Review of the new Mercedes C-Class Sports Coupe C160

Mercedes' C-class Sports Coupe has proved to be something of a surprise hit for Mercedes. It looks great, handles better than most expect and has a desirable feel-good factor that the marque has made its own in this sector.

It's helped of course that no prestige rival has a direct competitor for this car. Audi's A3 and BMW's 3 Series Compact are really more up-market hatches than sports coupes. We think they've missed a trick here. And so do Mercedes. Proof comes in the expansion of the Sports Coupe Range represented by the addition of the variant featured here, the C160 entry-level version.

Mercedes wanted to be able to offer a sub-£20,000 model, so asked their engineers to de-tune the 1.8-litre supercharged engine used in the existing two entry-level petrol variants (the 143bhp C180K and the 163bhp C200K). So we've ended up with the £18,555 122bhp C160, 122bhp being the minimum that the engineers thought a car badged 'Sports Coupe' could get away with. For baseline buyers, sacrificing 20bhp over the C180K means a saving of over £1,000 - which seems a reasonable trade-off.

Especially when you drive the thing. The pulling power of the supercharged engine mean that, despite the power loss, it doesn't feel especially slow. Rest to sixty takes 11.4s (1.7s slower than the C180K) but it doesn't really feel an issue. No, the problem lies not here but with the notchy manual gearchange and the rather sensitive clutch. Mind you, if that prompts you (understandably) to want to opt for the automatic version, then this car really will feel slow.

For those who value style over speed, the options to upgrade to SPORT edition, Evolution Panorama or Evolution Panorama AMG specifications are available. Go for the SPORT edition and you get AMG bodystyling, a silver front grille, 17-inch alloy wheels, lowered sports suspension, aluminium interior trim, colour-coded door handles, 'SPORT edition' badging, a leather-trimmed aluminium sports gearshift, metallic paint, an enhanced instrument cluster, a multi-functional leather three-spoke sports steering wheel, pedals with stainless steel inserts, a stainless steel tailpipe and sports seats.

"The least expensive Mercedes Sports Coupe really does deserve to be a car you'd really want on something other than a balance sheet basis…"

This 1.8-litre engine is one of Mercedes' clever latest generation 'Twinpulse' units and on the road, the differences with Twinpulse motoring ought to be fairly readily apparent. Thanks to a specially developed Lanchester balancer shaft, refinement and acoustics are much closer to those of a six cylinder engine than those of a four. Go for the badge-delete option, take your colleagues out and see if they can tell that there isn't a six cylinder unit under the bonnet. As for handling, well, with the most recent round of revisions, the suspension pick up points were tweaked for better driver feedback, the width of the track increased by 18mm and the steering made a good deal more direct. Whereas the first Sports Coupes were a little uninvolving, these current cars promise a good deal more fun.

Another part of the Twinpulse recipe is an Electronic Control Unit that through throttle pedal movements, recognises your driving style and adapts the drive characteristics of the engine Accordingly. If, like many potential C-class Sports Coupe customers, you fancy yourself as a racing driver, the ECU will do its best to accommodate you, improving throttle response. If on the other hand, the computer detects a driver looking for comfort rather than speed, it harmonises the engine settings to suit.

Overall then, a picture is forming. The least expensive Mercedes Sports Coupe really does deserve to be a car you'd really want on something other than a balance sheet basis. Certainly, as a two-door, more dynamic-looking C-class saloon or an entry-level CLK wannabe, it makes a lot of sense. It's smaller than the larger CLK coupe of course - but you won't really notice any difference unless you habitually sit in the back. To keep the two products apart, there won't be a Sports Coupe convertible - the CLK will get to keep that market niche to itself. BMW and Saab - whose products can substantially undercut the CLK Cabriolet but would struggle against a Sports Coupe version - will be delighted to hear it. Not that Mercedes wants to totally ignore the affordable realms of the open air coupe market. Buyers can specify Panoramic twin glass sunroofs which extend from the windscreen to the top of the tailgate and slide electrically backwards and forwards.

This model might share the same platform, suspension and steering with its C-class saloon stablemate but in almost every other respect, the designers have been keen to differentiate the two cars. It's 20mm lower for a start - which could put headroom at a premium if you're loftily built. Despite the compact length (just 4343mm) and the reduced headroom for rear seat passengers, Mercedes still contend that this car is a genuine four-seater. They do however, admit that luggage space is necessarily down on what you could expect from the four-door model (falling from 455 to 310 litres). Still, you will be able to 50/50 split-fold the rear seats and in doing so, increase the capacity to some 1,100 litres.

In the efforts to create that dynamic-looking low-slung shape, every body panel has been changed (though ironically, the shape of the saloon still proves more slippery in the wind tunnel). The lights have been restyled and that famous badge relocated on the front grille. In fact, the only exterior body parts shared are the windscreen wiper, the door handles and the mirrors. Probably the most notable styling cue is the kicked-up tail with its see-through lower glass panel, intended to create extra downforce for the rear axle. If it does, it's not worth the disadvantage created in the further impairing of already poor rearward vision.

Overall, the C160 will be well received from buyers who'd already decided they wanted one of these cars, don't care about performance and wanted a bit of extra cash to play with to spend on options. Whether it will help Mercedes with conquest business is more doubtful. Mercedes already had the prestige £20,000-£25,000 sports coupe niche to itself after all.

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