Mercedes C-Class review - Practicality, comfort and boot space
The Mercedes C-Class offers a roomier cabin and excellent comfort, but boot space isn’t as practical as close rivals
Once sat in the driver’s seat you can really start to appreciate the comfort on offer in the C-Class. Comparisons to the S-Class luxury limo are not without merit, with AMG Line models featuring Artico leather upholstery, heated seats and climate control, along with the Seat Comfort pack which provides increased electric adjustment to enable you to find the perfect seat position.
The C-Class isn’t all style without substance, though, and there are plenty of useful practical touches included to help make life a little easier from behind the wheel. The standard reversing camera will help with tricky parking manoeuvres, while Premium cars come equipped with a 360-degree camera and an Active Parking Assist system which does most of the hard work for you using its clever radar tech and sensors.
Other kit such as the MBUX voice-controlled multimedia system, helps you to concentrate fully on the road, and there’s further scope to add equipment like a head-up display and an augmented reality function for the sat-nav.
Size
The fifth-generation C-Class is a bigger car overall than the model it replaced. Mercedes’ executive saloon has increased in length by 65mm to 4,751mm and 10mm extra in width to 1,820mm, although it sits 7mm lower. The wheelbase has grown by 25mm too, which helps provide a little more room in the cabin.
Leg room, head room & passenger space
Room up front in the C-Class is good for both the driver and passenger, while those travelling in the back benefit from more head and knee room. Four adult occupants can be accommodated with ease, with an extra fifth passenger in the back perhaps best left for shorter journeys. The estate model offers a little more head room up front, but a full 30mm over the saloon in the rear of the cabin.
Boot
At 455 litres, the C-Class’s boot falls short of the 480-litre space found in both the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4, but the Mercedes should be practical enough for most needs. Again, the estate model offers extra capacity with a 490-litre load space, which increases to 1,510 litres with the rear seats folded.
Towing
All C-Class models have a braked towing capacity of 1,800kg, which should be more than enough for most day-to-day needs.
