By: IOL Motoring Staff
The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan has gotten off to a flying start on South Africa's sales charts and now its presence is set to be bolstered by the launch of a wagon version.
As elegant as it is, the new Estate is unlikely to become a common sight on our roads, however, as traditional estate cars have not featured on the top of our wish lists for quite some time. In fact, BMW can't even make a case for selling a 3 Series wagon anymore, nor will Audi sell an A4-based Avant unless it's an S4, RS 4 or Allroad version.
This means that Merc's new C-Class Estate has the compact premium wagon turf all to itself, attempting to lure buyers into the segment with its sleek looks, practicality and ease-of-use.
Compared to the one before it, the new Estate treats rear passengers to an additional 45mm of legroom and can fit 10 more litres of luggage. With the rear seats in place the boot will swallow 490 litres (strangely only five litres more than the sedan) but fold the rear seats (split 40:20:40) and you could have as much as 1510 litres at your disposal.
EASY LOADING
Look, just about any good wagon will throw figures like that at you these days, but this one also makes it really easy to load. Lazy folk and gadget geeks listen, up. The rear seat backrests can be unlocked at the push of a button the optional Easy-Pack tailgate and Hands-Free-Access system allows you to open and close the tailgate by waving your foot below the bumper area.
For the ultimate in wafty on-road comfort, you can order the Estate with air suspension, but even the standard steel suspension has you in good hands with its new four-link front axle design and five-link set-up at the rear.
Your ergonomic centrepiece in the C-Class Estate is a new touchpad that allows you to operate key features using finger gestures, as you would on a smartphone.
Local models will be offered with a choice of three engines. Opt for the C180 base model and you get a 1.6-litre turbopetrol with 115kW and 250Nm on tap. For a little extra, you can drive away in a C 200, powered by a 135kW/300Nm 2-litre turbopetrol. A R90 000 leap away is the C250 BlueTec Estate, giving you a 2.1-litre turbodiesel rated at 150kW and 500Nm.
PRICES
C180 Estate - R447 600
C200 Estate - R468 300
C250 BlueTec Estate - R558 400