Which C Class for London driving?

[seymansey]

I've just arrived in Helsinki, and every other taxi here is an E Class Estate. Having just spent a good few miles in an E220 CDi variant, I can't really fault it, smooth powerful, and if you put that massey ferguson noise behind you, it's a marvellous drive!

 

[Dryce]

Per injection stroke....which in turn creates more force at lower revs so propels the vehicle further per firing stroke. Allied to running a higher gear ratio then gives additional MPG.

In a perfect world a small engine produucing xx hp at 4000rpm and a larger one producing xx hp 2000 rpm should be identical in terms of efficiency.

I think the low revving torque engine tends to win out for four reasons:

1) it gets to its most efficient operating band at lower engine speeds so gets there more quickly.

2) Lower revs = less friction

3) Less gear shifts means more efficient power delivery when accelerating.

4) Drivers cane the vehicle a bit less just due to the nature of it.

 

[g4ugm]

If its economy avoid the petrol

Well having driven Diesel Galaxy/Sharan for nearly 10 years, and having now switched to an admittedly pre-face lift C180K I would say for economy go for the oil burner, but get an auto if you can

I mainly drive round Manchester, and have a 9-mile commute from Altrincham to Stockport. The 5-speed auto really makes driving relaxing, which I didn't expect after the torque from the diesel, and the C180K is plenty quick enough for that sort of traffic.

So all is calm, that is until I am sat in slow taffic, get bored, switch to the MPG screen and see 23.5, then my blood starts to boil, as at this point my old Sharan would be showing more like 38...

.. fortunatley my journeys are often on failry clear bits of orbital road so MPG does creep up towards 30, but seldom reaches it....

 

[simpix]

Thankyou for all your replies.
In the end I bought a C200cdi Avantgarde automatic, 07 plate, 4500 miles, ex demo, delivery early next week.
Must remember to keep filling it with Diesel!!!!
Will run my own mpg tests around London and let you know....

 

[Parrotman]

Well done. Look forward to reading your figures and indeed your general opinion compared with advice and comments posted here.

John

 

[DieselE]

London Drivers say all Cs are Dangerous

OK the drivers are Tube drivers and the C in question is the LUL C stock underground train. Still we've got bendy buses in the thread, why not trains? .

Apparently the problem on the C stock relates to the "Dead Man's Handle". Not an option on the C Class.

 

[LittleBrian]

C220 CDI economy in traffic

Hello (first post) - sorry a bit long, kind of an intro too.

My reason for joining the forum was to gauge some feedback with reference to what I would observe as 'poor' economy out of my newly bought C220 CDI '06 Estate (auto).

I bought it 2 weeks ago from the Mercedes dealer in Bristol, Iridium silver, Avantgarde, sports pack, black leather, its covered 10,500 miles. Beautiful car, I'm over the moon (almost !).

Having always owned a diesel, for economic reasons - it was my only choice on the day. I love the torquey, low-revving performance you get, combined with good economy.

OK, cut to the chase - I'm getting 28-30mpg driving through Bristol dropping my kids off. Yes, its stop-start traffic, and yes average speed around 20mph. But I've been doing the same trip in a Megane 1.9DCi (130PS) for 2 years and I got well over 45mpg, taking differences of weight and size of engine into account I do expect a drop, but this much !?

Having filled up twice now in 2 weeks (£50 a shot) - I'm getting to the point of frustration. £50 would have seen me through 3 weeks, not 1. I'm driving like a saint, as you do when you have a new car (especially one as luxurious and laid back to drive as this), it makes no difference.

I took the car down to Devon at the weekend, got 44mpg (cruise at 70mph, all the way down). Now thats better, but I've seen some posts with people stating 50mpg+ !! How ?? I'd love to know.

So to answer the OP, and in my experience so far - you'll not get much better than that in London (at least I was moving for most of the journey).

 

[timskemp]

Bear in mind that any fleet manager running a fleet of vans knows that if he gives 100 drivers a 150 bhp van they'll use more fuel than the lesser 90bhp version because they will drive it harder. So although capable (I guess by taller gearing) of lower consumption it is unlikely to ring true in real life. Add to that the number of speeding tickets he'll see for 90+ giving drivers 100+ capabilities means more bans, more points, more drivers off the road....

 

[Parrotman]

Your town run figures seem about right in comparison to my own. On a run though I get anywhere between 48 - 50 at about 75mph +. If I drop down to say 65 - 70 mph then the return will be 50 - 54. My combined average is generally between 36 - 37, though as I've done a few short trips this week that's dropped to 35. When possible I do like to use cruise control.

Though economy was not necessarily a major part of the equation it was nevertheless a factor in changing over to a diesel car and so far on average believe I made the right choice.

When I'm driving along, in comfort, air-con on, no gear changing, and I see that star on the bonnet then to heck with the fuel cost. Might think otherwise though when I see the service cost!!

Hope my figures are of interest though these are just averages.

John

 

[SEM]

My C220 CDi SE averages 44mpg i do approx 5-8k per year and has the right boost on dual carriageways, when needed overtakes without effort. would like to compare against the bigger engines