GONE are the days when the Mercedes-Benz cars were big and the star emblems stood on top of the hood, which represents the automaker’s drive toward universal motorization with its engines dominating the land, sea, and air (three points).
The Mercedes-Benz (M-Benz) emblem is a symbol for the company’s plan of world domination. Today, you will hardly see the hood star emblem standing on top of the grill. The star logo now appears flat on the grill and a big flat star on the hood.
But a Mercedes-Benz is a Mercedes-Benz. An M-Benz is conspicuous. To drive one is to experience an immediate emotion—a feeling of amazement and energy. Recently, I drove the 2018 C300 and it is wrapped up in elegance inside and out. Others feel that it is not spacious enough but it has useful occupant space, exciting technology and state-of-the-art safety equipment. The C300 is a masterpiece of its time.
Inside the C300 is nothing but luxurious leather interior including aluminum and genuine wood instrument panel. The power front seats have automatic driver memory and power cushion extension. The rear seat is a 40-20-40 folding bench with front facing fold forward. The automatic dimming rearview mirror removes the need to manually switch back and forth between night and day modes. There are also memory adjustable exterior mirrors for added convenience. Rain sensing wipers also help to reduce the hassle of driving in the rain, and halogen headlights can help improve visibility while on the road.
It has top safety features including Crosswind Assist Electronic Stability Control (ESC); ABS And Driveline Traction Control; Side Impact Beams; Dual Stage Driver And Passenger Seat-Mounted Side Airbags; Back-Up Camera; Collision Prevention Assist Plus Forward Collision; Tire Specific Low Tire Pressure Warning; and Dual Stage Driver And Passenger Front Airbags, to name a few.
The C300 is powered by a 2.0L I4 engine that generates 241 horsepower and 273 N-m of torque. This luxury sedan offers a nine-speed manually interactive automatic transmission. The engine is rightfully powerful and definitely drives smoothly.
The C300 is not as spacious as the larger siblings but it has a decent amount of leg room in the front at 41.7-inches, and in the back, at 35.2 inches. The cargo space of this sedan is 12.6 cubic feet.