Mercedes-Benz B-Class facelift

Every time I praise the entry-level MPVish hatchback from Mercedes around a few enthusiasts, I am greeted by looks that are partly gauging if I am drunk and partly trying to establish if I am even an auto journalist. So before we go down the same road, let us start by establishing certain facts – I live in a crowded city with traffic density equivalent or more than that in an anthill; the average speeds during daily commute are at times even lower than public transport, efficiency is important, comfort and convenience is a prerequisite and performance is a word that barely even crosses my mind.

The B-Class then is a perfect car, offering all of the above and some more class with the three-pointed-star logo. On occasional joy rides though, the lack of power is more than evident and if you were to take the pre-facelift car on one such drive, then you won’t be judging yourself any differently.

Mercedes tries to address our concern with the new B200 CDI. It does get a few cosmetic changes to retain the novelty factor, but importantly the power figures have been bumped up with the aim of being the complete package it could not be, at the time of the launch.

The cosmetic changes both to the inside and outside have been more from the utilitarian point and it hardly looks any different from the previous car. At the front it gets a fresh bumper and new grille, but those are the only noticeable differences. The others include internal element changes in the tail lamp, a chrome strip on the boot and fake accents on the rear bumper that make it look like a twin exhaust while the actual pipe is concealed below.

The all-LED headlamps are a valuable addition, while the 17-inch alloy-wheels have been omitted altogether. The LED lights improve both visibility and aesthetics. The design of the 16-inch wheels is too bland though.

The B-Class, at best, is an ordinary looking car. It draws attention for the simple fact that it carries a premium badge, but that is good enough especially after being designed to offer utility.

Even from the inside, this is more like an improved version, with efforts mainly on fixing things that were not right the first time around. The tiny tablet-sized screen has been replaced by a bigger one from the C-Class; the interface has also improved offering much better experience. The steering wheel gets leather wrap, the dashboard inserts look premium and lot of buttons get premium brushed aluminium finish.

The new instrument cluster is also from the C-Class and all the features of the previously launched Edition 1 have been retained. It gets panoramic sunroof, electrically adjustable front passenger seat, rear arm-rest with bottle holder and parking camera. And Mercedes is also offering navigation as an optional extra. The new B-Class is 34mm longer than the previous model, but we don’t see that transpiring into additional leg room for the rear row. Nevertheless, the rear row offers decent leg space and there is just about enough boot space (488 litres) after some of it is blocked by the space-saver.

The most significant change in this iteration is in the performance. It continues to use the 2.1-litre diesel engine, but instead of puny 107bhp, the new B200 engine is tuned to develop a healthy 135bhp and 300Nm of torque.

The torque is available at as low as 1,600rpm and with the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission the bottom end performance is sufficient for any sort of predicament one would face on the dual-carriage roads. The first few gears are relatively short and higher gears are tall, allowing the car to cruise at 100kph at just 1,800rpm. This also increases the fuel efficiency, the car returned over 16kpl on our 300km test drive.

While we will give a big thumbs up to the new set up, we still have a couple of grouses. For one, even with the improved NVH the diesel clatter is eminent in the cabin and that is something a Mercedes owner would not want to experience. And secondly, this is still not the quickest DCT gearbox, there is some amount of lag even in the sports mode especially when compared with the Volkswagen DSG and even BMW’s ZF eight-speed torque convertor.

The diesel version continues to use the 16-inch wheels with the raised ground clearance from the Edition 1. The ride quality is a bit on the firmer side, it does absorb all the bumps at low speeds, but hit a pothole at relatively high speed and there is a prominent thud in the cabin. The handling is top notch for a front-wheel-drive car, the tyres do squeal and there is no feedback from the steering, but despite these two factors the B-Class can be pushed beyond the seeming limits.

The new engine makes a world of a difference to the overall performance of the Mercedes-Benz B-Class and the power figures are now at least on par with our minimum expectations from the premium cars. The B-Class was always a practical everyday car, but now it also has enough fire power to be a sensible option for the long distance travel.

The B-Class is not the kind of stunner one has gotten used to from Mercedes-Benz lately, it is a simple car, but at Rs 30.45 lakh (ex-Delhi) it is certainly one of the most practical and budget all-rounders from a luxury marque.