The German carmakers are on a free fall when it comes to naming their cars “correctly”. And it is officially impossible to tell the car’s engine displacement from the badge. BMW’s 125i, for example, has a 3-litre engine. The new Mercedes E250CGI? It has a 1.8-litre lump.
It’s only getting worse. The C180 has been updated to adopt Mercedes’ BlueEfficiency technology. And chief among the changes is a new engine, which is a 1.6-litre supercharged unit in place of the 1.8-litre. The 1.8-litre version will still be available until stocks run out.
Maybe it’s the implication on pricing and perceived value that stops them from naming it “C160”. But to call both the 1.6-litre and the older 1.8-litre versions the C180 is downright confusing.
In Mercedes’ global scheme of things, BlueEfficiency stands for improved fuel consumption and reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Like what BMW has championed with its own Efficient Dynamics technology, the 1.6-litre has gone under the microscope and the weighing scales to make it a greener (bluer, if you prefer) car than the 1.8-litre before it.
The front windscreen, for example, weighs 1.2kg less than before, thanks to the use of a high-tech plastic membrane that enables Mercedes to make the glass thinner without compromising on the sound insulation properties. The car’s firewall has been made lighter, too.
There’s more: The 1.6-litre car is supposed to have tyres that boast extremely low rolling resistance, revised aerodynamics that see some of the front vents sealed off to reduce drag, and an XXL-size display for the instantaneous fuel consumption to encourage the driver to go easy.
The 1.6-litre unit looks exactly the same as the 1.8-litre unit (below).
There’s even Stop/Start technology, all to live up to the BlueEfficiency tag. At its most, erm, efficient, the combination of all these strategies cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 11g/km to 183g/km and fuel consumption from 12km/L on the combined cycle to just under 13km/L. If true, the 1.6-litre seems nearly as frugal as some Japanese family sedans. Yes, almost.
Well, that does not seem to be the case with the test car. Like the 1.8-litre version, the 1.6-litre C180 has a 5-speed automatic transmission, which doesn’t allow for the Stop/Start technology.
The “pure” BlueEfficiency version wears less exciting but very eco-friendly 16-inch tyres and uses a special forge alloy wheel that’s 1.8kg lighter than the equivalent cast items. The test car, though, is finished in the popular Avantgarde trim and comes shod with sporty 17-inch wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport tyres. Not quite as eco.
The Avantgarde trim includes a front grille that has generous gaps between its horizontal slates, which will help cooling but probably not consumption, as they do increase aerodynamic drag. Still on the matter of cutting drag, the BlueEfficiency C180 is supposed to ride 15mm closer to the ground and its belly is flat, thanks to unique underbody panelling. Not that we can tell with the fat and sporty tyres distracting us.
The BlueEfficiency C180 can be up to 32kg lighter than the regular model but no one can tell from its equipment level. It is exactly the same as the 1.8-litre C180’s, which has niceties like semi-powered front seats and plush carpets but no power adjustments for the steering and shift paddles (reserved for models upwards of the C200 Kompressor).
In this context, it seems Mercedes-Benz is more interested in availing a C-Class variant for the competitive Category A COE than showing resolve to be a “green” car. It’s a tact that has been used before, as far back as the BMW 316i (E30) from two decades ago and Audi’s 1.6-litre A4. And both cars were sales successes in their own right.
There are certain key differences with this C-Class today, though. For one, the car comes at a time when COE premiums are at an all-time low, and the difference between the two categories has never been smaller. Along with the revised road tax structure that’s less punitive towards larger engines than before, there’s little real benefit to opting for a 1.6-litre Merc over a 1.8-litre one.
As a counterpoint, Mercedes has also been careful not to make the C180 come across as a blatant poverty spec model, giving it as much goodies as it did when the C180 had a 1.8-litre engine. Heck, the 1.6-litre even claims to make just as much power as the bigger lump.
With the retail price set as exactly the same as the 1.8-litre (down to the last dollar), BlueEfficiency or not, it may be a case that buyers will be absolutely none the wiser/poorer/richer when the 1.8-litre C180 runs out.
