All-new, fourth-generation C-Class grows up.Impressive new M3 fighter designed and built by AMG.

Introduction

The 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class brings all-new versions of these entry-luxury sedans. Longer and wider than last year's models, they accommodate four or five occupants with much more interior room than before. They also offer improved performance and better fuel economy than last year's models. 

The small family sedan that started out as the 'baby Benz' in 1982 and morphed into the C-Class has matured through three generations into the company's most popular model worldwide, with more than 6 million units sold. This latest generation of the smallest Mercedes-Benz sedan marks a big step in its maturation. 

The C-Class comes in two distinctive personalities: Sport and Luxury. Each gets its own exterior styling and interior design. The C300 and C350, which replace the previous C280 and C320, indicate their more powerful V6 engines. And 4MATIC all-wheel drive is available. 

The 2008 C-Class is now much closer in size, looks, and behavior to the larger E-Class, yet with a lighter touch and feel all its own. 

We found the 2008 Mercedes C350 Sport feels strong but light, zippy but substantial. Handling is crisper than with the previous models. It feels sportier, less plush than before. And these cars are quick. Mercedes says the C300 can accelerate from 0-60 mph in about 7.2 seconds, which is quite zippy, while the C350 can reach 60 from a standstill in just 6.2 seconds, which is quite quick. 

We found the C350 Sport comfortable, with seats that were containing when cornering. The layout of the controls is very good, without a lot of learning labor involved in operating the car. And the available Harman Kardon stereo sounds fantastic. 

Initially, the U.S. market will get only these two sedan models, and in due course, the U.S. model range will expand to include diesel-engine versions, 4Matic all-wheel-drive versions, and a high-performance AMG model with a V8 engine. No coupe version is planned, and there will be no station wagon version for the U.S. market. 

An AMG Sport package of exterior and interior trim items, wheels and tires will be available as an option when the car reaches the U.S. market in August 2007. The new Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG is the first Mercedes to be designed and built by AMG. Chassis corners, suspension, brakes, body, even the hand-built aluminum V8 engine are designed by AMG, the company's performance arm, not Mercedes itself. AMG designed the C63 from the ground up to be a pure performance car that could challenge the BMW M3, which has been king of the four-door, rear-wheel-drive sports sedan segment for years and years. 

The C63 AMG looks like a Mercedes, although it's way more muscular than any C-Class you might know, with a low roofline, aerodynamic edges everywhere, and wide front fender flares. 

Inside, the best thing about the C63 AMG is the fabulous front seats made for real driving, and the worst is the instrument panel with its small tachometer not made for watching. 

The engine makes a huge amount of horsepower and torque, while the seven-speed manual automatic transmission upshifts quickly and downshifts with a double blip (when necessary for smoothness) that's perfect every time. The brakes are gigantic. And the C63 corners with no body roll thanks to a modified chassis design and totally new suspension, although the ride doesn't absorb sharp bumps. 

The C63 AMG uses a new 6.2-liter AMG V8 making 451 horsepower and the AMG Speedshift Plus seven-speed automatic transmission with manual shifting. It's not stripped of any luxury and comes fully loaded. Underway, it's so smooth that watching your speed is important to avoid tickets. We think the optional Performance Package is only needed for drivers seriously intending to run track events. 

Lineup

The entry-priced 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 comes with a 2.8-liter V6 and a choice between a seven-speed automatic and a six-speed manual. The C350 uses a 3.5-liter V6 with the seven-speed automatic. The C300 4MATIC features a full-time all-wheel-drive system. Standard wheels and tires are 17-inch, with 18-inch wheels optional. 

Options include leather upholstery, Thermotronic automatic climate control, navigation, Panorama roof, AMG Sport package, Adaptive Light System, Advanced Agility Control, bi-xenon lamps, Bluetooth, Comand APS with storage for up to 1000 music tracks, the Intelligent Light System, Keyless Go, multi-contour seats, Parktronic, TeleAid emergency communications, twin-sunroof Panorama roof, and 18-inch AMG split-spoke alloy wheels. 

Package P1, standard on the C350, contains the satellite radio, heated seats, autodimming lamps, folding mirrors, a garage door opener and rain-sensing wipers. Package P2 adds bi-xenon headlamps, cornering fog lamps, a split folding rear seat for cargo versatility, and a rear sunshade. The Multimedia package adds Comand navigation with a larger seven-inch screen, a six-disc DVD changer with a PCMCIA slot, Harman Kardon Logic7 surround sound system and voice controls. An Advanced Agility Package features variable shock absorbers and revised transmission shift points. 

Safety features include seven airbags: two adaptive airbags for the driver and front passenger, a kneebag for the driver, two sidebags in the front seat backrests and two large windowbags which extend from the A to the C-pillar during a side impact. The driver, front passenger and outboard rear seats all have belt tensioners and belt force limiters. The standard head restraints operate on the Neck Pro system. During a rear-end collision, the padded surfaces are pushed forward to support the heads of the driver and front passenger, reducing the risk of whiplash. 

Active safety equipment that comes standard includes ABS, traction control, Brake Assist, Electronic Brake-force Distribution, and an Electronic Stability Program. An Adaptive Brake system primes the braking system in panic situations, and, whenever the windshield wipers are on applies light, continuous contact to dry the brake discs. The 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG comes standard with Artico leather interior, power everything, heated seats, dual zone climate control, and split folding rear seats. Other standard equipment includes a power glass sunroof, Bluetooth, 30-gigabyte hard drive, and satellite radio connectivity. 

Option packages include bi-xenon headlamps with washers and a power rear window shade $1080); AMG Napa leather and memory seats ($2950); Multimedia Package ($2950) including navigation system and Harman/Kardon sound system with six-disc CD/DVD changer. The 6CD is available separately ($450). 

The AMG Performance Package ($3900) includes two-piece brake rotors, a more rigid suspension, and a locking rear differential, all systems by AMG, and suede-like Alcantara leather on the steering wheel. 

Safety features include anti-lock brakes with brake assist and brake force distribution, electronic stability control, two-stage front airbags, side front airbags, air curtains, and a driver knee airbag. 

Walkaround

The fourth-generation, 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class looks sporty, with all-new styling. 

The new C-Class is wider and longer than the outgoing model, a tauter, sportier design, addressing complaints that it was just too small for many Americans. With an overall length of 180.4 inches, the sedan is more almost four inches longer than its predecessor. Body width has increased more than an inch and a half to 69.7 inches, overall height increased almost one and a half inches, and the wheelbase has increased 1.8 inches to 108.4 inches. 

Two completely fresh grilles are used, one for the Luxury model with the traditional horizontal bars and hood-mounted star, one for the Sport version with a large, surrounded star in the grille. The Sport will have six- or seven-spoke alloy wheels and staggered tires (the rears larger than the fronts), and will carry a decklid spoiler. The Luxury version will have the same size tires all around, riding on five-spoke alloy wheels. 

The bold new front ends are amplified by a striking, rising line in the bodyside sheetmetal from front to back, flowing directly into a set of new and more aerodynamic taillamps. Even in this larger size, the drag coefficient of the new C-Class is a mere 0.27, among the best in the world. 

Improved safety comes via the new bodyshell, 70 percent of which is high-strength and ultra high-strength steel. Compared to the previous series, Mercedes-Benz has larger deformation zones and improved energy flows. The front-end structure of the new C-Class has four independently acting impact zones, which enable forces to be distributed over a wide area around the passenger cell. The hood, fenders, and decklid are aluminum. 

According to Mercedes-Benz, the static weight balance of the new C-Class is 52 percent front and 48 percent rear, awfully close to the magic 50/50 spread. The body is 13 percent stiffer in torsion and 12 percent stiffer in bending than the old car, and the chassis features a new rear axle and suspension design. 

The 2008 C-Class is the first car in history to be designed, engineered, developed, and tested on Mercedes-Benz's proprietary virtual and digital design and engineering system. That includes every single part, component, and system in the car as well as the interior and exterior design, the complete powertrain, and the chassis. The time saved in development on the computer was devoted to additional real-world testing, to the tune of 24 million kilometers, three times more than the previous model had accumulated. So these cars should be fully sorted. It's remarkable how the Mercedes box has evolved into the aerodynamic C63 AMG. But that's what it looks like, an evolution of the box. It's still boxy compared to the new Jaguar XF sports sedan, whose 420-horsepower supercharged version is a competitor to the C63 AMG, although it costs nearly $10,000 more. 

The C63 AMG is all sweeps and bulges, and profile. It's an AMG body, with almost no sheetmetal common to the Mercedes C350. It's clearly not your father's Mercedes. The nose, for example, is nearly four inches longer, in pursuit of high-speed aerodynamics. The roofline is low and windshield steeply, sleekly raked. 

There are two eye-catching creases in the aluminum hood, like fat speed lines flowing back from the three-pointed star emblem in the grille. AMG calls them power domes, and, along with the oversize front fender flares, these bulges say the car is hot. The airdam under the grille in the front fascia is all business, with big dark openings, pencil-beam foglights, and wing tabs at the corners like you see on racing cars. There are nasty-looking shark-like gills just forward of the front wheels, but only the right one does anything, it sucks in air for the oil cooler. The shark on the left is toothless. 

Chrome is limited to the grille and trim around the windows. And a thick ring around the foglights, making them like zits on the AMG's chin. There's also a silver-dollar-sized tri-star emblem on the otherwise beautiful sleek hood, located mere inches above the big tri-star in the center of the grille. You'd think AMG should be allowed to take the little one off their beautiful hood if they want to, but maybe not. 

The lines under the headlights begin the upward sweep that picks up the pace at the oversized front fender flares, flies under the body-colored door handles, then tapers and ends at the high hips at the top of the cool LED taillights. Two twin-tip exhausts discreetly poke out under the rear bumper and through a black diffuser that helps keep the car on the ground at high speed. The 18-inch alloy wheels, painted titanium gray, are star-shaped, too simple we think, but the wide spaces allow a view of the massive brake calipers, and maybe that's the idea. 

Interior

The interiors of the '08 C-Class are all-new as well. Front shoulder room has increased by 1.6 inches. Trunk space has grown by a cubic foot. 

For 2008, the Mercedes C300 and C350 come with a revised instrument package design, a new steering wheel with two sets of auxiliary controls on the horizontal spokes, and a new center stack that includes a pop-up five-inch screen on the dashtop that displays all the necessary vehicle, navigation and entertainment system data. 

The Sport version has a three-spoke steering wheel, aluminum metallic trim panels, aluminum floor pedals with black rubber studs, and black birdseye maple trim with special stitching on the upholstery, while the Luxury version has a four-spoke steering wheel, traditional burl walnut interior trim and more traditional interior colors. 

The cabin of the C350 Sport is more elaborate than before, with a new standard power sunroof and standard power eight-way driver and passenger seats, with a power lumbar support on the driver's seat. The door panels have more brightwork, and it is tasty. 

A console-mounted push-and-twist wheel controls all of the display functions for navigation, entertainment, climate and communications. The dual-zone climate control is located at the bottom center of the dash, easy to read, understand and use. Whether the three-spoke or four-spoke steering wheel, both have a new layout, with two large multi-function controllers and two smaller buttons to control 12 different functions. The instrument pod itself, newly dressed up in aluminum trim with a white-on-black color scheme, houses a 4.5-inch information display inside the speedometer that can be changed at the touch of a button. 

The center stack features a hooded, retractable five-inch color display at the top center as the main display unit for the Comand system, big enough to see and shaded from the sun's rays. Other electronic features include a standard eight-speaker sound system with six-CD and MP3 player, a standard auxiliary plug-in spot for your iPod, and standard Bluetooth connectivity for your cell phone. 

The Harman Kardon digital 5.1 surround sound system that came in our C350 Sport featured 450 watts of power and 12 speakers, and it was nothing short of fantastic in reproducing the familiar sounds we brought along on our iPod, with automatic volume control and excellent imaging. The best view of the C63 AMG might be from the driver's seat, looking down over the muscular hood. Even though it's longer, you can still see the front corners of the car. 

The front seats, especially the driver's seat, are certainly the most comfortable in the house, with integrated head restraints. The standard leather has nice grip, and the seats are thoroughly and perfectly bolstered, adjustable both for your back and sides. 

The steering wheel is hot, three-spoke and flat-bottomed so there's more room for your knees. The leather is fine as it is, but with the AMG Performance Package you get grippy Alcantara. There are steering wheel controls, and the paddle shifters are good because you can reach them with your middle fingers when your hands are at 10 and 2 o'clock, resting on the bumps there. Or, if you grip the wheel at 9 and 3, the paddles fall right under your fingertips. We found we used the paddle shifters more in this car, because the shift lever position puts an awkward bend in your wrist. 

There are nice pads to rest each elbow, on the door and center console, for relaxed driving. There's plenty of legroom in front, although there's no excess headroom for the driver if the seat is jacked up for best visibility. And there's a big dead pedal, curiously carpeted over the aluminum. There's aluminum trim on the center stack and around the shift lever, and in the doors. Carbon fiber is an option. 

The AMG instrument cluster is disappointing, and puzzling. The new dials with red needles do not impress. The tachometer, especially, is small and not easy to read, as if engine revs aren't a priority in this high-performance sports sedan. The speedometer is larger and its numbers go to 200 mph, if that's a consolation. 

Rear seat legroom is marginal, although not if the driver has his seat moved way back. The specs say 33.4 inches and that's not much: six inches less than in the Pontiac G8, for example. 

The navigation system is easy to operate, but doesn't have enough street detail; if that detail is in fact there, we sure couldn't find it, not even with the help of a fellow automotive journalist who's a geek. Too many streets were just white lines, with a gray background, and the Arizona road we were on, a big and long two-lane, wasn't even on the system. 

The air conditioning was okay for Phoenix in February, but we wouldn't want to be running errands there in summer. It was 73 degrees out, and it took nearly 15 minutes at max before it got too cold. The next day was 80 degrees, and it took 10 minutes at full blast for the cabin to get as cool (but not icy) as we preferred. 

Driving Impression

On our initial test drives over a couple of days on the highways and mountain roads surrounding Valencia, Spain, we could feel a new edge of precision and sportiness that the old C-Class simply didn't have. 

The new C-Class is altogether sharper, more precise, and quicker in terms of handling and steering. The ride is more controlled and sporty and less plush, all of which we liked. 

The brakes are extremely powerful and the pedal is nicely progressive. 

The steering of the new C-Class is more direct than the previous model's. The standard Agility Control suspension controls the shock absorber forces according to the driving situation. When driving normally with low shock absorber inputs, damping forces are reduced, with a noticeable improvement in ride comfort. In faster driving, maximum damping forces come into play. 

Mercedes-Benz has developed an Advanced Agility Package that offers the driver a choice of two programs, Sport and Comfort. The shock absorber for each wheel has infinitely variable electronic control. A new speed-sensitive steering with a more direct ratio, variable centering, and adaptation to acceleration and automatic transmission shift points will be included. Each C63 AMG engine is assembled by hand, emblematic (literally, as each engine gets a signature plate) of the attention that AMG gives each car it builds. The C63 engine is magnificent, hulking under that muscular hood in all its compact glory, 6.2 liters, 451 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. Too bad it's totally covered by plastic chambers, runners and plenums, making you feel pretty silly to pop the hood and admire it. You can't see pieces like the magnesium variable intake manifold. All you can say is: Well, the engine is in there somewhere, and it's real powerful. 

With a redline at 7200 rpm, it sounds good, especially when your listening point is from another car and the C63 AMG passes you at 100 miles an hour. It sounds even better if it's black. If you want to fully enjoy the rumbling four-tip exhaust note of your own C63 AMG, you'll need to roll down your window a bit. From the closed cabin, it's pretty quiet. 

Those great gobs of torque are located surprisingly high, peaking at 5000 rpm, although it hardly struggles at lower rpm because 370 of its 443 pound-feet of torque is available at 2000 rpm. But it's at 4000 rpm that you really feel all that torque begin to stomp you. AMG says the C63 can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, while Car and Driver magazine tested it at 3.9 seconds. That's quicker than the BMW M3, although the M3 is lighter and therefore a bit faster around a race track. 

The C63 AMG is so smooth that 80 mph feels like 60, which is a great thing, except it makes the car a ticket trap. One hundred mph feels like 80. It doesn't take much throttle or effort to reach 100. You can get there in less than 10 seconds, and there might be jail, of course. What else could get you in that much trouble that fast, without leaving your seat? Besides a gun. 

Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph, but the performance package unleashes the car to 186 mph. Speaking of jail. 

It's EPA-rated at 12 city and 19 highway miles per gallon, numbers boosted by the efficient engine and aerodynamics. Our gas mileage was 16.9 mpg, about half the time cruising at freeway speeds and the other half hammering it. 

You don't always know what you're going to get with a seven-speed Mercedes transmission. They're programmed to shift based on some engineer's belief of how the vehicle will be driven. But of course this isn't a Mercedes, it's an AMG. The transmission is right. 

All three modes, Comfort, Sport and Manual, are purposeful. Comfort shifts for you, at convenient and smooth places; it'll shift at redline, quickly. The Sport mode can be used appropriately, when you need the transmission to be a bit more aggressive; it doesn't kick down excessively, and makes rev-matching (throttle-blip) downshifts nicely. 

The Manual mode is true, as it should be. It does something many manual modes don't; it allows you to short shift, or upshift under heavy throttle at medium revs; or even lift off the throttle and upshift at the same time. That confuses many automatic manual transmissions, but not this one. 

We first drove a C63 AMG with the $3900 performance package, and found the ride uncomfortable over the harsh bumps, like weathered or cracked freeway expansion strips. After an hour in the passenger's seat, we were over it but couldn't escape it. We put our head back against the headrest, but the bumps bounced it off. It wasn't so bad in the driver's seat, but still annoying. 

So we got in a model without the performance package, whose front springs are 10 percent softer, but it was still harsh. We drove that model around town, and it took the bumps fairly hard, notably in one particular concrete drainage groove. 

A lot of German high-performance cars are developed on the Nurburgring, which makes their cornering fabulous. And that's what the suspension of the C63 AMG does best. AMG makes no bones abo. 

Summary

After 25 years, 6 million cars, and a lot of lessons learned, Mercedes-Benz has gone the extra mile with the new 2008 C-Class to provide American buyers with more room, more style, more standard content, more performance, and more substance in a pretty package at what we expect will be reasonable and competitive prices. If the quality holds up, this should be a winner. 

NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Jim McCraw filed this report from Valencia, Spain. The four-door, rear-wheel-drive Mercedes C63 AMG is a serious contender for the crown that the BMW M3 has worn for years, with more horsepower and acceleration for the same price. With a new AMG-designed suspension, its cornering is dynamic. It has giant effective brakes and a satisfying seven-speed manual automatic transmission with slick double-clutch rev-matching downshifting. The leather seats are beautifully bolstered. Its main drawback is the rigidity of the suspension, felt on sharp bumps. 

Sam Moses filed this report to NewCarTestDrive.com after his test drive of the C63 AMG in Arizona. 

Model Lineup

Mercedes-Benz C300; C350. Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG ($53,800). 

Assembled In

Sindelfingen, Germany. Affalterbach, Germany. 

Options As Tested

Performance Package ($3900) including two-piece brake rotors, stiffer front springs and tuned shocks, locking rear differential, Alcantara leather on the steering wheel.