Scoring a coup

Singapore — In recent years, coupes have run wild in the imagination of car buyers, but few, if any, found real homes.

The word “coupe-like” or “coupe-inspired” has become something of a misnomer in modern car design. Cars that look like coupes but have four, or even five doors, or that are actually sports utility vehicles (SUVs), fill modern showrooms.

Yet, just 1.76 per cent of the cars sold here in the first quarter of this year were coupes, compared to 38 per cent for sedans, and 24 per cent for SUVs.

Thus the Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe is already a rarity, but making it even more of a rare beast, it’s a coupe that does exactly what a two-door should: Look good and make you wonder who’s driving it.

The C-Class name means that the coupe looks exactly like the sedan it’s based on, at least from the front (the only difference is the ‘diamond-dot’ grille pattern, reserved for sportier Mercedes models). View the car from the back and it’s an entirely different story. From the middle of the car onwards, the strong feature lines on the side and the roof segue into a lovely, sloped tail. It’s hard to see in photos, but the rear “shoulders” seem sculpted in almost the same way a Porsche 911’s is from some angles.

The C 180 badge means the model we tested is the entry-level C-Class coupe, and it’s powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine producing 156bhp. It delivers performance that’s decently quick but far from spectacular. It’s also surprisingly frugal if you’re light-footed on the accelerator.

C is for cruising

There’s no particular sparkle to the driving experience. Though it has no major drawbacks, push the car hard and the suspension gets upset by mid-corner bumps. It’s logical then, that refinement levels are high, and the basic nature of the C 180 Coupe seems to be best suited to easy cruising.

The interior represents familiar C-Class territory once again, offering a decent sound system, soft leather upholstery plus handy features like a seat-belt server and powered bootlid.

With the generous wheelbase of the sedan, it means the rear seats are no longer reserved for two passengers you dislike, there being more room all around, and even rear air-conditioning vents.

Less useful is the infotainment system, which is still cryptic to use and has two different control methods (touch pad and rotary dial). Piano-black trim coats the entire centre console and this attracts more fingerprints than a immigration checkpoint.

INNER SPACE

But like fad diets, there are also some sacrifices for its svelte looks as there’s less headroom than the sedan, rear passengers still have to squeeze past the front seats to enter, and there’s 80-litres less boot space.

If, dynamically, the C 180 sounds less than sparkling for a luxury coupe, you’re not wrong.

However, given that its close rival, the BMW 4 Series, has nothing less expensive than the 184bhp 420i, the C 180 represents a S$40,000-easier choice at owning a premium German coupe.

In fact, the C 180, being beautiful, refined and not costing the earth and sky, is the sort of direction “true” coupes need to go with if they’re to come back into style.

Mercedes-Benz C 180 Coupe

Engine: 1,595cc, in-line four, 156hp, 250Nm

Performance: 223kmh, 0-100kmh: 8.8s, 6.7L/100km, 132g/km CO2

Price: S$183,999 with COE

On Sale: Now

PROS: Lovely lines, refined performance, decent feature set

CONS: Isn’t as dynamically capable as its lines imply