Superior, classy & elite: I believe that those are just a few of the words I can best describe the Mercedes-Benz C220d AMG and the past few days spent behind the wheel of this beauty.
The stylish C220d sports a new dynamic grill that looks like little diamonds have taken place where a “usual” grill should be. In hindsight, this adds a more expressive & stylish finish to the front of the car, over the usual (slightly) aggressive look that we are used to on AMG models. The ‘grown up’ AMG continues filters through to the rest of the vehicle in that the front is slight lower, so be careful when going over speed humps, and makes the car stand-out from even a normal C-Class. The ‘tail pipes’ in the rear though, are ‘holders’ in a way; as in, there is no actual pipes through the twin pipes that have been chromed out. In essence, they are set there to finish off the look of the car.
The car rolls on 19-inch light-alloy multi-spoke wheels to add to the stylish aggressive look and with the sporty suspension to compliment the car – so you know that it will drive well and deliver Mercedes-Benz’s signature comfort too.
I must say, I am usually reserved when it comes to vehicle interiors as I feel like they tend to be overwhelming, but the ARTICO leather which gave off a sienna brown/black finish in this one was executed beautifully. The material is a man-made substitute for real leather, and I loved the feel of it, you would hardly tell the difference between this material and the real leather as Mercedes has worked on refined finish to the material.
The seats are fully electric, have a 4-way lumbar support and have been fitted with seat warmers which came in very handy when the autumn weather decided to switch on us during our shooting weekend and the memory package for when there’s one too many drivers. The dashboard has the Mercedes large display touch screen and has a brown open-pore walnut wood trim to add on to the list of classy finishes in the car.
You might also notice that there is no gear knob of sorts and that is because Mercedes has replaced it completely with the gear switch behind the steering wheel, making the center console all that “clean” in its finishes with the metal-structure finish and ambient lighting.
Look, we must remember that this car is: 1. a diesel, and 2. a rather heavy sedan so performance will not WOW one to a point where you line it up on a track. However, it does not mean that the car is slow should you wish to slip into sport mode and put your foot down every now and then. The vehicle will respond accordingly, and it won’t feel like you are pulling along a heavy C-Class; you might also be fooled to thinking that you slipped into an A-Class for a second – that’s how good the 147kW @ 440Nm engine truly is.
All in all, you will also have larger brakes with ventilated discs to make sure that you stop should you need to. On the braking point, I felt like that car started adapting itself to my driving and catered for my braking in some instances. It felt annoying at first but then I figured that it started compensating to my harsh braking in some instances when it did not feel uncomfortable (while possibly planting my head into the steering wheel by some accident – don’t worry, it did not happen). I felt like I needed a long road trip to put the car through its paces.
My biggest frustration was the fuel, or rather, the EQ system. I really felt like I let down this car by not taking it out on to the open road as it is that good on fuel. The EQ system basically means that you are running a mild hybrid, which helps your fuel last longer. The general consumption is acclaimed at 7L/100km on the C220d but I feel like we sat lower than that because of the EQ system – probably around 6.8L/100km on normal driving and about 7.2L/100km on the more sporty driving.
So, the very important question – how much will it set you back? Well, this model with the AMG pack starts at about R940 000 and that is excluding some of the interior extras like and automatic boot lid, head-up display and many more extras. P.S The Mercedes Me app is free, and it expands one’s experience of the vehicle so much more.
