The Generation Game: Mercedes-Benz C-Class

[Liquid]

The Generation Game: Mercedes-Benz C-Class

1992-2000 Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W202)

Bodystyles: 4-door saloon, 5-door estate
Engines: 1.8 - 2.2L I4; 2.5L I5; 2.8 - 3.6L I6; 2.4 - 2.8L V6; 4.3 - 5.4L V8
Drivetrain: FR
Weight: ~1,400kg / 3,080lbs

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1999-2007 Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W203)

Bodystyles: 3-door liftback, 4-door saloon, 5-door estate
Engines: 1.8 - 2.3L I4; 2.7 - 3.0L I5; 2.6 - 3.5L V6; 5.4L V8
Drivetrain: FR
Weight: ~1,500kg / 3,300lbs

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2006-2014 Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W204)

Bodystyles: 2-door coupe, 4-door saloon, 5-door estate
Engines: 1.6 - 2.2L I4; 2.5 - 3.5L V6; 6.2L V8
Drivetrain: FR, 4WD
Weight: ~1,615kg / 3,553lbs

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2015-2021 Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W205)

Bodystyles: 2-door coupe, 2-door convertible, 4-door saloon, 5-door estate
Engines: 1.5 - 2.1L I4; 3.0L V6; 4.0L V8 / 2.0L I4 PHEV
Drivetrain: FR, 4WD
Weight: ~1,590kg / 3,498lbs

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2021-present Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W206)

Bodystyles: 4-door saloon, 5-door estate
Engines: 1.5 - 2.0L I4 MHEV / 2.0L I4 PHEV
Drivetrain: FR, 4WD
Weight: ~1,850kg / 4,070lbs

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This is about the C-Class and cars called the C-Class, which excludes the preceding 190. As usual, every pernickerty detail is easily blurred or otherwise overlooked - this post is a general post about the C-Class in general without the specifics of the CLC, CLE or other related models as Mercedes-Benz started splitting the model hierarchy into multiple layers. If you have any extra details or want to include them for your own preference, feel free to share and treat it that way.

Despite the delay, the poll will still close late Monday evening CET.

Previous Results Thread

 

[05XR8]

W202. The brand has just moved so far away from being more upright in design to more roach-like.

 

[Tornado]

190.


Incidentally though there was an idea for a thread I was kicking around for like a decade and then never actually made regarding cars that actually legitimately were worse than the cars they replaced (and not just "they don't make it like they used to" boomerisms) that was when I first thought of it largely about DaimlerChrysler products (for both halves of the corporate structure) but fits this thread pretty nicely.

 

[TheCracker]

Taking any AMG versions out of the equation, the W204 was the point where the C-class (in saloon/sedan guise) actually became a desirable-looking car. The following W205 and W206 look decent too, but from W204 onwards it stopped looking like a taxi and more like a viable rival for the 3-Series.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

The 02 and 04 are probably the best looking overall. The 03 was far too soft looking. The 05 looks pretty nice but also seems utterly souless. The 06 is atrocious. The W202, to my eyes, is an evolution of the 190e which comes from one of the MB golden ages, so it gets the nod with the 04 coming in closely behind, with that awesome M156 doing a lot of work.

 

[FT-1]

I'm voting for the generation that gave us this gorgeous machine:

What's more, I feel like subsequent generations looked too soft. At least the 205 retained variants with 6- and 8-cylinder engines; the 206 generation took a further step back and got rid of them.

 

[Liquid]

Incidentally though there was an idea for a thread I was kicking around for like a decade and then never actually made regarding cars that actually legitimately were worse than the cars they replaced

The novelty of this thread type hasn't worn off yet, I hope, but I also have some ideas for other types of polls that still thematically fit. One of them is cars and their successor models like the 190/C-Class or Monaco/Intrepid, which is still generational, and the other is cars of the same class from a particular time period or whatever gen each car was in at a time like 80s hot hatches, 90s executives and such.

I don't think we'll ever recapture the golden era of The Cool Wall but - and this goes for anyone reading - by all means if there's a Generation Game poll you'd like to see, leave a post in the results thread. At the moment I'm just picking my own models in a Europe/USA/Japan cycle.

And by all means, tell us why the 190 is much better than the C-Class.

The following W205 and W206 look decent too, but from W204 onwards it stopped looking like a taxi and more like a viable rival for the 3-Series.

I've always found it strange how Mercedes-Benz has had such a strong aversion to touring car racing because such a low-brow motorsport tarnishes their 'brand'. It's funny because their cars like the C-Class and E-Class are literally most widely seen as taxis, which is hardly the upper-class image they were going for. Never mind that BMW has a premium image, history of fleet cars and a very strong touring car heritage.

Incidentally, although I like the DTM heritage of the W203, the W204 looks amazing and is probably the last truly great-looking Mercedes in my fussy, old fashioned eyes. The current W206 looks like a melted version of its predecessors.

 

[Tornado]

I'm voting for the generation that gave us this gorgeous machine:
View attachment 1457293

It always amused me that they originally tried to just graft the W204 front end on the W203 coupe and act like it was part of the same generation before they did this one.

And by all means, tell us why the 190 is much better than the C-Class.

That was primarily in reference to the W205 -> W206 transition.