Mercedes-Benz has officially introduced its all-new B-Class model to world markets. And when Mercedes says the car is all new, it isn’t kidding. According to the Germans, they’ve added more technology to the new car than any Mercedes ever launched before.
Out go the old 2-litre petrol and diesel engines and in come state-of-the art 1.6-litre turbo petrol and 1.8-litre turbodiesel motors. There will be two versions of each, confusingly called the B180 and B200.
The new 1.6 turbo petrol motor features direct injection and in B180 form produces 90kW and 200Nm of torque. The B200 sports exactly the same hardware as the B180 but a tweaked engine management system bumps the power up to 115kW and 250Nm.
The new 1.8 common-rail, direct-injection turbodiesel in B180 guise produces 80kW and 250Nm while the B200 boasts 100kW and an impressive 300Nm of torque.
Both cars come with the option of a six-speed manual gearbox or a brand-new 7G-DCT dual-clutch auto transmission.
Normally I’m a manual kinda guy but the auto box is so brilliant you shouldn’t even consider ordering the manual. The shifts up and down are imperceptible and when you climb on the gas the gearbox finds the right gear at a speed that your hand never would.
Out also goes the sandwich body chassis design which, in the old car, insulated the cabin from the chassis. The new platform allows passengers to sit lower and enjoy extra head and legroom.
Although I’m over 1.8m tall I found I could ‘sit behind myself’, although I wouldn’t necessarily want to do it over a long distance. Nevertheless four more normally-sized passengers could be carried in comfort.
Mercedes calls its new B-Class a “premium compact sports tourer” but what it’s really created is a luxury car in a bite-sized wrapper. This is no mom’s taxi, although it’ll probably mostly be utilised in that way when it comes to SA.
As for the technology, well, where to start?
New to this B is the radar-based Collision Warning System. Get too close to the car in front and a red light flashes in the instrument panel. Get even closer and a beeper goes mad.
Leave it all too late and the car’s safety systems go into what the airlines euphemistically call the brace position. And it’s a standard item on the car, by the way.
Also included in the safety package are Blind Spot Assist and Lane Keeping Assist. Then, should you doze off the Attention Assist will klap you awake. In addition, there’s Active Parking Assist, Hill Hold Function, Reversing Camera, the Distronic Plus cruise-control system, Brake Hold Function and Adaptive Highbeam Assist.
There’s also a camera in the windscreen which registers speed-limit signs and flashes them up on the info panel, so if you do get collared for speeding you can’t say you hadn’t been warned.
On the road, the handling and roadholding of the new B are remarkable. Steering is go-kart direct, grip is prodigious, body roll is minimal and yet the ride remains cushy and comfortable.
The new car will arrive in SA some time during the second quarter of next year, initially only in turbodiesel form, with the petrol turbo to follow. At the moment Mercedes SA won’t even talk about prices but, with all this technology, it’s not going to be cheap.
But then what you have here is one of the safest, most luxurious cars in its class.
Moms, you better talk sweetly to your bank manager, because you are really going to want this one.