More Merc for your money
Mercedes Benz will have its first new C-Class models in South Africa by August 2007 and apparently everyone is waiting in anticipation.
The East London plant will assemble more C-Class cars from July 2007 to December 2007 than in any full year of production, which has been made possible by an investment of more than R2-billion. Buyers in South Africa will be able to get their C-Classes for about a 5% higher price than those of the previous range.
All models will be equipped with a new system called “agility control” which uses shock-absorbers capable of reacting to road surface and the car’s status as well as an “intelligent light system” with five functions. These functions are:
- Country mode: It illuminates the driver’s side of the road more widely to spot hazards and pedestrians.
- Freeway mode: It automatically comes on at 90km/h to increase the driver’s range of vision by up to 60 percent.
- Active lights: It can pivot the headlights by up to 15 degrees either way almost instantly, such as through a long curve.
- Enhanced foglights: Activated below 70km/h if the rear high-intensity red light is switched on.
- Cornering lights: At less than 40km/h, the headlights function as cornering lights to illuminate for about 30m at an angle up to 65 degrees.
The new C-Class is also equipped with flashing brake lights during emergency braking.
The new C-Class is 5.5cm longer and 4.2cm wider than the previous model but the four-cylinder engine is up to 13% more powerful so it easily moves the bigger body. The V6 engines are unaltered and all models except for the C350 come with a six-speed gearbox. The C350 has a seven-speed 7-Tronic transmission.
Mercedes has pumped up the performance even more. The Kompressor engine torque has been improved by about 18% while fuel consumption on the 200 and 220 turbodiesel engines has decreased by 0.3litres/100km. Power is up from 100kW to 110kW and from 110kW to 125kW respectively.
So the new Mercedes Benz C-Class might cost you a little more, but you get a whole lot more for your money.
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