Mercedes has taken the wraps off its gorgeous new C-Class Coupe. Thanks to a raft of driver-assistance systems and fuel-efficient engines, Mercedes has sent it into battle with the substance to back up its great-looking exterior design.
Whereas Mercedes' last C-Class Coupe shared most of its sheetmetal with the sedan, the new car has a totally unique rear-end, which borrows a lot from the much more expensive S-Class Coupe. It's longer than its predecessor, too, with an extra 60 mm (2.36 in) between the firewall and front axle alone, and it sits on suspension 15 mm (0.59 in) lower than the sedan's.
Just like Audi has done with its new A4, Mercedes has tried to turn the C-Class Coupe into a semi-autonomous showpiece. With its Distronic Plus cruise control system, Mercedes' latest offering is able to modulate its speed based on the car in front between 0 and 200 km/h (124 mph), and can steer to maintain its line behind another car in areas without lane markings to guide it.
The C-Class Coupe will also be available with an advanced automatic braking system that can now detect cross-traffic and add more brake pressure if it thinks the driver isn't braking hard enough to avoid a collision. The system is able to avoid accidents at speeds up to 50 km/h (31 mph), and will activate at speeds of up to 72 km/h (45 mph) to try and mitigate the impact of a crash.
The automation continues to the car's climate control system, which uses GPS to recognize tunnels and changes the settings to prevent fumes entering the cabin.
If the car's sleek styling and driver assistance systems can't draw people into the showroom, Mercedes will be hoping its range of engines can. The petrol range kicks off with the 1.6-liter, 115 kW (156 hp) C180, before jumping up to three 2.0-liter models, the most powerful of which makes 180 kW (245 hp). There are also two diesels available, producing 125 kW (170 hp) and 150 kW (204 hp) respectively.
Mercedes hasn't revealed details about pricing for the new C-Class Coupe when it lands in December, but you can probably expect prices to closely mirror those of the BMW 4 Series, Lexus RC and Audi A5.
Source: Daimler
