C-Class is 2007 Wheels Car of the Year

By rjw | January 22nd, 2008

The Wheels magazine Car of the Year for 2007 is the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

Wheels editor Ged Bulmer described the third generation W204 series C-Class as “a truly impressive vehicle in practically every area.”

Mentioning the C-Class’s standard complement of eight airbags, Bulmer said the prestige sedan represented “a pretty good value story as well.”

Anticipating criticism of the award going to a car with a retail price beginning at $56,990 and extending to close to $100,000, Bulmer praised the value for money of the latest C-Class.

“If you look at 10 years ago, the same car, that was less powerful, less safe was $700 cheaper. So its only gone up $700 in 10 years,” he said.

The Wheels Car of the Year award, established in 1963, is Australia’s best known motoring award. Last year’s winner was Holden’s VE Commodore. Mercedes-Benz last won in 1999 with the S-Class sedan.

The 2007 finalists were: BMW M3; Ford Mondeo; Mazda 2; Mercedes-Benz C-Class; Skoda Roomster and Volkswagen Eos.

Robert Wilson

Oz.

Good on em
http://www.caradvice.com.au/3058/latest-ford-falcon-orion-spy-shots/ Luke

SUK THAT M3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
popeclement

and no manual gearboxes – a car for drivers or lounge lizards?
Myke

Geez I didn’t expect that, I was thought it would be the Mondeo.
Spitfire

Wheels has made some puzzling and dubious Car of the Year awards over the years, but this year they have got it right. Well done Wheels magazine.
No Name

Aawwww Luke thats not nice dude. M3′s OK, there can only be one winner on the day.
Richo

when the winning car is wearing the right badge all of a sudden the wheels car of the year isn’t such a biased award after all.. you guys crack me up!
No Name

The award pleases me, the wife has just ordered one as her Co car, 220 diesel of course.
Richo

lol some dude on the wheels website is blowing up a treat.. “how dare youse, only those rich blokes like youse can buy cars like that! youse blokes should look at cars we can all afford! youse guys are only interested in money, youse guys are just rich blokes in big castles n stuff”

k that might not be his EXACT words but i reckon its more or less what he means…
Oz.

If the BMW M3 won the award, ‘Bavarian Missile’ would be allover this article. LOL
robbo

i thought it went to the VE commodore
Richo

that was last year robbo, keep up with the times man!
http://www.ausringers.com/ Liam

I thought it would be the Mondeo too. Well done to Benz, bit of a shame the C Class looks a bit odd.

Does this mean my COTY mag should be in my letterbox soon?
Richo

i dont really see what is so special about the mondeo.. the current mazda 6 that has been on sale for 5 or so years now is still a better car.. hardly groundbreaking stuff
Oz.

Where’s ‘Bavarian Missile’? LOL
Oz.

^Mate, no need to steal my name don’t you think?
golfschwein

I trust their judgement. The article will be interesting. I was putting even money on this, Roomster and Mondeo.
Foggy

I love this car for its recycling credentials; Mercedes have managed to recycle the Hyundai Grandeur’s design! ;-p
Kenzo

i was thinking it was going to be the audi r8.
but this is a sensible choice as any. affordable
golfschwein

I agree Foggy. The clamshell bonnet, eyebrow running lights, grille design and side profile with the window in the C-pillar and rising body-side swage line are all IDENTICAL! DANG! Why do Mercedes Benz have to copy all the time?
golfschwein

Tail lamps are interchangeable, too, by the look of it.
http://www.caradvice.com.au/ alborz

It’s a good choice, although the Ford Mondeo or the i30 would have been hard to dismiss, the Mondeo is simply stunning in every respect.
Frugal One

Borrrrrring!

Wheels as a info. medium [printed magazine] is past its use-by-date, sites like this [esp. this one!] are more suitable and are fresh and updated by the hour, not monthly.

Maybe oneday C/A will test a Mazda CX7 as promised?

As for COTY, yeah the i30 was nowhere, what a croc.

Put your house on the Falcon/Orion winning it next year, so predictable.If Wheels where not driven by advertising dollars of the big brands, next years winner [its already COTY everywhere] would be the FIAT 500

Cheers

F-0
Lcat

^ don’t rule out the new Mazda 6 either!
raph

Totally agree with Richo…if the mondeo had won Coty,people’d say its biased…but now MB has won it,people say wheels shud choose a more affordable car…i simply cant understand it.
Reckless1

This is the first time they’ve had it right since the P76……….

I haven’t driven either the Mondeo or the Merc, but I’ve seen a picture of the Mondeo dash and that’s enough to lose me

The Merc wins, no question.
alec

I’m sure it drives well and lives up to its hype, but having been to MB World in the UK and being able to sit in EVERY model C class, I can honestly say it wasn’t that comfortable plus the dash presentation on the lower end models was very average and quite plasticky. As for rear seat accommodation, forget it. There is no leg room for an adult. The mondeo is a limo by comparison.
Tony

Quote: “Bulmer praised the value for money of the latest C-Class.”

Wheels Magazine should do uninformed Australians a favour by informing them just how badly over-valued the C-Class is in Australia.

At $56,990 for the base model C-200 Classic; a buyer gets a tiny 1.8 litre engine (for a relatively heavy medium sized car), a 5 speed auto (6 speed auto is current benchmark in this price category), plastic (non leather) seats, metallic paint at an extra $1,900 and has to pay $3,000 for dealer delivery.

The base model in America is the C-300 (called the C-280 here) priced at US$32,000.

If the Benz had the V6 2.5 litre engine instead of the 1.8 litre at say $60K RRP, it would certainly be a worthy winner.
Myke

^the 1.8 litre engine is supercharged, the displacement might be “tiny” by it has 135kw/250Nm, 10kw/50Nm then the similarly priced BMW 320i Executive and similar power figures to the more expensive 323i. For a base model engine 135kw/250Nm is pretty good.
Frugal One

Tony, could/nt agree more.

And the fact its NOT even built in GERMany too.

Better off with say a Mazda CX7 and $20k in your pocket, better performing, MUCH better built and more useful too.

C/A are going to be testing one soon, i know this as they mentioned it a while ago!

Cheers

F-0
Myke

Frugal, the previous model was built in South Africa, this one is once again being built in Germany.
Freddo

Frugal One Says: “And the fact its NOT even built in GERMany too.”

You’re referring to the old W203 C-Class, the new ones (CL203) are built in Germany.
golfschwein

Frugal, I reckon there’ll always be life in print media. You can collect them, share articles with friends, refer to them in later years and enjoy well-crafted writing and journalistic standards, if you appreciate that sort of thing.

The late LJK Setright, Michael Stahl, Paul Cockburn, Robbo, Bill Tuckey and countless others are all much bigger then your computer screen.
Freddo

Dang, Myke you beat me to it!
golfschwein

Frugal, I reckon there’ll always be life in print media. You can collect them, share articles with friends, refer to them in later years and enjoy well-crafted writing and journalistic standards, if you appreciate that sort of thing.

The late LJK Setright, Michael Stahl, Robbo, Bill Tuckey and countless others are all much bigger then your computer screen.
John S

i wonder if sales of the new wheels magazine will fly out the shelves this time…because it’s neither a ford or holden winning…and yes although the merc is a nice car…its not something the average aussie can afford…

i was really thinking wheels would really evaluate value and safety and i thought the new mondeo was a worthy contender.
alec

Both Mondeo and Merc are reportedly great cars…. why couldn’t wheels consider a joint COTY in recognition of 2 great new cars?
Tony

Quote from a car review of the latest C-200: “The 1.8 is still a trundler at low road speeds and revs, with the supercharger giving it marginally acceptable pulling power in the higher gears. Initial responsiveness off the line is lethargic.”

A test drive is all that is required to prove to any driver (except perhaps the elderly who are the main buyers anyway) that the car is under-powered (the Americans consider the V6 3 litre to be adequate and rejected the 1.8 litre engine). The new model is heavier than the previous model.
Myke

The power/torque on the old model is less on the base model compared to the new model. We are not America, mostly every car in the US has a bigger engine when it’s sold there, compared to Australia. The 3-series base engine in the US also has a 3.0l, instead of a 2.0l sold here.
Alex

Great win for the C class, I don’t agree it’s value for money though. Is the MB metallic paint really worth $1,900, can it be that much better than…..well the free stuff you get from many manufactures. Also, is it just me or does it look a bit like a smaller Holden Statesman !!!
The Axe

TP and all the other Toyota promo staff on here will love this:
A Toyota Kluger was rolled during an ESP/VDC test! A test that all the cars were put through.
Naturally Toyota Australia blamed Wheels mag for the accident. There is also a letter in response from Toyota Australia.

It’s worth the read.
http://ACA Dingo

Axe – actually come good and bad come from the Kluger roll-over. Although Wheels has questioned the ESP calibration (and maybe rightly so) the response letter from Toyota was pretty much to the point.

As highlighted, the download from the ECU computer onboard indicated circumstances that had taken place substantially differed to those described by wheels.

Anyone can bloat a story as much as they want but you can not refute evidence and on this case that downloaded from the ECU.

That said, Toyota also challenged Wheels to conduct a lane change test according to proper ISO compliance and report the outcome but for some reason … no such outcome was choosen to be published.

Positives that came from the incident were the effectiveness of the pretensioners and the structral integrity of the Kluger. Read on more and the article also comments that Toyota ABS calibrations are amoung the best in the world but obviuosly more attention is required towards thier ESP calibations.

Obviuosly the driver wanted to make something of the Kluger and push it to the point that he did but now some of the responsibility has come back onto him and like i said … why weren’t we supplied with the results in accordance to ISO lane change standards that should have been conducted and i am actually drafting a letter to wheels to conduct the test as challnged by Toyota and publish the results.
XA580000

Look at what BM has put up on the Forum…….Hilux Failing
also…….its in car talk!IF YOUR A MEMBER!
Char

Benz is for older people.

At least everyone can see that BMW has always been right by saying they make the best cars. The C class is a copy of the 3 series. If you haven’t seen it in metal and plastic and driven it, please do not comment. Go see it first.

C class weighs 65kgs (with plastic seats they call ARTICO or artificial cow) more than a 520d!.

Mondeo for me.
280zx

Why dont you write to them Dingbat and tell them Toyota should have got that award ?? Boo Hoo
http://ACA Dingo

280zx – why, Toyota obviuosly didn’t deserve it so would i.

That said – didn’t site any Holdens in contention … did you !!

Boo hoo
Frugal One

Sorry guys, your both correct, [Freedo // Myke] it is indeed built in Germany as is the AUDI, its the Beemer 3 series that i was getting confussed with.

I want to see a real-world test of quality between the 2 plants and see if infact the German built ones [workers are mostly Turks, like Broady Ford] are any better?

Cheers

F-0 [Corrected!]
280zx

Holdens ? Nah they will be this year knackers !
Tony

I have just finished reading the latest Wheels Magazine. Even the judges were critical about the C-200 engine’s “doughy throttle response”, but gave it marks for other qualities. On the back pages of Wheels Magazine, which gives a summary of new cars, the C-Class negatives included “blown four still sounds pedestrian”.

That is because it is “pedestrian” based on my test drive. The C-280 is an excellent car, but severely over-priced at $100K on the road (with the vision package and metallic paint). Again, the base model C-300 in America is US$32K with sunroof as standard. In UK, the C-280 costs around 28,000 pounds sterling (around 23,000 pounds for the C-200). It becomes clear that the Benz is over-priced in Australia.
Andrew M

a very interesting choice indeed.
i would have thought the price tag on the mondeo of just under 30k would have tipped the scales its way.

the orion will be hard to beat next year if they do another “BA style” assault on the market

Dingo,
mate but wasnt it stated that all cars underwent the same testing?
greg

Tony if the car they are testing isn’t Holden then everything else or nearly every detail is crap, Wheels is the most biased magazine out there the only people who read it are mainly Holden freaks because the writers and editors are Holden Freaks, I can’t even look at the stupid covers, makes me sick there’s much more better car reviewing magazines besides this biased junk….
Buddha

I have been reading Wheels since I was a kid, and while I don’t always agree with them, I fail to see where the bias attitude comes from.

So most covers have a Ford or a Holden on them, but if you pick up any international mag, its the same … USA mags will no doubt have a Chev on the cover, in Germany it’ll be a BMW, in England it might be a Rover or a Jag.

The local cars will always be of more interest to more of the local readers, it stands to reason.

In regard to this year’s COTY, I thought Mondeo would be a chance, but everything I’ve seen, heard and read about the C-class is extremely positive, especially in comparison to the old model.
golfschwein

Perhaps this month’s cover will please Greg.

And let’s not get caught up with what cars sell for overseas, because it just makes you all terribly upset-like. There are forces at work which none of us will truly understand (unless we’re gun economists or are very senior in the car industry), so there’s no point venting about it when our only option is to buy cars in this country.
Oz.

Greg, thats why CarAdvices is better site than Wheels’ website!

I left that site when a bird brain by the name of “LSX” got hold of the internet through the mental ward, I think he got banned in the end.
james

It wanst so long ago that Bulmer sent withches hat’s flying in another test, Robbo wrote off a vehicle in the nineties…no big deal, you drive enough something’s gonna happen…it’s called driver error. I would go with the Toyo download, as they are based on fact, secondly why did’nt wheels accept the test challenge. I know why, so do most of you, the Kluger would have passed, which would then clearly indicate driver error. You drive at 10/10ths and you are in the hands of the god’s, it’s that simple.
Paul

Why is “Matty” posting the same things on another site that “Dingo” posted here????? (And does he change hands when he changes names?)
sxc person

c class wins in the end