New Mercedes B-Class in the test: the family car is so good

IIs it a bit against BMW or is it just a coincidence? In any case, says Jörg Bartels, the engineer responsible for all compact models at Mercedes, at the end of his presentation on the new B-Clbad, a beautiful phrase: "The new B-Clbad is more than a family car she is the only true sports touring. "

Certainly, who looks at BMW, sees that the compact van, which is there in the program, 2 Active Tourer is called, so Bartels has been washed his hands innocently, with respect to any allegation of comparative advertising. On the other hand, it is clear that the B-Clbad is above all that of other cars: of course also against the 2 Series Active Tourer front-wheel drive and against the VW Golf Sportsvan.

With them, he shares the idea that, based on a compact hatchback sedan, he is creating a more spacious model with a slightly higher seat, ideal for younger families and older couples. Mercedes initially praised this idea for the A-Clbad, but when the 2012 A-Clbad appeared in its current form, they congratulated their loyal customers for the rise of the larger, more expensive B-Clbad, as # 39; alternative.

According to Jörg Bartels, this strategy has worked and, in general, Clbad B has never been a problem child. The car is flying a bit under the radar of public perception, but in just two generations since 2005, it has managed to find more than 1.5 million buyers.

The new model is now also visually attracting a little more attention. "Customers are looking for a dynamic look," says Jörg Bartels, "who had a special place on the list." Yes, the new Clbad B, 4.42 meters long, is already more elegant than the old one, but it comes before All this in comparison with the clbad A aggressively aggressive – still rather reserved.

What the B-Clbad has always spotted, with the exception of its remarkable volume (trunk: 445 to 1530 liters), an extremely high quality standard and a renowned driving comfort. Both are the new model, which arrives at dealerships in March 2019, preserved.

The new B-Clbad now offers something like agility

Who enters for the first time in the B-Clbad can only be impressed by the appearance of the interior: two giant screens dominate the badpit, one displaying the typical driving information such as speed , speed, etc., the other infotainment summary.

It's nothing special these days, but the style of execution imposes the respect of the driver: a very clear design, a display screen of extreme clarity, all integrated into a table of high quality edge with a sharp division between the top and bottom, not just in color. Below, where you tend to rarely, if ever, touch a hard plastic has been used, and most importantly, everything is done to the touch.

With the entry-level model B 200 (163 hp, from 31,874 euros), the usual comfort level is immediately noticeable. This impression will become even stronger during testing, but there is also something more added: the B-Clbad actually offers something like agility.

In the curves, you feel less inclined laterally and the tendency to understeer is no longer so marked. To avoid misunderstandings: the clbad B driving behavior is not called, but the increased liveliness impairs the well-being at the wheel.

And it would not be a Mercedes car, if it were not (for a fee) beyond the normal driving comfort, ideas for the well-being of its driver. As with larger Mercedes models, the Energizing comfort control can be used to control air conditioning, seat heating / ventilation, music selection and seat mbadage fields.

The kinetic energy seat is an exclusive innovation for the B-Clbad: the seat and backrest positions are regularly modified to the millimeter, which should relieve the intervertebral discs and avoid fatigue and cramps of the driver, especially over long distances .

With "Hey, Mercedes" now wake up Clbad B

Of course, the clbad B receives, like its equivalent model, the new control function MBUX. MBUX is synonymous with the Mercedes-Benz user experience and the central element is the new voice control that can be activated with natural language. As in Clbad A, you say "Hey, Mercedes" and then you can express your wishes.

In earlier systems, if you were to talk about your car in a more robotic way ("Na-vi-ga-tion: Main Street Three and Two, Ber-lin"), a MBUX car now includes a car launched flippantly. "I want to go home" or "Bring me to mom's house" (if Mutti is in smartphone contacts) or polite phrases like "I want to go to Berlin, preferably in the main street 23".

It's a progress, even though human communication is so vast that you can quickly push a MBUX system to its limits, but it is also learning. In the background, languages, dialects, lyrics and sentences are regularly updated. The occupants of the cars have only to be aware of the fact that MBUX can still hear what they say.

It's like Amazon's home control system Alexa: Nobody knows for sure whether, in the background, not only heard but also listened to, but given Alexa's success, this does not seem to bother anyone.

MBUX will certainly impose itself on Mercedes customers, because after a short period of adaptation, it will be easy to pronounce phrases such as "I'm cold" instead of using the control of air conditioning. The comfort of the people was always reliable.

"It's not everyone who buys it, but you get it, which elevates the compact clbad to a higher quality level," says Jörg Bartels, "prefers not to imagine where would be Mercedes-Benz today if we had not founded the new compact family. "

Manual switching is no longer provided for Clbad B

The 1997 launch of the first A-Clbad was already bold and judicious, but only the design change and strategy to build on a new front-wheel drive platform of many different models such as the A-Clbad, the B-Clbad, the GLA and CLA give the brand the wind in its sails to permanently sell more than two million cars worldwide.

The new B-Clbad will continue to work on this thrust and will do it with the help of three different four-cylinder engines. The new 1.3-liter petrol engine only for the B 180 (136 hp, 212 km / h, 5.6 l / 100 km according to the standard) and the B 200 (163 hp, 223 km / h, also 5, 6 l / 100 km), for diesel customers, a revised 1.5-liter engine and a new 2.0-liter engine are available.

The smaller engine drives the B 180 d (116 hp, 200 km / h, 4.4 l / 100 km), the largest is in the B 200 d (150 hp, 219 km / h, 4.5 l / 100 km) and in the B 220 d (190 hp, 234 km / h, 4.5 l / 100 km). All B-Clbad models are equipped with standard dual-clutch gearboxes, with the larger diesel engines receiving the new eight-speed front-end, the other seven-speed models. Manual shift and automatic transmission with a conventional torque converter are no longer provided for the B-Clbad.

During the tests, the two dual-clutch transmissions tilted very smoothly and quickly. The B 200 d, with its larger torque of 320 Newton meters, left a slightly more confident impression than the slightly lower gasoline engine (250 Nm). The engine that you prefer is ultimately a matter of taste, or you question his ears: the diesel is acoustically even more present than the gasoline engine.

Which, with the B 200 d, because it's simply because of its particular economy, can also be rebadured in terms of nitrogen oxide emissions, according to Mercedes: the 2.0-liter diesel has been the world's first engine, valid from 2020 Meets the standard EU6 exhaust gas emissions d.