Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate review

Rather good. Okay, it's not as much fun as a 3 Series Touring, nor does it handle as keenly as an A5 Avant. But it trumps both when it comes to refinement. And what do you really care about when you've got loved ones in tow? Exactly.

That's not to say it won't comfortably dispatch a British B-road, it's just at its best on the motorway where it settles into a quiet, relaxed cruise. Taxi drivers will love it. Passengers will love it even more.

‘Comfort’ suspension is standard on the PHEVs, whereas everything else gets a ‘Sports’ AMG Line setup that rides 15mm lower. Even so it’s a largely comfortable car, and still mostly quite soft riding, though hit a speed bump/pothole at speed and you’ll find it quite jarring in the cabin. To drive it smoothly you'll need to master the brakes, which are quite abrupt and not overly progressively.

Remind me of my engine options...

You’ve got six options to get your head around – two petrol and two diesel mild hybrids, two plug-in hybrids, plus two AMG badged models. 

The petrol options consist of either a 1.5-litre four-cylinder badged ‘C200’ or a 2.0-litre four-cylinder badged ‘C300’. Mercedes claims 201bhp and 255bhp respectively – long gone are the days the badge on the back of your shiny new Merc in any way resembled what was under the bonnet – for a 0-62mph time of 7.5s and 6.0s accordingly.

We’ve only tested the former, but it doesn’t feel that fast and likes to make itself heard when you push on.

The familiar 2.0-litre diesel from the E-Class et al is a better fit, either as a 220 (194bhp, 0-62mph in 7.6s, up to 61.4mpg) or 300d (261bhp/5.8s/54.3mpg). We’ve only tried the C300d so far, but with 406lb ft of torque it’s jolly quick and very refined to boot. One of the best, if not the best four-cylinder diesel engine around, in fact.

Pairs well with the nine-speed ‘box too (told you it was geared towards being leisurely), which you get no matter which engine you go fo.

Including the plug-in hybrids?

Including the plug-in hybrids. The C300e petrol mates the 201bhp 2.0-litre with a 127bhp electric motor and 19.5kWh battery; the C300de twins the 194bhp 2.0 diesel with the same setup, for a claimed 68 miles of electric range.

Spoiler alert – the diesel is a good’un. It always starts in EV mode, and around town the e-motor is a sublime way to make progress. Head further afield and the handover between that and engine is imperceptible, at which point you can lean on the trusty diesel (which was indicating over 500 miles between fill-ups on its own) for any motorway schleps. It really is the best of both worlds. Why do more diesel PHEVs not exist?

Paddles behind the steering wheel allow you to switch between three levels of regen braking (or there's an inconsistent auto mode), useful if you want maximum retardation around town or none whatsoever when you’re ghosting up the motorway. A Drive mode switch below the touchscreen allows you to switch between Battery Hold, Electric, Hybrid, Sport or Individual modes. All fairly self-explanatory there.

On a mixed run taking in stop-start rush hour traffic and a jaunt round the M25 we saw 65mpg. Merc claims a three hour charge time from 10-100 per cent on a home charger, or 20 minutes 10-80 per cent on a 55kW DC charger.