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Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Jeremy Clarkson
And now it is time to move on to the subject of this morning’s column. The new Mercedes C-class.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.
I haven’t finished yet.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.
I’ve owned a couple of Mercs in the past four or five years and have grown accustomed to the way the on-board computer works. I know how long you hold the mute button down to make the traffic announcement system go away. I know that you have to push the second button up on the right twice to make the sat nav map bigger. I know how to use the phone. It’s all intuitive.
And now they’ve changed it, which means I spent most of my time in this car fiddling with what looks suspiciously like a rip-off of the BMW iDrive system. I’m sure that in time you could get used to it. I’m sure it’s all very German. But so was the old system. So why change it, you clodhopping imbeciles?
Occasionally I was able to ignore the hulking presence of the new computer system and concentrate on the car itself, and I must say it wasn’t too bad in a straightforward, Mercedesy sort of way. It’s bigger than the old model, a little bit heavier and it rides around on suspension that can trace its roots back to the 190 from the early Eighties.
That said, the 280 I tried came with the seven-speed gearbox – that’s two more than it needs – but the changes were so smooth you never really noticed that it was doing them more than is actually necessary.
Other things? Well, it was quiet, extremely smooth riding and quite fast. Although the diesel version you’ll buy won’t be.
I liked it more than the dreary BMW 3-series, but is it, I wondered, significantly better than the much cheaper Ford Mondeo?
The Ford is more spacious and better looking – the C-class, with all its fancy styling details, looks like a Kia Magentis. But there’s a sense in the Merc that you are driving something that’s been hewn from the solid rather than assembled.
There’s some evidence to suggest this might be the case.
When Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler, the American engineers realised after a short while that the Germans at Mercedes were paying five times more for their seats than they were.
So they sent some Chrysler seats to Stuttgart saying, “Hey guys. We think you’re being overcharged.”
Having spent a few weeks examining the Chrysler seats, the Germans replied, “Nein. Ve zink it is you who are being overcharged.”
There was a time, I agree, when Mercedes stopped taking such care, but they’re back in business now. You can’t quite put your finger on why, especially when a woman from Radio Nether Wallop has just interrupted Terry Wogan to say the pelican crossing on Acacia Avenue has stopped working and you can’t find a way to shut her up.
And as you fumble about with all the buttons on the centre console you won’t be looking where you’re going. Which means that when you do finally get home you will turn on your internet to find that Kev627 and Stephen Harrison have put you on www.interferingzealot.com.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.
I haven’t finished yet.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.
I’ve owned a couple of Mercs in the past four or five years and have grown accustomed to the way the on-board computer works. I know how long you hold the mute button down to make the traffic announcement system go away. I know that you have to push the second button up on the right twice to make the sat nav map bigger. I know how to use the phone. It’s all intuitive.
And now they’ve changed it, which means I spent most of my time in this car fiddling with what looks suspiciously like a rip-off of the BMW iDrive system. I’m sure that in time you could get used to it. I’m sure it’s all very German. But so was the old system. So why change it, you clodhopping imbeciles?
Occasionally I was able to ignore the hulking presence of the new computer system and concentrate on the car itself, and I must say it wasn’t too bad in a straightforward, Mercedesy sort of way. It’s bigger than the old model, a little bit heavier and it rides around on suspension that can trace its roots back to the 190 from the early Eighties.
That said, the 280 I tried came with the seven-speed gearbox – that’s two more than it needs – but the changes were so smooth you never really noticed that it was doing them more than is actually necessary.
Other things? Well, it was quiet, extremely smooth riding and quite fast. Although the diesel version you’ll buy won’t be.
I liked it more than the dreary BMW 3-series, but is it, I wondered, significantly better than the much cheaper Ford Mondeo?
The Ford is more spacious and better looking – the C-class, with all its fancy styling details, looks like a Kia Magentis. But there’s a sense in the Merc that you are driving something that’s been hewn from the solid rather than assembled.
There’s some evidence to suggest this might be the case.
When Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler, the American engineers realised after a short while that the Germans at Mercedes were paying five times more for their seats than they were.
So they sent some Chrysler seats to Stuttgart saying, “Hey guys. We think you’re being overcharged.”
Having spent a few weeks examining the Chrysler seats, the Germans replied, “Nein. Ve zink it is you who are being overcharged.”
There was a time, I agree, when Mercedes stopped taking such care, but they’re back in business now. You can’t quite put your finger on why, especially when a woman from Radio Nether Wallop has just interrupted Terry Wogan to say the pelican crossing on Acacia Avenue has stopped working and you can’t find a way to shut her up.
And as you fumble about with all the buttons on the centre console you won’t be looking where you’re going. Which means that when you do finally get home you will turn on your internet to find that Kev627 and Stephen Harrison have put you on www.interferingzealot.com.
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