![]() ![]() Two front bags, two front-side bags, two rear-side bags, and two side curtains - eight in all. He whacked that wall, ricocheted across the street, backed into the wall on the other side, and pirouetted down the road like an out-of-control bobsled. A wall, which had been there when Hannibal marched his elephants through town, decided at that very moment to leap out right in front of this guy. (Incidentally, a Swedish journalist set what we believe to be a record for number of air bags deployed in a single-car crash during the long-lead preview for the Sport Coupe in the south of France last fall. (Both are optional.) But you do get dual-control air, ABS, stability control, emergency brake assist, manual tilt-and-telescope steering wheel, and more inflatable bags than a Baywatch casting call in case you get it all horribly wrong. The Sports Coupe's low price comes with, um, a price: There are some features you might expect in a Benz that you don't get as standard here, such as power seats and a CD player. It is designed so that the wind drives off the water. The lack of a rear window wiper seems like a serious omission, but in the rain I didn't find the window getting dirty. It allows some light in, but the distortion is so severe you can't really see much out of it either. Like the CR-X, there's a plastic panel in the vertical part of the tailgate. It is so flat that the elevation of the glass is too shallow to provide much of a clue as to what's happening behind you. The main deficiency in the interior is lack of rearward visibility, due to the Honda CRX-like hatch glass. When deployed, it exposes the illuminated cigarette lighter, which is distractingly bright at night. The unbelievably complicated Mercedes pop-up cup holder does everything but grab the cup out of your hand. Only two of these work six of them are blanks, constantly reminding you how cheap you were to not order the stuff that they would otherwise work. Once you figure them out, that's the way to go.Īlong the top of the centre stack sits a whole bank of push buttons. Remnants of Mercedes' awful COMAND system for ventilation/heating and sound system - with controls that feel like they should be pushed but need to be twisted and vice versa - remain.įortunately, a system of rocker switches on the steering wheel control many of the same functions. A pair of window shade-like roller blinds extend electrically forward and rearward from a central position, letting in light but no air, if you prefer that sort of thing. The front half retracts over the back half, so headroom isn't materially compromised. The optional "Panorama" roof makes the top of the car just about all glass, from windshield header to tailgate spoiler. There's no interior release for the hatch lid, but a soft-touch release on the lid itself works well, and there's always the remote. The rear seatbacks also fold forward for added luggage carrying capacity. But we encountered the classic "beats walking home in the pouring rain" situation with the VP of public relations of an affiliated car maker and his wife, so it isn't completely useless. The back seat doesn't look like it'd have much room in it, and it doesn't. The driver gets height and cushion tilt adjustments. Lady Leadfoot commented that she could drive for several hours with no back pain at all. The seats are large, comfortable and supportive. It's a European-style interior, with expanded aluminum centre console trim bringing a bit of brightness to the more sombre charcoal plastic pieces. Leather is an option, but why would you even think about it? No wood in here either. It was also vastly more comfortable than either of those other options would have been in the hot humid weather that blessed my test period. Instead, you get a nice, luxurious cloth in patterned blue, which looks like it'll wear well. The car looks bright and modern inside too, with neither leather nor MB-Tex (Mercedes-speak for "vinyl") upholstery. Mercedes is bringing them in in bright colours, too, which adds to the fun. It shares no body panels with the C-Class sedan, upon which it's based. (He intended that as an insult I'd consider it a compliment.) I think it looks great. One onlooker said it looked like a Ford Focus. ![]() Not everyone is enamoured of the wedgy, severely truncated hatchback styling. The C230 Sport Coupe is quite a departure for Mercedes - a car for which could almost be considered frivolous. ![]() A Mercedes-Benz for less than $35k? You gotta like that. ![]()
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