Test Drive: 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300 4Matic Sedan

Inside, it’s pure Mercedes-Benz. Yes, that’s a good thing. The trim is called Black Piano, very tasteful and ­– what with all that leather in the seats and steering wheel – slightly high-class naughty. Mind, the steering wheel isn’t heated, a legacy of C-Classhood. There are five air vents up front, quickly correcting climate conditions after the engine, which we’ll talk about soon, roars to life.

The driver’s seat is adjustable sixteen ways and has memory for three settings. So if you’re patient enough to futz, you’ll eventually be very comfortable and can stay that way for good (or at least till some jackass changes your settings).

For such a petite-looking sedan, the C300 has a generously long wheelbase of 2,840 mm, which boosts the handling and provides comfort to backseat passengers. If you don’t have any backseat passengers (my kids and wife have moved away to university and Europe, respectively) you can flatten those backseats with the pull of some serious mechanical levers in the top of the trunk which would look at home on an expensive exercise machine. With the seats down, you massively expand the already-impressive 480 litres of cargo space. With the backseats up, you can still flip down the armrest all the way to reveal the ski door.

2015 Mercedes-Benz C 300 4MATIC seating, trunk. Click image to enlarge

The techy cockpit almost screams for aviator sunglasses prior to entry. Everything for control and comfort is laid out exactly where it ought to be, from volume and listening mode control to cruise control, to drive mode and nanny control off switches. Yay! But more about the drive a little later.

Haters, as the kids say, gonna hate the added-on high-definition infotainment (yes, I hate that word too) screen. Last time I reviewed a Mercedes-Benz here, an Autos.ca reader said the screen looked like an iPad crazy-glued to the dash, then several others piled on with their own vitriol. So unfair. I think the screen is great. The picture’s as clear as your first day with your new prescription glasses. Affixing modularly, rather than integrating into the entire panel, makes it easier for Mercedes to upgrade year by year as technology and software sprint ever faster into the future. [It’s also safer. –Ed.]

Segue to the latest generation of COMAND, the infotainment interface. I wasn’t always a fan but am delighted with the latest improvements. The haters’ point regarding iPad comparisons are interesting but, in my case, I don’t see it as an insult. It’s supremely easy to manipulate within and between applications, each of which has several ways in and out. My only criticism is the “mouse” you click for choosing things. It is a truly unintuitive design. It’s also utterly unique, although in my observation’s case the word unique is not meant as a compliment. It looks like a small hockey puck with its own mouth guard. Still you’ll figure it out pretty soon.

2015 Mercedes-Benz C 300 4MATIC driver’s seat, centre stack, navigation. Click image to enlarge

All the apps work well. It’d be great to have had satellite radio but it’s not included in the C-Class. There is, however, a magnificent surround-sound audio system with 13 carefully positioned speakers – though you can upgrade to the Burmester system for $1,000 if you want even more quality. This vehicle’s test took place in the early days of CBC 1’s Jian Ghomeshi DeathWatch™. So, lacking satellite radio, I switched to CBC Radio 2 upon my first drive. Immediately, on came Astor Piazzola’s magnificent Milonga del Angel. It was only half finished when I arrived at my destination and I just sat there for two more minutes, drinking it in. Beautiful music rendered perfectly is one of life’s chief pleasures, so wonderful it’s shocking there’s no tax on it.