W206 Mercedes-Benz C-Class spy shots

CRSKTN

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schlubby car reviews here don’t forget to like and subscribe and hit the bell so you’ll never miss a thumbnail of me doing the same pose behind a car in every video
 

Gecko

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I should have better completed my thought before about the link between Hyundai and Mercedes design...

TL;DR: It feels like Mercedes design has been getting more and more generic and is taking more cues and similar shapes from mainstream Asian brands.

Mercedes design into the mid-2010s was more purposeful with chunkier headlights and tail lights, and an elegant but prominent looking face that contributed to stronger looking exterior design. Over the last generation, their products have migrated to very generic looking horizontal tail lights and head lights that could be any Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, etc. The beltline design and shape of the greenhouse is also becoming very nondescript. The cars with the traditional Mercedes grill are holding onto the old design language best, but they now offer a number of other mesh/plastic shield grills that look very generic, and so does the same shape they keep using for lower front bumpers. The EQ cars look terrible and almost Tesla-meets-Prius-like in shape.

I've mentioned it on the podcast but I feel like we've seen this go up and down enough times to notice that Mercedes design tends to go through these phases of being more bold and unique and then being more generic and less interesting. They are currently doing more of the latter in my eyes.

This was a special looking car, and undoubtedly a Mercedes-Benz no matter how quick the glance:

2005-mercedes-benz-e55-amg-1.jpganchorcentermodecropwidth1000


1280px-2006_Mercedes-Benz_E_500_%28W_211_MY07%29_Avantgarde_sedan_%282015-07-09%29_01.jpg


This is a generic looking blob that could be made by Geely, Kia, or any other brand:

2022-Mercedes-Benz-E-Class-blue-side-front-view_o.jpg


2021-Mercedes-E-Class-Lineup-28.jpg
 
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I should have better completed my thought before about the link between Hyundai and Mercedes design...

TL;DR: It feels like Mercedes design has been getting more and more generic and is taking more cues and similar shapes from mainstream Asian brands.

Mercedes design into the mid-2010s was more purposeful with chunkier headlights and tail lights, and an elegant but prominent looking grill that contributed to stronger looking exterior design. Over the last generation, their products have migrated to very generic looking horizontal tail lights and head lights that could be any Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, etc. The beltline design and shape of the greenhouse is also becoming very nondescript. The cars with the traditional Mercedes grill are holding onto the old design language best, but they now offer a number of other mesh/plastic shield grills that look very generic, and so does the same shape they keep using for lower front bumpers. The EQ cars look terrible and almost Tesla-meets-Prius-like in shape.

I've mentioned it on the podcast but I feel like we've seen this go up and down enough times to notice that Mercedes design tends to go through these phases of being more bold and unique and then being more generic and less interesting. They are currently doing more of the latter in my eyes.

This was a special looking car, and undoubtedly a Mercedes-Benz no matter how quick the glance:

2005-mercedes-benz-e55-amg-1.jpganchorcentermodecropwidth1000


1280px-2006_Mercedes-Benz_E_500_%28W_211_MY07%29_Avantgarde_sedan_%282015-07-09%29_01.jpg


This is a generic looking blob that could be made by Geely, Kia, or any other brand:

2022-Mercedes-Benz-E-Class-blue-side-front-view_o.jpg


2021-Mercedes-E-Class-Lineup-28.jpg

To be fair, this E-Class still looks really good. I don't think the next-generation will look as good as this, and will look even more of a blob. The pre-facelift was gorgeous.
 

Sulu

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It’s calculated. I’d be amazed if his team hasn’t A B tested all that stuff to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Agreed. It is his trademark. It is what differentiates him from the hundreds of other car reviewers -- good and bad -- on YouTube.

I cannot watch him because his exaggerated movements are just too annoying and distract from what he may have to say.
 

Ian Schmidt

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It’s calculated. I’d be amazed if his team hasn’t A B tested all that stuff to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
There's actually data that making a weird face or doing a funny pose in the thumbnail greatly increases views on YT. That's why everyone does it now.
 

CRSKTN

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There's actually data that making a weird face or doing a funny pose in the thumbnail greatly increases views on YT. That's why everyone does it now.
Correct, and A B testing is one of the ways you begin to determine that.
 

ssun30

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I test drove one today. What a pile of garbage. Can't even do low speed creeping/engine off coasting as a mild hybrid? Shifting from 1st to 2nd is jerky, one would think Mercedes should have that figured out as a luxury brand. So they just add 100kg of weight to get a fancier start-stop system. Mercedes should just save themselves the embarrassment trying to do crappy hybrids and become an EV brand instead.

Why touch control buttons to adjust the side mirror? I have to go through three levels of menu to "AC max"? No adaptive damper, no radar cruise control, no LKA on a 57k car? I got into the interior for 40 seconds and identified three poorly designed parts that are guaranteed to break in 5 years.

Today's Mercedes is all show no substance, and this C class is proof of that. It's filled with gimmick that pushes an uneducated customer into impulse purchase but stop being relevant after maybe three days of ownership. But I guess Mercedes turned into that long time ago.

If you want a midsize premium sedan, the IS might feel old but is better, period. I see the true problem with IS now. It's not that it's a bad product. Lexus dealers just don't care about selling it.

Or better, just get a 3 series. I believe BMW benefited much more from the Supra partnership. At least they understand how to build a reliable car now.
 
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ssun30

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So this is my honest feeling about all the midsize premium sedans I sampled so far:

3 series: absolute golden standard. Can't go wrong with that. Please BMW don't give it the beaver teeth grill for next gen.
IS: interior space is major drawback. Other than that very solid.
A4: definition of mediocrity.
C: garbage.
G70: garbage that pretends to be a C class
CT4: American brands can actually build good cars now!
 

Levi

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To be complete your list lacks the Alfa Romeo Giulia, the Jaguar XE and the Infiniti Q50. The Volvo S60 even if FWD?

The main issue with the 3 Series is the badge, that is the personalities/identities attached to it. Maybe different in the US....
 

ssun30

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BTW I also test drove the GLA45AMG to have a rough feeling it's very high specific output 2.0L engine. The salesperson actually encouraged me to go WOT on a highway ramp. Got excited for two seconds before the fake engine noise became unbearable. Got back to the store after just 10 minute test drive. Smoke and burnt oil smell came out of the bottom of the car. The salesperson assured me this is normal and high power cars like this can get hot on a 36C day.

Another car full of show no substance. Even both very high tech looking sensor taps in the restroom of this Mercedes dealer failed. That sums up my experience as a potential Mercedes customer: I would buy one, maybe after 10000 years /s
 

Nights

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BTW I also test drove the GLA45AMG to have a rough feeling it's very high specific output 2.0L engine. The salesperson actually encouraged me to go WOT on a highway ramp. Got excited for two seconds before the fake engine noise became unbearable. Got back to the store after just 10 minute test drive. Smoke and burnt oil smell came out of the bottom of the car. The salesperson assured me this is normal and high power cars like this can get hot on a 36C day.

Another car full of show no substance. Even both very high tech looking sensor taps in the restroom of this Mercedes dealer failed. That sums up my experience as a potential Mercedes customer: I would buy one, maybe after 10000 years /s

Merc knows they can get away with it, especially as in many markets where the badge trumps everything else. It can drive like hot garbage, but give it big screens (“tech”), blingy interior lighting and a three pointed badge and the masses will lap it up.
 

Levi

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All these descriptions about Mercedes and their buyers (full show no substance, badge trumps everything else, merc can get away with it, three pointed badge and the buyer will lap it up) must be offensive to the Turks' and Romani's (Gypsie's) intelligence.
 

CRSKTN

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I’d say it’s more a type of person than assigning it to an ethnicity…

Their interiors “insta” well or some sh*.
 

Motor

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In the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E PERFORMANCE, the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine is combined with a permanently excited synchronous electric motor, a high-performance battery developed in Affalterbach and fully variable AMG Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive. The system output of 500 kW (680 hp) and the maximum system torque of 1020 Nm make for impressive driving performance: the Saloon and Estate accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds. Acceleration only ends at an electronically governed 280 km/h (Estate 270 km/h, in both cases with optional AMG Driver's Package).


The C Estate looks so good.