"sony1492" (sony1492)
07/31/2017 at 18:03 • Filed to: Review
1
8|
"sony1492" (sony1492)
07/31/2017 at 18:03 • Filed to: Review | 1
| 8 |
It’s everything I thought an 80's Corolla could be.
The car reviewed was exactly like the one above (after a good wax) minus the headlight wipers.
Exterior, 5/10.
When you first see it you think it’s not too bad with its borderline handsome front end and snazzy two tone. Then you see the back...
Plus the proportions are all wrong, the wheels seem too small, the trunk too short, and the roof too tall. Like someone got a nice sedan and then squished the front and rear together to shorten it rather than actually redesign anything. And it’s one of those cars that makes you look like a meth dealer if you get one scratch or godforbid, dent it. But that’s okay because its over shadowed by something else...
Interior, 3/10
It may look nice in photos but that’s it. Every plastic they used has since turned into brittle beige bits mascurading as trim. They Will break especially if they are exposed to sunlight, like say the third brake lamp. On the particular specimen I owned the plastic had gotten brittle enough to just fall off. Naturally someone fixed that with tape, which when peeled off took a layer of leather patterned plastic with it. The entire dash was a cheap looking/feeling plastic with a slightly different color than the rest of the interior with a leather effect printed on. The windshield mirror that at one point was fancy and auto dimming had since broken, which ties back to my last point that the plastics used were shit. Bit it’s not like they saved costs to make it well designed. The center console is overshadows by an 80's Toyota truck in every way. Every. Single. Button on the tape player jiggled enough to make me really question how they were all still,”attached”. Really touching anything in the interior besides the steering wheel runs you a serious risk of breaking something. The good things I can say is that there’s alot of headroom, road noise wasnt bad, and the seats weren’t particularly bad, though not particularly good. Overall the cheapest interior I’ve ever experienced.
Performance, 6/10.
The c230 pushed a little less than 150hp and 160ft/lbs when it was new. This was mated to an automatic of some sort, it really dosent matter how many gears it has in this car. It does transmission things and it does them alright. Side note: you can powershift and select gears but its pointless due to the shift knob being set up like a puzzle. The powertrain isn’t bad, it shifts nicely and accelerates well, better than expected even. Bit there’s not really much to say, it seems to do its job albeit with little soul but it does it. And it’s the kinda car that would let you cruise at 100 without hesitation. ‘Nuff said, when asked about the powertrain, the correct awnser is,”Yes”.
Suspension, 7/10.
The steering communicates about as much as it has too with, some, weight to it. The car is setup softly and it does ride really smooth over all terrains. Everything about the handling is very predictable, to the point that it can be dangerous in the wrong hands. The car will never step the back out unless you REALLY try, it’s setup for some understeer but it always let’s go gradually. I was able to get oversteer maybe twice and that was after hamfistedly forcing the car into a corner and flooring it past the apex on greasy roads, the car did not enjoy any of it .This is dangerous in the wrong hands because it allows you to drive at the limit everywhere, the soft suspension absorbs all the imperfections with ease never unsettling the car. This car was remarkably fun to drive on tight rutted backroads where you could toss it from corner to corner with no repercussions, the worst I got out of it was a few 4 wheel powerslides midcorner from trailbraking into tight corners at speed, but even the powerslides felt controlled and subdued. The car always has just enough getup and go to keep the all the fun going after you’ve slowed down, which brings me onto my last point.
Brakes, 8/10.
They grabbed very well, they inspired confidence. I don’t think I ever overheated them and I’d taken the car on a few shall we say, excessive drives through steep curvy roads along mountainsides and canyons with high speed straights into low speed curves. I can say hands down the brakes were the best part of this car, in one word, Fantastic. But like all German cars it seems, the brake dust was immense. Like you could clean the rims and they’d be dark a few days later.
Overall, 29/50
The suspensions well tuned and brakes are great. The powertrain simply does its job, it’s nothing special. The exterior is up to you, I think it’s kinda doinky but to each his own. And last but definitely least the the interior design was an afterthought, with a preposterous execution(I have more to say on the interior but it would be too much). I clearly didn’t like this car much but it’s worth noting that it does eat up tons miles without hesitation.
All of this is written from memory of when I owned a black 98 c230 automatic about 9 months ago. I bought it from its second owner, it had maintenance records and wasn’t abused until I got to it. I used it to commute to college for a a little more than a month doing 120miles a day 4 days a week. I promptly sold it to my brother as soon as I could when I realized how fragile/crap the interior was. Sorry for the lack of decent pictures but when I had mine I didn’t care to take any photos of it, so I had to find random photos off the internet.
Nibby
> sony1492
07/30/2017 at 21:14 |
|
To be honest, it took them 20+ years to get the C class right. The current gen is by far the best one.
|
sony1492
> Nibby
07/30/2017 at 21:21 |
|
To me it seems like the high point of Mercedes trying to cut costs
Land_Yacht_225
> sony1492
07/30/2017 at 21:26 |
|
I’m a little confused...the C230 did make a little under 150hp, but it wasn’t a six. It was a 4 and that certainly wasn’t the big engine. The C280 was the big six, and that made just under 200hp, 194hp I think.
|
sony1492
> Land_Yacht_225
07/30/2017 at 21:51 |
|
Apparently Im getting my memories mixed up
Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
> sony1492
07/30/2017 at 22:30 |
|
The question remains - is this the last of the classic high-quality MBs, or the first of the cost-cutter models? I remember riding in one about 1997 and not being terribly impressed.
I wasn’t impressed by the 190E I rode in either, but I think that was because it was an old, used car with a rather coarse 4-cylinder engine; I suspect that one with a straight six would change my mind.
|
sony1492
> Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/30/2017 at 22:34 |
|
I don’t know too much about MB but it’s clear that at the very least the C class of this era was about saving or rather, making money
Anto
> sony1492
08/25/2019 at 18:03 |
|
I suspect you may not have been conscious when these cars were new or commonly driven. You must compare it relative to what was available at the time not what is being sold 21 years later. Go find a well used 21 year old 1998 BMW 318i, drive it and report back. ;-)
|
sony1492
> Anto
08/25/2019 at 19:01 |
|
At the time of writing the newest car I’d owned was a 2001 Hyundai Elantra. Vehicles I’d previously owned and am comparing it to:
91 Mazda 323, 91 Volvo 740, 01 Elantra, 83 Mercedes 300sd, 97 bmw 325i , 90 Subaru Loyale, 1995 Honda Civic sedan, 1992 Lexus sc400.
The interior i s my gripe with this car, everything I’ve owned save for the 325i and 740 were better in regards to materials used and/or design.
That being said I understand where your coming from, and after owning a 89 190e with all of its leather peeling at the seams I can see why they moved to more plastics.(also cost savings) But the choice of plastics used and interior layout dosent b ode well.