KEY POINTS:
Bad cars are easy to write about. Exciting cars are easy to write about. Dull cars, competent cars, they don't prompt easy verbage. Thus, when the Mercedes CLC departed my driveway I was left dithering over the keyboard.
Yes it looks sharp, though it's based on the old
C-class sports coupe rather than the newer C-class platform. Its thrusting nose, short cabin and optional sunroof impart a racy air neither this car's performance nor its persona can match.
Under the bonnet there's a capable 1.8-litre in-line four. It delivers 135kW and 250Nm, the torque available anywhere from 2800 to 5000rpm. When mated to the five-speed auto with "touch-shift" the CLC gets along briskly, without delivering many thrills.
Which perhaps is fortunate, given the "sport" suspension is tuned to match - capable rather than incisive, though the variable-rate steering rack filched from the SLK is an improvement on the old set-up.
The rest of the car follows the same script - decent, solid and uninspiring. It's comfy enough at real-world speeds, though lumpy roads unsettled it a tad, especially when allied with tricky curves. Keen drivers need not apply.
But most people don't fancy themselves as the next Schumacher. Those in this market want a handsome car that's undemanding to drive and the CLC fits the bill.
The dash design is a bit dated, but it works, and Mercedes delivers a generous features list. That includes ESP, climate control air and cruise control as well as side and window airbags for rear passengers.
There's a speed limiter too - quite handy to keep you legal round town.
Parktronic sensors are vital - rear three-quarter vision is poor - but reversing from supermarket carparks will always be a matter of blind faith as it can't work on corners.
Otherwise the CLC is a perfectly useful coupe - the rear seats flatten to increase the boot size.
If you want a smart car, an aspirational badge and lots of goodies you might like this.
But for most, this car's ageing mechanicals and its inability to match sporting flavour with sporting behaviour will annoy - especially as at $64,100 there's plenty of alternative talent on offer.
