When A Two-door Doesn’t Feel Like It At All.
If there’s one thing two-door cars have always been associated with, it is speed. It’s like a default expectation most gearheads assume a two-door will have. That and of course, agility. So, right from the get-go, the C-Class Coupe, particularly this C 250 Coupe decked in AMG Line goodies, lands on the same expectations. The question that I asked myself at the time when collecting this for a weekend review, was whether it has the understated muscle to be all that I was expecting it to be.
One thing’s for sure though- it’s a very handsome/pretty car, one that uses the size of the C-Class platform to perfection. The sexy exterior lines that flow nicely into its coupe rear is so nice to look at on a bad day. It’s a great touch of romance and athleticism just on brief looks. Stare at it long enough and you’ll see how it has been carefully designed to make it an agile drive.
Since it looses some legroom at the back compared to a normal C-Class, the fittings on the interior are thus focused on ultra-sportiness. It’s seats are raunchily designed in AMG Line fashion as you can see in these images. While they may look stiff and a chore for the back and rump to handle, trust me, it has just the right amount of comfort to suit this car’s purpose, a purpose that is built on leisurely driving of course. That’s not to say that it isn’t a competent workhorse either, because you still get a decent 400-litres of trunk space still, which suited a bachelor’s lifestyle like yours truly.
This C 250 Coupe sits right in the middle of a three-variant model line in Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s Dream Car collection, a range of special models that have a very stylish lifestyle sentiment about them. The Dream Car range in itself is ranked with other two-door coupes and sportscars that are worthy of being called a dream, like the AMG GT for instance. Along with this C 250 Coupe are the C 200 Coupe and the range-topper, the C 300.
All the variants use the same engine, but each up-tuned and down-tuned to suit different offerings, which include a unique interior for each model from the C Coupe range. This C 250 came specced out in Mercedes’ AMG Line exterior and interior, a range of specifications that give owners a glimpse of the AMG lifestyle. The goodies are more or less the same across the entire Coupe range, with slight differences as you climb up the ranks all the way to the C 300 Coupe.
In this C 250 Coupe for example, you get a very ergonomic sports steering wheel, AMG pedals at your foot for better grip on almost any kind of footwear sole, a sleek set of 18-inch AMG Line alloys and as I you can see, even the exterior gets some sporty bumpers and skirts. All of this I believe has been carefully curated and put together by Mercedes for one thing- to compliment the tasteful driving experience.
Where this C 250 Coupe is tuned to house 208 hp and 350 Nm of torque, the base C 200 Coupe has 181 horses and 300 Nm of torque. The big-hitter of the C Coupe range is of course the C 300, holding under its hood in the same 2.0-litre mill, only tuned to a chunky amunt of 241 hp and 370 Nm of torque. No guesses which is the fastest of the trio, but where my time with the C 250 Coupe is concerned, the Dream Car clocks the 100 km/h test in just 6.8 seconds. For comparison, the C 300 Coupe, does the same feat in a staggering lesser 6 seconds, carrying a whole 25 kilos more than the C 250 Coupe in kerb weight th. Amazing isn’t it how physics can do these things?
While all three cars come with an electronically capped top speed of 250 km/h, the interesting thing is how this C 250 Coupe behaves before and after it checks the 100 km/h speed test. With its suspensions set to Sport or Sport +, the Coupe is surprisingly soft. Given that it rides on sporty alloys and semi-sports seats of AMG make, the ride feel is so pleasant, that you forget easily you’re driving a two-door lifestyle coupe. This is some mastery of the setup of the Coupe’s struts, which you must know, have no 4Matic presence. Yup, all these C Coupes are pure rear wheel driving cars, hence why it was a pleasant surprise to feel so comfortable even at national speed limits.
When I took her through some old B-roads towards Banting to meet up with my colleagues Syazwan and Charles, I found it to be a rather composed and fluid driving experience. The 7G-Tronic transmission has been reconfigured well to suit the Coupe. No hesitations or unsettling behavior at low-speeds nor the clumsiness of early auto-upshifts when you want to gun it. It’s linear distribution all the way to the rear-end of the Coupe which then gives this Merc a real character once you start handling her right.
She’s properly balanced and composed through long sweeping bends and is quick in overtaking maneuvers, although, there can be a slight sluggishness to get going. Once she’s off her mark though, she goes like a hot Banting seaside breeze, and it can be a real joy. The agility that the Coupe shows is also quite surprising, even though it might not come off as a really fast car. At 6.8 seconds, reaching 100 on the nicely specced speedo can seem quicker. I put this down mostly to the frameless door concept, because it is longer than the average C-Class because of the missing B-pillars. This makes the peripherals you get during driving seem a lot more quicker.
And there’s no denying, that her cabin is a Mercedes default- classy and comfortable. The nicely appointed Artico leather upholstery has been laced on well. I love how it has been fitted where you expect it to be, because who needs so many surprises anyway. The touch of simplicity and sophisticated in the C 250 Coupe is just right in my view. To me, having a surprisingly good and COMFORTABLE drive in a two-door Coupe is a big one already. One surprise that could stun you though is that this C 250 Coupe AMG Line costs in the region of RM333,888 thereabouts, before taxes and options come into play. For what’s on offer, I dont think it’s just a bargain, I think it’s a giveaway that is worth the inspection.
