They say it’s important to start the new year on a good foot. Well, I think it’s equally important to start the new year with a good car. I know we’re a week-and-a-half into January, now, but this Mercedes-Benz C 300 (4Matic) was the first car I drove and reviewed in 2023. I can say that I honestly didn’t have lofty expectations of a non-AMG compact Mercedes, but this car certainly helped me ring in the new year right.
The C 300 doesn’t have a dazzling spec sheet — it lacks the mad horsepower of the AMG models, or the dizzying price tag of an S-Class or G-Wagen. But the car’s quiet confidence came to impress me. First of all, the redesigned C-Class looks much better than the previous gen, especially in black with the optional AMG wheels. It looks far more riché than its $56,700 base MSRP. And that’s before you sit inside.
The party trick of the C 300 is that somehow the automaker has managed to make it feel like a junior S-Class inside. It starts at the very beginning: the doors shut with an authoritative whump that that only Mercedes can accomplish. That air of solidity is carried throughout the interior, where everything you touch feels of quality.
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2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
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2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes Benz C300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
My test car was $60,365 as-tested, which is admittedly a lot of money, but I have tested more expensive vehicles that didn’t have nearly as nice of an interior. Take, for example, the front-seat touch-points. Typically, a luxury car will have nice seats, a nice steering wheel, and maybe a leather-topped centre console. The door tops, dash, and arm rests are often made of the same industrial-grade plastic that you’d find on a “regular” car. Not so here! Everything the front-seaters could conceivably touch is either cool aluminum, stitched leather, or knurled plastic.
The C 300, like most new Mercedes, features the voice-activated “Hey, Mercedes” digital assistant, which I used frequently, because I never found the button for the heated steering wheel. It also has a fingerprint scanner in the dash to load up multiple driver profiles (seat, mirror adjustments, etc.) if you have multiple drivers using the car. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard.
2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300 Photo by Clayton Seams
Selectable mood lighting in cars has been happening for over a decade now, but truly no one does it like Mercedes. The C 300 has lights that go around the console, behind the touchscreen, and even in the air vents. It may be on the gimmicky side, but it makes the C 300 cabin feel very premium. But the interior is not a slam dunk.
The one part of the interior that lets the rest down is the cheap-feeling “metal weave” pattern on the centre console and dash. Luckily Mercedes offers six different finishes for the console trim, and I think all of them look better than what was spec’ed on my test car.
It also would just not be a German car if it didn’t have odd and ungainly cupholders. I don’t know what the Germans have against cupholders, but the tradition holds fast here. Under the slick sliding center console you will find two medium-sized cupholders. Your beverage is supposedly held in place with a single spring-loaded piece of plastic about an inch wide. Shockingly, this doesn’t hold a water bottle in place, and my Thermos clanked noisily against the cupholder as I drove. Not premium.
What is very premium indeed is how this car drives. This car is so smooth on the highway, I looked down at the gauges to make sure the engine was still turning. The suspension is sufficiently supple, and the modest 18-inch wheels provide plenty of sidewall to cushion the bumps. On a 200-km trip, the C 300 was simply a cozy and serene place to be.
Of course, it also has a Sport+ mode, and when you hurl it into a corner, it sticks like a proper sport sedan. But the steering feel is numb, the suspension is soft, and if you want to go fast in a C-Class, that’s what the AMG model is for. That said, the C 300 will scoot to 100 km/h from zero in 6.0 seconds.
2023 Mercedes Benz C300 Photo by Clayton Seams
That’s because in addition to its turbocharged 2.0L engine that makes 255 hp and 295 lb-ft, the C 300 features a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. Basically, a small electric motor between the engine and the transmission fills in torque gaps, increases efficiency, and adds a little bit of performance. The electric assist can provide an additional 20 hp and 128 lb-ft when called upon. But because mild-hybrid systems are complicated, you can’t just add those numbers to the peak engine numbers to get total power.
The system mostly works in the background, but I noticed it helping the car from needing to drop down a gear when climbing hills on the highway; and assisting you in leaving a stop light smoothly. In truth, it’s so smooth, you won’t notice it working unless you watch the little gauge. That system also contributes to the C 300’s decent fuel economy — 7.1 L/100 km on the highway, and 9.9 in the city.
The C 300 is a car that gets a lot right and very little wrong. It does this by having a clear design purpose and not trying to be multiple cars in one. It’s not trying to be stiff and sporty like an AMG. The C 300 is one of the best compact luxury sedans I have driven, and if you are shopping within the segment, you owe it to yourself to go try one out. Happy New Year, everyone.
Keyword: Car Review: 2023 Mercedes-Benz C 300