Evaluating the Mercedes-Benz C300 Sports Sedan

When I get the chance, I like to review cars with an eye toward their suitability for families. Rather than go for the obvious SUV and minivan contenders, I tend toward sportier, city-friendly vehicles. I may be one of the few people to seriously argue that a MINI Cooper is a fine family car for those in urban environments. With that potentially grain-of-salt-inducing caveat, I'm taking a look at a somewhat larger vehicle. I recently spent some time with a 2010 Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport Sedan. It's a good, but not exactly great car.

From the outside, the C300 has many of the classic M-B lines that one would expect. The design works for me. The interior is much the same. The quality of the materials seems good, layout is fine. But, nothing leaps out to set the car apart from from the herd.

The seating position is high, giving good visibility. The eight-way adjustable seats can be conformed to your preferred specifications -- but no memory feature on the model I had, so sharing the car could mean lots of time readjusting. The only ergonomic issue I encountered dealt with the gas pedel. My foot was forced to such an acute angle that it got sore. I don't recall ever having dealt with such an issue in any other car. That annoyance aside, I had no other problems getting comfortable in the car.

However, I almost immediately encountered a problem with the audio interface. Automakers are trying to jam a million features into their entertainment systems these days. Even without a built-in navigation system, the C300 had a video display embedded in the dash. When I first turned the car on, an awful radio station started blaring. I quickly deduced that the "radio dial" (if you can call it that) was displayed in the screen. But, how to change it? Mercedes has equipped the car with a round dial just behind the gear shift. It looks sort of like BMW's iDrive system, but works differently. With a little trial and error, I found that I could set a radio station as a preset and then select the preset to get to the station. I found this to be easier than directly tuning to the station without first creating a preset. In order to utilize my iPod, I was reduced to reading the manual. Forty-four pages are devoted to the audio system. I now hold a Doctorate in Mercedes-Benz Audio Control.

I will say that if you are one to use your telephone while driving, this is the car for you. It has an actual telephone keypad built into the dash. Bluetooth connectivity is provided and prominent in the various controls. You won't have to search to find out how to pair your phone. If only every other function were as obvious.

When it came to actual driving, the Mercedes badge on the C300 raised my expectations enough that I was almost immediately let down. Steering is light and almost completely isolated from the road. The suspension is not Lexus-soft, but still very spongy. The car is described as a "sport sedan". However, any sporting pretensions the suspension might have are not even close to being met. Nevertheless, the car handles well-enough for normal driving purposes.

As a family car, the C300 has a lot to like. The dual-zone automatic climate control system enabled me to set a temperature that I liked, while my perennially colder-than-me front seat passenger could set a temperature that she liked. Dual controls are pretty common in luxury cars these days and something that I've really come to appreciate. The rear seat has room for three. Realistically, however, at least one of the three would need to be pretty small. For family purposes, where the seating requirement is often two kids and the occasional friend, that works. But, two large carseats would leave little room for a third. Because the car is a four-door, access to the back seats is easy and convenient.

My two boys -- ages 9 and 5 -- enjoy trying different cars and tend to have strong opinions about them. In most cases, they are much harsher critics than me. They both liked the C300 and complained when I returned it.

My primary issue with the C300 is that it simply doesn't stand out in any particular area. A lot of companies are producing so-called "Sport Sedans". Whereas Lexus leans more toward the comfort and luxury connotations of "sedan" and BMW leans toward "sport" with firmer suspensions and more precise steering, the C300 attempts to stand staunchly in the middle. In doing so, it makes the classic error of doing neither particularly well. That's not to say that it's a bad car. It's not. It's just that for my tastes, the similarly-priced BMW 328i sedan would be a better choice. For others, the Lexus ES10 would be better. For that matter, an optioned-out Honda Accord would have everything the C300 has at thousands less.

The C300 can best be summarized by the one item that I identified as a strength -- telephone integration. One wonders, did Mercedes engineers really set as their design goals doing almost everything well, but nothing great, and then decide that telephone integration would be what sets them apart? Either way, the result is a slightly above-average car but a first-rate phone booth.