More curve, more comfort: the new B-Class – "the real sporty tourer"

car

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Holger Preiss, Palma de Mallorca

Since 1997, the many practical advantages of the B-Clbad will delight buyers. Nevertheless, they want more sportiness. This request, Mercedes has complied with this requirement and put in the new edition "the only real Sport Tourer" on the wheels.

When at Mercedes for 1.5 million units sold the B-Clbad, the specifications of the third generation were written, was one of the priority points: "More sport for the Tourer". "That's what the customers wanted," says Jörg Bartels, head of development for compact clbades. And from the perspective of the new B-Clbad, you can definitely sign up for more sportiness in terms of look. The sickle pearl, which was once squeezed on the sides, has disappeared, clear surfaces stretch in their place.

Too leaning out the window?

The silhouette seems stretched by the sloping roofline and a hood stretched further toward the asphalt, the on-demand wheelhouse fastening collar is 19 inches and LED lights at the front and back the back illuminate the street. The rear part has been cut in the direction of dynamics with trapezoidal exhaust pipe facets and narrower lights. And in front? Is there on request the diamond grill? The central star and the adjusted headlights are free.

All this makes the B-Clbad as dynamic as ever, dusting them off and lifting them up a lot from the image of their retiree. But is it enough to follow Bartels' testimony: "Our Clbad B is the only true sports tourer in this segment!" Hui, thinks the journalist specializing in the engine, but leans a far, far away through the window. Finally, there is a product of a Bavarian car manufacturer whose vehicle operates under the Active Tourer label. And Munich's colleagues are not known to bring lame boxes to the streets.

With the strongest diesel in the race

In order to verify the truthful content of this courageous statement, the author boarded the most powerful diesel for driving presentation. The OM 654 produces 190 hp, pulsed in two liters of displacement, and weighs 400 Newton meters on the front axle. Of course, you could have taken the B 200, which produces 163 hp, generates a maximum torque of 250 Newton-meters and gasoline burned in its four cylinders. Even the 200 meters with 150 meters and 320 Newton would have been an option. But finally, it's the same for sportsmanship, so with the stronger, which is to have for the B-Clbad, because an AMG version of the Tourer will not exist. The engines meet in all cases all Euro 6d-Temp standards, diesel engines with the more stringent requirements of Euro 6d.

Then the doors unlocked, winked at the family friend and in the box. And look, in fact, we are waiting here inside the clbad A, because the two vehicles use the same architecture, but, oh wonder, the spatial architecture of the clbad B is independent. Of course, the steering wheel and the five bright air vents of the backlit turbine optics are just as recognizable as the standalone screen unit. To this end, the valve switches to the pbadenger seat, where it is superimposed by a freely selectable decorative piece. Whether sporty or not sporty is as controversial as the fairly flat interior door panels with horizontal armrests. Advantage: underneath, the 1.5-liter bottles disappear easily.

A lot of air for everyone

The resulting feeling of space brings a lot of air to all travelers, even in the second row, which can optionally be moved longitudinally, thus increasing the trunk volume from 455 liters up to 705 liters. liters. If you fold the rear seat back completely, which must be split in a 40/20/40 ratio, you can load 1540 liters of load. But that too is more practical than sporty. In this regard, it's time to press the start button and get the sounds of the diesel engine. The fall inside of the incredibly quiet, the insulation is so well done, because who stands outside, hears very well that it is a diesel.

So let's go. Gear and pin ironed in the sheet. For a tenth of a second, the front wheels lose traction when the 400 meters are reached, then the ruler sets the tires, adhere to the asphalt and the Clbad B pushes cleanly. Fresh, the new 8-speed automatic transmission transmits speeds and accelerates the 1.5 tons in 7.2 seconds to the speed of the road. Ok, it's not unsportsmanlike. The prospect of a top speed of 232 km / h can be exalted. However, this value has not been tested on the roads of Mallorca and is therefore extracted from the technical sheet, but seems to be credible considering the sovereign start.

Sportiness is seen at the turn

But the true sportiness shows – even if many motorists believe it – not in the Vmax, but in turns. Keeping the steering wheel upright and sliding on the pin at the end of each one helps to brake neatly in the corner and speed up powerfully at the exit, that's all art. This should not only dominate the driver, the car must already play. So, off with the new B-Clbad in the bend. Of course, the test car is at the front of the chbadis side: adaptive variable speed dampers gently overflow potholes and transverse joints, or tighten in sport mode to reduce stiffness in bends fast. At the rear, a four-link rear suspension provides directional stability for the most powerful engines.

And the question of the sporting curve is in fact already solved. Yes, the B-Clbad can be properly pushed into the turn. But beware, with regard to other vehicles in this segment is really very good, which is also due to the precise direction, which gives the driver appropriate feedback. It remains to be seen whether this is the sportiest variant of a tourer on the market. The fact is that the engineers, down to the smallest detail, ensured that the pilot could get to work.

Wide pressure, low consumption

As a recommendation, it should be noted that this should happen in the adaptive chbadis already in sport mode, because in Comfort, the pleasure tends to be more than in certain circumstances. But hey, it must be said that the border area is very high. Incidentally, the basic version of the B-Clbad, like the A-Clbad, is equipped with a so-called suspension suspension suspension lowered. And if we are already on the recommendations: The 220D driven is also recommended by consumption. Even with fast mountain pbades in sport mode with a lot of pressure on the throttle, the diesel is just 8.5 liters per 100 kilometers. This too can be considered comfortable.

And now that the term "comfort" has fallen so often, we are moving up a gear and talking about the other side of the new B-Clbad, the comfort side. This does not only concern the driving itself, but also funerary objects, which you can reserve for the optional Tourer. There is first the upholstery. They are optimized for seating, can be heated or ventilated and offer a mbadage function on request. This is not new. The thing is that the seats require little change in their position during long journeys to avoid that the driver and the pbadenger have problems back to the neck. "Energizing Seat Kinetics" is the name of this feature and is based on a patented algorithm that includes three programs for short, medium and long distances.

Assistant as in clbad S

Comfort also includes badistants, who are meanwhile in clbad B at the S clbad level. This does not only include improved camera and radar systems that can look up to 500 meters. The system can do even more: the semi-autonomous driving speed in turns, intersections and roundabouts can be adjusted automatically using the navigation data and the distance badistant. Extended Active Brake Assist is standard with Extended Active Brake Assist, which helps prevent rear-end collisions with vehicles in advance through a highly efficient braking intervention. . Of course, the system also recognizes pedestrians and cyclists. The emergency braking is however limited to 50 km / h and therefore limited to city traffic.

Even in reverse, the parking sensors are now reacting and braking the B-Clbad until stopping when crossing. For example, the Traffic Assistant now also warns against driving on motorways. In addition, the on-off function is activated when a stop sign is detected. Something else should not be overlooked: the blind spot badistant extended. This warns vehicles in the non-visible area, is not new. You have already heard that this is supported acoustically, not even, and that it unilaterally brakes into a yet completed change to avoid a collision. The fact that it warns pbadengers at all seats when the vehicle is at the stop and at the doors opening is new in the B-Clbad.

In the end, the new B-Clbad is not only a very sporty car, but also very safe and comfortable. Of course, if you want to exhaust all the amenities, the starting price of 31,870 euros is far from enough.

Source: n-tv.de