The Touch Shift automatic that comes on the C-Class cars shifts crisply, adding to the sporty driving experience. There's no need to use the manual feature at all because the automatic works so well, responsive and very smooth. It's adaptive, which means, if you drive it gently, it will upshift more quickly and reward you with excellent gas mileage (up from 22/29 mpg city/highway last year to 23/32 for 2003). If you're constantly on the throttle, it will learn that you like to drive quickly and will hold itself in each gear for more sprightly acceleration.
Moving the transmission lever into the manual mode allows the driver to shift down or up one gear with each movement of the lever. Hold the lever to left for more than a second and it shifts all the way down to the lowest appropriate gear for the speed you're traveling. Hold it to the right and it shifts back up to Drive. Stop and it automatically shifts down to first. Accelerate away and it shifts back up to the highest gear selected, a good strategy for using third gear when driving around town.
The substantial weight of the C230 sport coupe shows up in its handling, where it feels heavy compared to a BMW. The rack-and-pinion power steering, the sports seats, and the beefy steering wheel make you feel like you're in command, and if you start to lose your command of the situation, the standard ESP stability control system will put things right in a trice. The standard tilt and telescope steering column provides an extra measure of adjustability that some cars in this class don't even offer.
The P205/55R16 tires that come standard on most C-Class models are relatively grippy and very quiet at highway speeds. (Optional 17-inch wheels with low-profile 225/45R17 tires are available.) All in all, the sport coupe is good fun to drive.
Mercedes-Benz puts as much effort into its braking systems as some makers put into their whole cars, and it shows immediately in the driving. All C-Class models use large 11.8-inch discs up front and 11.4-inch discs in the rear (except the C32 AMG, whose brakes are even larger), with Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA) that senses when you are having a panic attack, provides extra braking, and then switches automatically into ABS mode if conditions warrant. The brakes are progressive in pedal feel, and enormously powerful in bad situations.
Once a driver learns how to use the steering-wheel-mounted controls for the driver information, audio and telephone systems, there's even more fun to be had, with up to 50 information and programming functions available at the touch of a couple of buttons.
C-Class sedans and wagons now offer 4MATIC all-wheel drive, which uses electronic traction control to vary torque distribution to individual wheels. The system is fully automatic, requiring no intervention from the driver. Mercedes-Benz claims that even if three wheels lose traction, 4MATIC can direct power to just one wheel to keep the car moving through slippery conditions. The compact 4MATIC system adds less than 200 pounds to the weight of the vehicle, and does not compromise passenger or luggage space.
The C32 AMG? At $50,400, it's a high-performance bargain, capable of amazing acceleration and handling. Your problem may be finding one.
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