Old foes: new fight

SHARP NEW C-CLASS ROLLS IN TO TRY TO ASSERT ITS TECH AND NEWNESS ADVANTAGE OVER MIDDLE-AGED 3 SERIES

- TONY O'KANE

YIN AND YANG, dark and light, Pepsi and Coke, C-Class and 3 Series. Some dualities are eternal, and while the car world is full of classic rivalries, few are as long-lived and closely run as that of Germany’s two favourite RWD sedans.

The arrival of the new-gen W206 C-Class is an opportunity to throw both of them back in the ring to resume their grudge match, but this time around the playing field will be a tad uneven. While obtaining a C200 (the ‘base’ model of the W206 family, if you can describe a $78,900 car as ‘base’), was fairly easy, securing a mechanically equivalent 320i was less straightforward. Happily, a 330i could be made available, and while its 2.0-litre turbo inline-4 is 40kW, 100Nm and 0.5L up on its Benz nemesis, its $79,900 retail sticker is much, much closer to the C200 than a 320i’s would be.

If nothing else it’s a handy way of giving the G20 3 Series, a car that launched in 2018 and is now very much middleaged, something of a leg-up against its box-fresh Benz competitor. If you’re cross-shopping the two, their price proximity is arguably the most important metric anyhow.

Except, as is the German habit, neither brand could keep their manicured fingers away from the options list. The 330i came to us with $4800 of options (all of which were largely cosmetic in nature), while the C200 added a whopping $8460 to its list price thanks to its extras. Like the BMW, most were cosmetic, but its optional (bigger) wheel and tyre package would undoubtedly alter its on-road behaviour. Just bear this in mind if you happen to slap your hard-earned down on a C200 as a result of this review – the standard wheels are probably going to feel a little different.