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28 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 21, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Mercedes-Benz C-Class 2008 Continued from Page 27 Auto EVERYTHING Bluetec V6. Both gasoline engines should come with a seven-speed electronic automatic transmission. There is a six-speed manual offered on the C 280 in Europe and supposedly offered here, but I doubt anyone in North America would want it. With the 3.0-litre, the C-Class accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 7.3 seconds, is limited to a top speed of 250 km/h and returns an estimated 9.4L/100 km combined city/highway. The 3.5-litre shaves the 0-100 km/h time down by almost a second to 6.4 seconds with top speed also limited to 250 km/h with an estimated combined fuel rating of 9.7L/100 km. Suspension is the same for both with three links at the front with coil springs and stabilizer bar. The gas shocks feature an amplitude-dependent damping system called Agility Control which means the body stays stable no matter how hard the shocks are or are not working. The rear suspension is the latest iteration of the fabled Mercedes-Benz multilink independent system. It has both anti-squat and anti-dive built in, which means the rear doesn't go down when you hit the gas and doesn't go up when you hit the brakes. The gas shocks also have amplitude-dependent damping and there's a hefty stabilizer bar. Coming probably next year is the Advanced Agility package. Thanks to leading-edge computers the system offers a choice of two gearshift/handling programs called Sport or Comfort. Although it's a lot more complex, in simple terms, each shock absorber is infinitely variable, but all four work together to provide ride and handing for serene boulevard ride or challenging the most daunting roads with verve. In the sport mode, the body is also lowered 15 mm and the transmission is remapped for crisper somehow easier than the first one I ever experienced that I remember coming with a 350-page instruction manual. Another colleague remarked that he too found COMAND in the C-Class to be easier to use from an intuitive point of view. Actually the voice-directed navigation system proved a blessing in downtown Valencia traffic, trying to get to our final destination. Here the locals suffer neither hesitation nor slowing down to look for a street name. With COMAND, our destination was reached, although more than once we were taking a road out of a roundabout before the Navi caught up and told us what to do. My co-driver used the opportunity to head down to the beach in the Spanish resort town of Benidorm, a place he used to go 35 years ago as a youth because it was cheaper to vacation there than in his native England. Here the streets are narrow and those little buzz bomb scooters storm around, making a large car a handicap. Thanks to shortish overhangs and good sight lines, we could motor along at a normal speeds but nothing like the locals who view speed limDON'T PAY MORE THAN 1% LEASE RATE its as some kind of personal insult. FOR YOUR LUXURY CAR Cruising along the seaside esplanade, I was surprised at how FOR A LIMITED TIME, GET A STYLISH 2007 S60 FOR $0 DOWN, $0 SECURITY, AND $0 FIRST MONTH PAYMENT.ADD SOME STYLE AND POWER TO THE STREETS WITH A 2.5 LITRE, 5 CYLINDER TURBOCHARGED ENGINE AND STABILITY many people in this town gave the WRITE DOWN THESE NUMBERS shifts. Brakes are discs at all four corners, and as you'd expect from Mercedes, ABS, Brake Assist and electronic stability control (ESP) are all standard. I had a very limited time to test the new C-Class in Spain due to, of all things, a forest fire fanned by gale force winds that blocked the original test route. Ergo, much time was spent on highways where the CClass, as one would expect, performed impeccably. I did try the European spec C 280 Avantgarde with Advanced Agility fitted and cornering response was fantastic. I also drove a C 350 with the standard Agility Control on some 15 km of Spanish mountain switchbacks, but such limited exposure did not do the car justice. Also with the C 350, it was noticeably faster than the C 280 thanks to all that torque, but again, so little seat time was not a proper yardstick by which to compare to something like the BMW 335i. So it's prudent to wait until this summer when I can get a full Canadian specification C-Class and do a proper road test. The interior of the car is very, very Mercedes with the use of materials that show what can be done with a little more thought, effort and budget. For instance, the plastic used to line the top of the dashboard was Germanic black but its texture was grippy and did not reflect glare, which is a personal gripe of mine. A seven-speed automatic in any car this side of the pond would make headlines, but here is one in what is essentially a mid-size sedan. Luddite that I am, these twist/punch knobs that control HAVC, audio, navigation and engine/drivetrain functions are baffling to me and top of the list is the MercedesBenz COMAND (Cockpit Management and Navigation Device). However, it seemed C-Class a second and even third look. Indeed the CLS-style looks of the Sport do take the C-Class out of the solid and staid and put it squarely into the sporting category, a quality that many Canadians will probably also appreciate which is, of course, the reason for two different looking C-Class sedans. Will the C-Class put a dent the BMW 3 Series, currently the Euro sedan of choice? Mercedes-Benz officials are quietly confident, but the proof will be what the car is like to live with, which is what I will be bringing you later this year in a full road test. At a glance... BODY STYLE: Mid-size luxury sedan. DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive. ENGINE: 3.0-litre DOHC V6 (231 hp, 300 lb/ft); 3.5-litre DOHC V6, (272 hp, 350 lb/ft). FUEL ECONOMY: 3.0-litre V6, 9.4l/100 km combined; 3.5-iitre, 9.7L/100 km combined. PRICE: (Est.) $40,000-$55,000. WEBSITE: Mercedes-benz.ca AND TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEMS (STC). FOR MORE DETAILS, VISIT US TODAY. OFFER ENDS MARCH 31, 2007. 60 S VOLVO OF OAKVILLE 770 Pacific Road, Oakville (888) 665-0028 volvoofoakville.com W. BRONTE RD. PACIFIC RD. Q.E.W. $ $ DOWN 000 SECURITY $ $ SAVE $$$$$$$ OAKVILLE KIA SUPERSTORE or up to $5000 Cash Back All Stock Windshield Priced and Ready to Go. Once a Year Saving $$$$$$ $3700 gets you in a new or pre-owned vehicle. 1-866-369-8109 FIRST PAYMENT A MONTH $19,446.18 TOTAL OBLIGATION 499 * 1.0% LEASE RATE 39 MOS. OAKVILLE KIA E. 3RD LINE SOUTH SERVICE RD. WYECROFT RD. Volvo for life * Limited time offer through participating Volvo retailers and Volvo Car Financial Services Canada on approved credit to qualified retail customers only. Offer available on a 2007 S60 25T A $498.62 per month; 39 month term with $0 down payment, $0 first month's payment, and $0 security deposit. Up to $1,895 freight and PDI and up to $43.65 PPSA are due at lease inception (PPSA and freight and PDI vary by province). Lease APR of 1.0%. Total lease obligation $19,446.18. Taxes, license, insurance and retailer charges extra. Duties on new tires applicable in Quebec. Lease has a 60,000 km allowance ($0.16 per km excess). Payment and security deposit may vary by choice of extra equipment. Purchase at end of lease for $19,269.40 plus taxes. Offers end March 31, 2007. Retailer may lease for less. Some terms/conditions apply. See your Volvo retailer for full details. Vehicle may not be exactly as shown. ©2007 Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. "Volvo for life" is a registered trademark used under license by Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. Always remember to wear your seat belt. Visit volvoofoakville.com. 1450 Speers Rd. Oakville Also open Sundays 11am - 4pm