MERCEDES-BENZ – C200 -2022

The C-Class Estate is comfy, fuel efficient and well equipped. We just wish the interior quality lived up to the badge and that used prices were a little lower
The C300 petrol and C300d diesel, with 274bhp and 261bhp respectively, are noticeably punchier and will get from 0-60mph in around six seconds. Then there’s the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) C300e. Its electric motor is more than capable of keeping up with traffic to motorway speeds, and it can travel around twice as far on electric power than the rival BMW 3 Series Touring 330e.

When you need to use the C300e’s full 309bhp potential, the switch between electric and conventional power is seamless and acceleration is swift, even if its extra weight hinders it from beating the C300 to 60mph (just enough).

The C43 and C63 performance cars are incredibly quick, although we’ll leave that for another, more bespoke review or two.

Ride & Handling: Most C-Class Estates come with adaptive sports suspension, with the C300e PHEV getting special comfort suspension: it adds air suspension to the rear wheels to counter the heavy battery.

When the adaptive suspension is in Comfort mode, it deals with the worst effects of bumps and potholes better than the 3 Series Touring, although there’s a slightly floaty sensation over undulating roads. To avoid that, there’s Sport mode, which significantly tightens up the body control without losing its ability to round off harsher humps and holes.