Gadgetory

whatever you think or thought about the Mercedes c-class and I bet it wasn't very nice you can unload because they've redone this car in a major way let's drive the C 400 4matic all-wheel drive in this case to check the tech the c-class used to print small and kind of affordable now it prints a lot of presents and begs the question did you just get a big raise the front end is longer the rear end is short and tidy and in the middle is a whole lot of s-class flourishes the vehicles four inches longer overall half of that went to rear seat legroom by the way LED headlamps up front those are standard a trend was starting to see on mid market cars as of 2014 the big pano roof up top that's not standard but I'd spend the money it's big and very nice a c400 with all-wheel drive is pushing 50 delivered we're gonna add 2,700 for multimedia that gets you navigation camera bigger screen you want all that hood is nearly $1000 we'll check that out in a moment the aromatic adaptive suspension brings a lot of agility to this car for $1,200 nearly 3000 for adaptive cruise that'll stop and go Lane centering sensing for forward cross traffic alerts that's interesting an active blind spot tech and a great big panoramic roof is 1,500 all in we're about 58 5 now in here is where you really do a double-take this is a c-class this is kind of an s-class beautiful cabin I love this kind of waterfall console design they're using now and the Ergo for the way your hand hits it really comfortable and nice all these C's are going to have a floating LCD up here this is the larger one with nav a smaller one is based they all unfortunately have this big thick horsey bezel around it if it weren't for that it would really appear to float in midair what a shame it's controlled by the knob down here we've seen before but this is standard nap a touch pad that also has a click function you can use it for all kinds of pinch and zoom moving back and forth just about any natural gesture you want also there at least three and sometimes five ways to do almost anything in this car like look at a radio station find a station selects media enter a destination they got too many layers going on but you will find something you like please say the house number voice command is optional by the way generally though very good and very fast HD radios handled unusually well surfacing all the stations at once and not making you dig and notice that Burmaster audio previously a mega dollar option is actually standard on this C 400 surprised by that these are all automatic transmission cars you this little dainty shifter over here in current Mercedes style and down here you've got your agility control which gives you a lot of drive modes from eco to comfort to sport to sport plus to an individual setting where you call the parameters very much reminiscent of Audi Drive select and of course you've got the now almost ubiquitous paddles on the wheel before a collision tech won't stop the car but partial brake the blind spot and lane-keeping tech are very much into we've giving you either a vibration warning or moving the car back into the lane or out of the way of other cars it can also sense cars that are overtaking you and predict if they're going to be a problem inside our Alabama born-and-bred c400 is a German engine a three liter v6 with a turbo on each side the numbers are really good 329 horsepower 354 pound-feet of torque I like that kind of ratio all the C's have 7 speed automatic s-- our 4matic means all-wheel drive zero to 60 in sport plus mode is well under five seconds mpg is okay considering the performance twenty one city twenty nine highway you bet it kills them they couldn't crack thirty let's go for a ride first off let me tell you a little story about an engine one that I'm in love with this little v6 is great it's silky it's liquid the power is right there right when you want it this is a great motor the transmission is a class below it not a bad gearbox but it's not up to the engine in some of the fast shift modes I find this car very possible and handleable even though it's not an AMG it's not in that BMW tenseness though it's always a comfortable car the head-up display is good but not quite perfect it gives you speed and either compass or nav I would like to also see a drive modes for comfort whatever and a gear position indicator in there that'd be really handy the quality of the rendering is really good but the execution is a little blurry and the windshield seems kind of wobbly as you move your head around the thing changes shape and gets distorted that's not good in some this is the most I've enjoyed driving an on AMG Mercedes in years light bright and precise you