Mercedes-Benz C300 Cabriolet, Track Test

Exquisite! That’s what comes to mind when I think of the C-Cabriolet. Everything, from the metallic brilliant blue paint to the dark blue acoustic soft-top, in the C-Cabrio just oozes style. Step inside, and you’re greeted by excellent levels of trim quality and fit-and-finish.

What’s more, the whole cabin is so well-appointed and finished that you’ll dread the idea of stepping out of it. In fact, all higher-end C-Class models feel very luxurious these days. But the C-Cabrio takes this to another level at the touch of a button when the roof comes down.

On the road, its 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine feels fairly responsive, with its 245bhp that gives it a 0 to 100km/h time of 6.2 seconds and a rated top speed of 250km/h. But, typically, convertibles are used for cruising. They’re simply not as good to drive as their hard-top counterparts. We experienced this in the previous generation E-Class convertible (which, incidentally, was based on the previous generation C-Class chassis). It had quite a bit of scuttle shake and you could just tell that it was nowhere near as structurally rigid as its hard-top counterpart. In fact, this has been the perennial challenge with soft-tops – but it appears that Mercedes has finally cracked it. You see, the C-Cabrio feels just as good to drive as the hard-top – which is really saying something.

As a result, the C-Cabrio set a very respectable lap time of 1:11:3. The whole car feels taut and is actually a great deal of fun from behind the wheel. The C-Cabriolet, then, is not just a good-looking luxury car but also one that packs what it takes to be a good driver’s car.

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