Steering miles ahead of the BMW three-series, Merc’s C Class need not use turbo to ensure its lead. None­theless, it has gone a lane further in providing luxury at an affordable price, marking a new era in the luxury car market. So forget the boring, over the top luxury car refurbishments that provide nothing new, because the C Class is here to stay.

Mercedes-Benz gives away a little bit of ancestral flamboyance by feeding more to its cheapest model. The side profile is jacked up to resemble bigger brother E Class with more exact straight lines rather than the swaying sides of its predecessor. The new avatar is trimmer and more rectangular. That ends up eating up a bit of space for the backbenchers making it the first car with which Mercedes-Benz tries to move away from its image of being plainly chauffeur driven.

So is the prospective entry-level luxury car buyer who likes to boast off a huge car brand in his driveway looking to drive and not driven? Noticing that successful people who have the capability to buy this car would like to drive on their own, Mercedes-Benz has laid utmost attention to front seats. It is almost making a statement that if you not only want to own a luxury car brand but also want meaningfully proportional equipment without any compromise, then you should be driving around in a C-Class. Though a company chairman wouldn’t really like to be driven in this car, he would not mind his daughter or son having it as their first personal vehicle.

Much to the liking of the advanced, feature hungry rich kids, Merc has loaded many new, never seen before features. The electronic seat adjusters are placed at the door of the car in a seat that almost appears to tease Audi and BMW for having got something like this first at hand. This doesn’t call for one to put his hand in the trapping space between the seat and the door. There are four parking sensors, or let’s call them driving sensors instead — two placed behind the rear seats (visible through internal rear view mirror) and two at the front, which indicate the level of proximity with an object at all corners of the car. In case this is irritating in traffic or at the Sunday vegetable market, it can be turned off. The window controls are placed at a slant from the door joints making the controls easier to operate. The wheels are bigger and get stirringly sporting, large spoke alloys as standard on all variants.

But the rich kid can’t seat five pals in his C Class to take to a party nor can the just married lady take her kitty party buddies to her favourite saloon. It’s impossible for six footers to sit comfortably at the rear seats. The Audi A4 and BMW three-series can at least sit four people comfortably.

The colour of the seats in the lightest of beige looks even more top-of-the-line premium. The automatic transmission lever in the C 250 CDI diesel variant worth Rs 34 lakh isn’t exactly easy to maneuver. It takes a cylindrical, then straight movement to come from parking to the drive mode — the complexity could have been done without. With the AC in auto climate mode, the car does well enough to return 13 kmpl in the city. The diesel engine is smooth and sounds like a petrol one. The braking and handling of the car when accelerating at higher speeds seem a little too ambitious with its slightly less responsive steering and imperfect ability to put a brake powerfully. The BMW three-series scores a rank or two ahead in drivability, while the Audi A4 packs punching performance at high speeds, a pleasure in driving as straight as an arrow on highways.

So does the entry-level Merc in the car park still look better than the beemer or the four-circled brand? Yes it does, especially when it’s got that extra glitter around it.

(The car was provided for test drive by Mercedes-Benz India)

saahilanant@mydigitalfc.com