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MAYBE IT’S
MY DECIDEDLY MODERNIST OUTLOOK on design that I had a bias
against the new Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse models from day one. The
sculpted lines around the rear door, apeing the larger S-Klasse,
seemed fussy. At the time, I said that it was fine for the Ford
Focus to go all ornamental in the quest for young buyers wanting
the next hip small car, but a Merc? No, buyers of such cars want
understatement, and cared little for how the light might reflect
in interesting ways off the wings and doors.
These thoughts were not unprecedented. It wasn’t that
long ago that Mercedes-Benz launched an S-Klasse that was far too
big for the recession that hit in the early 1990s. It was automotive
overkill. And with the economy not in the rosiest position today,
fussy styling often elicits the same thought. When the chips are
down, no one wants to stand out and look too rich and fancy.
Also, things that might look quirky and cute on a small
car don’t necessarily work on a big one. The 1999 Ford Falcon was
a prime example: it might have Ford’s New Edge styling theme that
was all the rage in the late 1990s, but it translated poorly on
to a large car.
But, Mercedes-Benz might argue, we’re not Ford. We
have a three-pointed star up front and we set trends. Then
you will hear how these chaps invented the car, were the first ones
to put the engine up front, and gave us fuel injection and ABS
as standard over the years. Mercedes-Benz does not follow the rules:
it sets them.
Thus, the E-Klasse might not be the most elegant car
on the road, but it is in line with a newfound confidence at Mercedes-Benz.
Now rid of the “American patient”—its former Chrysler
unit now Fiat’s problem—the company is rediscovering its quality
(we have been more impressed with the S- and the C-Klasse) and that
is being reflected in the designs. While some models don’t fit that
well into the Mercedes-Benz design language (B- and R-Klasse), the
mainstream ones now look more unified than they have in years.
Or is it the most elegant car on the road? At the time
of launch we might all have been reeling from the tall poppy syndrome
that comes from recessions, but economic downturns pass and people
want fanciness again. As we see more W212-series Es on the road,
they aren’t that bad—though we still think the saloon and estate
aren’t that well balanced in terms of looks. We do, however, think
Mercedes-Benz has got it right in going fussy in 2009, and the E-Klasse
Coupé has what it takes to be our Car to Be Seen in for 2010.
In the last couple of years, we’ve chosen very small
cars for this accolade: the Fiat 500 and the Alfa Romeo MiTo. It
was in line with where global economies were heading. But there
is a belief that people will want style and glamour again, and Mercedes-Benz
seems to have understood that.
But it’s not just the pillarless looks of the E Coupé.
Features such as the speed-sensitive cruise control—the car automatically
slows down when the vehicle in front does—and a detector that sounds
an alarm when it realizes you are drifting off, are not mere gadgets
for gadgetry’s sake. They work well in practice and after sampling
them in the E-Klasse, we were frustrated with their absence in lesser
cars. Like ABS and fuel injection,
you wonder how on earth you survived without them.
Critics might say that awarding the accolade to the
E-Klasse Coupé and not the saloon and T-Modell is kind of
cheating. The Coupé, they say, is not even a “real” E. To
be fair, they are not altogether wrong: the E, like the CLK
before it, is on a C-Klasse platform. But, as Mercedes’s man in
New Zealand, Coby Duggan, pointed out, everything inside is appointed
as an E. It’s more sophisticated under the clean-cut, Savile Row
bodyshell, too.
He’s right. The disappointing, almost bland interior
of the C Avantgarde we tested isn’t
there, replaced by something more enveloping and cocooning.
We had no criticisms of the gearbox: finally, Mercedes-Benz makes
a wonderful, seven-speed shifter. In our case, we had the E350,
which gave us an mpg rating in the low 20s while delivering 268
bhp. It’s sure-footed and rigid, and while it doesn’t handle like
an out-and-out sports car, who cares? There are other cars that
serve that market—including Mercedes-Benz’s arch-rival from München.
The E leans toward comfort rather than performance, and it works
well.
It also happens to have the lowest drag coefficient
of any production car in the world: the Cd is 0,24, which
beats even the Toyota Prius. It’s about time drag coefficients came
back as a marketing tool in today’s eco-conscious times: the less
drag, the less fuel wasted. That, to us, is important for the 2010s,
too, and we think Mercedes-Benz should make a song and dance about
it. And from what we can tell, the E Coupé has a fairly small
frontal area, which is also an important factor when it comes to
drag and saving fuel.
All the things that I identified as inelegant suddenly
grew on us, knowing the nods to eco-consciousness in the styling.
We didn’t like the small window at the rear that broke up the pillarless
look initially. Nor, as we have mentioned, the fussy rear wings.
Then you realize these are Mercedes-Benz’s way of moving the styling
game forward—perhaps encouraged, again, by certain people in München—and
they are relatively subtle when you see the car in the metal. And
subtle, in this sphere of the market, is a good thing.•
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Or is it the most elegant car on the road? At the time
of launch we might all have been reeling from the tall poppy syndrome
that comes from recessions, but economic downturns pass and people
want fanciness again
Jack Yan is publisher of Lucire.
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Forget Sex and the City 2 Once you fall for the charms of
the E-Klasse Coupé, you begin to accept that this could be the
most elegant car on the road.
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