Category: Compact Executive 
Price Range: No data available
Good looking; comfortable; good selection of engines; excellent crash safety.
Not as practical as some rivals; dull cabin.
Unadventurous, but another good family-friendly Mercedes.
The W204-series C-Class saloon is already on sale, and this estate arrives in the UK in spring 2008. Like the saloon, it's been developed as a kind of mini-E-Class; it's larger and has greater cargo capacity than its predecessor, yet promises improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions from its range of new and revised engines.
The line-up includes supercharged C180 and C200 Kompressor petrol engines (154bhp and 182bhp), and the C230, C280 and C350 V6s (201bhp, 228bhp and 268bhp), though the most popular choices are likely to be the diesels: C200 CDI, C220 CDI and C320 CDI (134bhp, 168bhp, 221bhp). All models have six-speed manual gearboxes, with Mercedes' new 7G-Tronic seven-speed auto optional with the V6 petrol engines (standard in the C350). The C63 AMG (445bhp) comes later in '08.
Specification levels are SE, Elegance and Sport. The Sport has a different grille design with huge Mercedes badge in the centre, rather like the aftermarket AMG grilles so popular on the old 190-series saloons. Either way, the latest C-Class is unmistakably a Mercedes - if not a particularly adventurous one.
