear park assist, lowered sports suspension, 17-inch alloys, dual zone air conditioning, cruise control, multi-function display, sports seats with manual adjustment, Artico fake leather and cloth upholstery, rain sensing wipers and fog lamps.Next comes the 200 Kompressor Evolution at $53,900. It gains different alloy wheels, bi xenon head lamps, Benz's clever direct steering system, paddle shift for the automatic and full fake leather upholstery.Top of the line up is the 200 Kompressor Evolution Plus at $58,988. It adds front seas with electric adjustment and memory settings, automatic climate control air conditioning, huge glass sunroof and maple wood trim.Lower spec models can be optioned with the sun roof, satellite navigation, real leather upholstery, alarm system and AMG alloy wheels. Benz is predicting it can sell 1200 CLCs a year.I drove the CLC when it was launched in Austria earlier this year and came away more than impressed at its road manners, less so about it disjointed styling.The one proviso — I wanted to confirm its slightly hard ride would work on rougher home roads and it has lived up to that expectation.This C-Class pretender doesn't have the same crisp handling and precise balance of the latest generation C-Class but it's still impressive anyway.The styling is a less than happy marriage between a new C-Class front and old C-Class rear and the rear view is seriously diminished by the letter box rear window, making the car's electronic parking assist a necessity. The previous version had a second lower window in the tailgate, but that has been sacrificed in the restyling.Where the CLC does impress is its ability to tackle with aplomb our poor excuse for rural roads, covered in potholes, undulations and broken verges. City driving is easy once you get used to the blind spot at the rear. A rear camera would help here but it is missing from the equipment list.The badges say sports coupe but the 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine doesn't quite deliver sports performance and is handicapped by the car's weight. Instead the motor provides perky rather than firecracker outcome, and at times more torque than the 250Nm available would be desirable. Fuel consumption at 8.2l/100km is a plus however.The base model gets conventional linear steering while the top versions get a steering assist system which reduces the amount of turns needed to tackle the corners. It takes a little getting used too; you tend to overseer at first, but the reduction in steering effort is welcome. It's a simple mechanical system, designed in Australia, which uses a change in gearing ratio on the steering rack, which reduces steering effort by up to 25 per cent.The cabin, with generous and comfortable seating for four — a rarity in this market — is spacious enough, although tall passengers will find rear head room is tight. Boot space is good thanks to the fitment of a deflated space saver tyre.Has Benz developed a sufficient mouse trap to lure first time buyers into the fold. The simple answer is yes, and I suspect most will be more than happy with what is on offer. An honest coupe, if you can live with two doors, which is quiet, offers reasonable performance and has terrific road manners and balance.

The German carmaker is confident the Brazilian-built car, which has brought conquests as 70 per cent of its sales in overseas markets, will do the same here.It has also shown its ability to attract the younger set, with an average of between 35-40 making them a decade younger than buyers for the rest of the brand.The new CLC is basically a thorough facelift of its 2001 predecessor, and has not been based on the C-Class platform because of volume and capacity considerations.“It’s unusual for this to happen, but using the C-Class platform would have meant some changes because Coupe is smaller,” says Mercedes-Benz Australia product manager Gordon Jones.“That platform was always well-regarded as a chassis.”Merc says there have been about 1100 changes to the car, and the main visible ones are restyles for the fascias, lights and boot lid jewelry. The large gunsight logo is set into a wider grille and air intakes, and a pronounced character line accentuate the wedge shape. The car has `variable boot space’ (Mercspeak for a folding rear seat) the can boost the luggage capacity up to 1100 litres, but even with all that on offer the spare tyre is still a space-saver.There are three trim levels, starting with the strategically-priced $49,900 200K, which comes 17” spoked alloys, lowered sports suspension, eight airbags, imitation leather and fabric upholstery, but real leather on the sports steering wheel and gear level.The $53,900 Evolution level gets different 17” twin-spoke alloys, bi-xenon headlights, paddles on the steering wheel, Artico upholstery, red hanging needles on black checkerplate gauges and the Merc Direct Steer system – which enhances the previous speed-sensitive system with a variable rack ratio that adjusts with steering angle to respond more sharply and reduce steering effort.The $58,998 Evolution+ adds full electric memory seats, luxury climate control aircon, panoramic sunroof and black bird’s-eye maple timber trim accents.The single engine available at launch is the 1.8-litre Kompressor (supercharged) engine, which develops 135kW and 250Nm. With the five-speed sequential transmission, featuring F1-style paddles on the steering wheel, the car gets you to 100km in 7.6 litres — and 100km/h in 8.6 seconds, with a top speed of 210km/h and an emissions level of 195g/km. A six-speed manual is also available, but Mercedes-Benz doesn’t expect it to be a big seller.The carmaker is not considering the other petrol engines available overseas at this point, but says they could bring in a diesel 2.2-litre later.“We would like to have a diesel but in relatively small volumes,” Jones says.“There is an update to the 2.2-litre diesel and there’s another coming down the track that could be suitable. But one of the issues is getting them complied for Australia’s fuel.”Despite the small body, Merc has managed to make the CLC cabin roomy, with enough leg room in the rear seat to keep most adults happy. The flick-and-lift action of the front seats makes it easier to climb or load into there.The front seats are well bolstered, and the fit-out – especially in the top-spec black and dove grey – is classier than many cars costing $10,000 more.Where is does lose out for the driver is in visibility, especially to the rear where no amount of fiddling with the mirror gave a satisfactory view.The CLC’s natural habitat is urban, with enough zip to get around in traffic. But in driving over a country route of patchwork bitumen, potholes and gravel, it shone – soaking up all but the worst, and making the most of the best. The ride is firm enough to give a hint of subdued sport, but happily compliant enough to smooth out a lot of the problems.Although not a scorching engine, the little supercharged 1.8-litre is competent, smooth and refined. There was always a touch of lag in the paddle changes on the transmission, but it’s more than adequate for the job in a car that was never intended to be a street racer.It’s not quite up to the levels of a C-Class, but it doesn’t want to be. What it offers is a sharply priced – and fairly sharp-looking – portal into the brand.

There's sex appeal, their styling is sleek and most have more than a modicum of sportiness in the way they drive.Add an appealing price-tag to this sensual mix and you should have a recipe for success. Mercedes Benz certainly hopes so.On numbers sold, the market for coupes in this country is insignificant. Their real value is how they build brand image. Sex sells and coupes are sexy.And that's the alluring mousetrap Benz has set with its latest coupe the CLC.Here's a budget-beater coupe with all the looks of the latest generation C-Class - the perfect car for first-time Benz buyers to step into to prove to their neighbours and work colleagues that they have finally made it in life.Well, that's the Benz game plan.The CLC is clearly aimed at younger buyers, especially women, to entice them to join the three pointed star family. Once in the family, most owners stay with the brand as they get older and more affluent.The CLC, which arrives here late in July, replaces the Sports Coupe - itself a lobal success story because it set a conquest record for Benz, winning over 70 per cent of newcomers to the brand.But while CLC shares similar styling to the stunning C Class models, it is more of an adopted member of that family.The CLC is built on the previous generation C-Class platform - architecture which is already five years old.But Benz is at pains to point out it has made more than 1000 changes to the Sports Coupe so the two-door CLC can justifiably be described as new rather than merely facelifted.STYLINGBenz has been quite clever with the CLC's styling, giving it the same athletic, purposeful look of the C-Class, which, it reckons will strongly appeal to younger buyers.And the overall design, albeit disjointed, is good enough for buyers not to feel shortchanged. This looks, feels and drives like a more expensive Benz coupe.My only reservation is that the grafting of a C-Class front, with its standout bold grille, on to a Sports Coupe rear (and dressing the package with smart alloy wheels), doesn't quite have the harmony of style that you see in the proper C-Class family.But credit to Benz because this new-car-from-old has plenty of appeal.While the new C-Class comes from Germany, the CLC is going to be a long distance traveller by the time it gets here.SALESIt's being built in Brazil - not an ideal solution for Benz in Australia which will have to live with a three to four-month delivery time, with the coupe being shipped from South America all the way to Germany before being on-shipped Down Under.The launch of the CLC will open up an interesting tussle for conquest sales between the German giants. Audi has its A3 and BMW last week launched two coupe versions of its compact One Series, priced at $71,400 for the 3-litre six-cylinder bi-turbo 135i and $54,400 for the naturally aspirated version.DRIVETRAINSThe CLC 200, which will come in three levels, holds a hefty price advantage over its rival and is more practical, with full seating for four and it has more cabin space which is a premium in a compact coupe.All three variants (the base Kompressor, mid-spec Evolution and top of the range Evolution Plus) are powered by the same supercharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine with 135kW and 250Nm of torque on tap. The engine is borrowed from the C-Class sedan, but Benz has squeezed an extra 15kW out of it while finding ways to drop fuel consumption to return an average 7.8l/100km for the six-speed manual and 8.2l/10km for the five-speed automatic with its paddle shifter on the steering wheel. That's impressive.An automatic 2.2-litre diesel with an even more outstanding fuel consumption of 6.3l/100km looks set to be added to our line-up early next year.SPEC LEVELSThe entry petrol-engined will be priced at $49,900. Standard equipment includes parking sensors, Bluetooth (from fourth quarter), prewired for an in-car phone, single CD audio, combined cloth/ fake leather (Benz's Artico material) trim, multi-function display, cruise control, dual zone air conditioning, rain sensing wipers, fog lamps, heated door mirrors, 17-inch alloy wheels, tyre pressure warning system and full sized spare.The mid-spec version gains full Artico upholstery, alloy pedals, Bi-Xenon headlamps, spped sensitive power steering and will sell for $53,900.The full Monty hero model with full electric seat adjustment, mutli-zone air conditioning, maple timber trim, and a panoramic glass roof, will be priced at a razor-sharp $58,900.The prices are the same for both manual and automatics.That gives the Benz a price advantage of between $4500 to $12,500 over its rival, while the CLC, thanks to our strong dollar, shaves more than $10,000 over the old Sport Coupe.The coupe comes with the expected raft of safety features, including six airbags, a new steering system and high-tech infotainment kit. The options list includes satellite navigation, a 320 watt Harman/Kardon sound system six-stack CD changer, heated front seats, metalic paint, AMG wheels and alarm system.Benz is confident it can sell between 500 and 1200 CLCs a year - which is not an unrealistic sales goal considering the coupe's appeal.ON THE ROADWe will have to wait for the pick of the CLCs. The 2.2-litre diesel version with an expected 400Nm of torque is a cracker and will probably come next year with only a $3000 premium over the petrol version.For those who can't wait, the supercharged petrol version doesn't disappoint; the engine is more than adequate and the sub $50,000 price point adds value for money to the equation.The 1.8 litre is perky rather than a firecracker but the classy coupe more than makes up for it with better than expected road manners, impresive fuel economy, comfy cabin and good boot space.This is one of those cars which you feel very much at home right from the go thanks to its well tailored cabin and comfortable seats.So if first impressions count, then the CLC is, even as a C-Class pretender, a winner, especially for the price.Okay it doesn't match the C-Class's chassis for crisp handling and precise balance but that's not to belittle the coupe. It has been designed to do a job and it does it well.It comes with Benz's trick direct steering. It retains the speed sensitive system from the old coupe but improves it by adding a variable rack ratio which reduces the steering effort needed as speed rises. So in the twisty stuff you only have to move the steering wheel slightly when cornering. Less effort is needed to change direction and the feedback is quick.It's a far superior system to the conventional constant ratio set-up found in most cars but it feels unnerving at first so you tend to tug too much on the steering wheel until you become familiar with just how little effort is needed.The CLC is not perfect: the rear view from the cabin is hampered by the bulky tailgate with its letter box window. The old Sports Coupe had a secondary window positioned just above the bumperbar to try and alleviate the visibility problem; but the CLC has done away with it to compensate for a cleaner body shape. And there's no rear camera to help out - the coupe wasn't wired for one.While the cabin is a true four seater (and the rear pews are surprisingly roomy and comfortable) with good legroom and reasonable headroom for back seat passengers, access to the rear can be a tight squeeze even with the front seat folded and tilted.Grumbles aside, the CLC as a stand alone model has a big role to play to woo new buyers to the Benz brand. Benz has no reason to worry. It's an alluring mousetrap.Mercedes Benz CLC 200 KompressorPower: 1.8-litre four cylinder supercharged petrol engine, 135kW at 5000rpm, 250Nm torque also at 5000rpm.Transmission: Six-speed manual, five-speed automatic with paddle shift.How quick: Zero to 100km/h 8.6 seconds (claimed). Top speed 235km/hHow thirsty: Manual 7.8l/100km; automatic 8.2l/100kmhHow much: From under $50,000; on sale July. Built in Brazil.