Hushed, powerful, and nicely built, this sophisticat's C-class is the most refined car in the class

What is it?

It’s the new Mercedes C-Class in its most refined form: with a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine, automatic gearbox and in Elegance rather than Sport specification.

What’s it like?

Pretty nice, as it goes. With its Elegance/SE and Sport variants, Mercedes has done for the C-Class what BMW has done with SE or M-Sport versions of the 3-Series. Sport variants of the C- get AMG alloys, lowered suspension, a badge set into the grille rather than one mounted on the bonnet, a different steering ratio and side-skirts.

The Elegance does without all that and, on this occasion, is none the worse for it. It rides well, the interior’s fit and finish is excellent and materials are just about up to scratch for a £35,000 executive car.

Ergonomically it’s sound, there’s decent space front and rear and the boot’s well sized. And the 3.5-litre V6? It’s not as rorty as a BMW 330i’s engine, but it is very smooth and, at 268bhp, plenty powerful enough: Mercedes claims it’ll do 0-62mph in 6.4sec.

The seven-speed auto shifts very smoothly, too. In everyday driving it even returned about 25mpg in our hands, which isn’t at all shabby.

Should I buy one?

Sure. A BMW 3-series is still a more dynamic drive but the C- is more refined and, if that’s what you prefer, the C’s as good as anything in this class.

To be honest, it’s the sort of car that would make senior company managers wonder if they really need an E-Class. And that’s no bad thing.

Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes. 

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