As you may have already seen in our earlier coverage, Mercedes-Benz has lifted the veils off the new estate version of the C-Class, which will arrive in European dealerships in September 2014.

The new C-Class Estate builds on the sedan’s styling language by adding a sporty-looking rear end with horizontal taillights united by a long chrome bar. Obviously, the C-Class Estate’s main task is to be able to carry more luggages and to be more versatile than the sedan.

In order to do that, the new model is 96mm longer at 4,702mm (185.1 inches), 40mm wider at 1,810mm (71.2 inches) and has an 80mm longer wheelbase at 2,840mm (111.8in) than the previous C-Class Estate. It is also up to 65kg (143 pounds) lighter. Mercedes says that rear-seat passengers have more leg-, shoulder-, elbow- and head-room than in the previous model.

The C-Class Estate has a load capacity of 490 liters (5 liters more than its predecessor), or 1,510 liters with the rear seats folded (10 liters more than the previous model). The rear seats now have a 40:20:40 split instead of the 60:40 split, allowing owners to use the interior as five-seater, four-seater, three-seater or two-seater. The C-Class Estate is available with the Easy Pack power liftgate and the Hands-Free Access system, with the latter allowing opening and closing the liftgate without touching it.

The C-Class Estate also debuts the Mercedes Connect Me services which allow users to connect to the vehicle from anywhere at any time and retrieve the current fill level of the tank online.

The new model is up to 20 percent more fuel efficient than its predecessor and is available with the same range of engines as the sedan. Diesel engines offer outputs between 115PS (113hp) and 204PS (201hp), with a diesel hybrid model offered as well, the C 300 BlueTec Hybrid. The latter combines a 204PS diesel with a 27PS electric motor and is rated at 3.8 l/100 km (61.9 mpg US). Petrol engines range from 156PS (154hp) to 333PS (328hp), with the C 350 Hybrid to be launched later on.

By Dan Mihalascu

PHOTO GALLERY



VIDEO