Riding off the back of Mercedes Benz’s solid stamp, the C200 AMG retains it’s stamp as being a looker petrol iteration of note. It’s safe to say that the AMG line will forever remain the brand’s popular kit for good reason; the added performance look on the car makes all that much sense. The C200 rides on signature 19” spoke wheels wrapped with low-profile tyres for that added ‘drop-look’ of the car and the car has a sleuth of features to boot aswell, like active/adaptive cruise control, adaptive headlights with varying light distribution, blind spot warning/assist/monitor and a panoramic roof with the unique sloping sunroof.
Unlike the C220d that we tested, this is one is powered by a 1.5L turbo, 4-cylinder (mild-hybrid) engine that puts out 165kW @ 300Nm of torque. What this means is that one would generally score a travel distance of about 971KM on a full tank – this is an acclaimed distance as we actually went slightly above to roughly 820KM, which is still impressive to say the least.
The one issue we had on the drives, however, is the rather ‘louder’ rev noise. As the driver, you can take note of the engine noise quite clearly and the noticeable gear changes that occur at low speeds, like when you are coasting through your typical Northern neighborhood while doing your store run. The 9-speed gearbox is, however, quiet smooth to say the least – I was being pedantic with the gear changes and it is not a negative tick on the list for the car.
The interior stays as being the signature look for Mercedes Benz that we have become accustomed to, with very minimal(next to no) changes being made to the cabin. One must say though, Mercedes has worked to make this cabin feel the sheer definition of luxury driving as it is not “flustered” but is rather clean and minimal.
We had a chance to build and price this model through the available configurator on the Mercedes Benz website and it’s safe to say that all the ‘bells & whistles’ build up in price. One would be looking at a base price of just under R900 000 for a base C-Class before any additions have been added and a total price just under R1 050 000 for this particular one, which is not cheap by any account.
Looking at the rivals though, being the BMW 3 Series & Audi A4, it would be easy to see why one would prefer the C200 as their luxury sedan in this pool. The finished in the cabin, the over-all look and driving comfort all say luxury where the Mercedes Benz is concerned.
When it come to the real-world drive, the C200 does come in its own when it comes to efficiency. We managed to average 7.2L/100KM(taking into account the quick dashes for early morning training and the multiple sprints to the office that were done) and the large tank does make a difference where commuting is concerned – which is not far off from the diesel we tested.
Now if we had to put the petrol powered C200 head-to-head with the C220d, it would be no contest that we would sway towards the diesel powered mild-hybrid with it economic driving and the slightly more torque one gets in that model – but that is pretty relevant to ones needs really as it is priced a bit more than the petrol variant.
