***Testdrove a 2006 Mercedes B170 Autotronic***

[cawimmer430]

Damn the C&D forums are down again. I don't think anyone will care for this car though there. Too "underpowered" as they say. Well in this case...they're right.    If this thing came with a manual, it would be better. I've driven the manual B170 and it was reasonably quick. This thing was SLOW. I mean really SLOW.



After the C270 CDI drive, it was off to Burghausen with a B170 Autotronic. Autotronic is MB?s first CVT-style transmission and it?s pretty good: with engines that have power! The B170, with its 116-horsepower 1699cc 4-cylinder engine was a slug. The 155 Nm (114 lb/ft) of torque didn?t help either.



Even worse, this car was brand new with only 7 km (4.4 miles) on the odometer! Sh*t, I couldn?t hammer it! [:knockout:] And the story became even more dreadful. This car was needed in Burghausen ASAP. It takes 45-50 minutes to drive from Landshut to M?hldorf, and from M?hldorf to Burghausen at least 30 minutes. I had to be there at a specific time for many reasons.

Well, the moment I left Landshut, I knew I was in trouble. This thing was so weak with the Autotronic, I wanted to scream. The Autotronic is great transmission, when it?s mated to engines with power. But here, it was doing its job well, but the engine just didn?t have any power. When I drove this car with the manual version, it seemed ok, but here, it was just overworked.



There was lots of traffic on the roads where you can drive 100 km/h (62 mph). Slow trucks that were slugging along at a required 80 km/h (50 mph) and tons of drivers behind them that left no safety distance and thus not enabling others to overtake. Great, just great. A few times, I hammered the car (and it was new!) hoping to gain speed and overtake but acceleration was so slow and lackluster, I gave up pretty soon. Even my last hope, shifting manually on the CVT transmission ended in vain since this thing was a slug in lower gears as well. I don?t even want to know how the B150 drives!  

So for most of the route to Burghausen, I was stuck behind cars and trucks. Time for a quick photo shoot to let those guys ahead of me. Some things I noticed: the steering on the B-Class sucks. I don?t know why the A-Class is so sporty and direct, but on the B-Class, it?s very light and disconnected and slow acting, especially without the sports package. When you took moderate curves, you felt as if the car would overturn (again, without the sports package that is). These drawbacks forced me to drive it nice and slow. It was comfortable alright, but there is nothing sporty about this Sportstourer, as Mercedes calls it.



Thankfully the roads to Burghausen were empty and I could speed up a little. Here, the car was much better. It felt stable in straight line and didn?t drive to badly. But in curves, even moderate ones, the car felt so boat-like.
Didn?t like the car much. The B-Class to me is a disappointment from a sporty oriented point of view. The steering is too light and disconnected. The sports package improves that and handling, but it?s still not as sporty as a regular A-Class IMO! I don?t get it, I really don?t.

Needless to say, I was glad to get rid of the thing once I arrived in Burghausen. Mr. Schultz had left his S320 CDI there and I got to drive that thing back to M?hldorf. Finally something with power. Guess what, the S-Class felt more sporty than the B-Class!  





PHOTO ALBUM: http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2122562746

[ifcar]

If Wimmer thinks a car is slow, it must REALLY be slow. As in 15-seconds-to-60 slow. <_<

[BMWDave]

Nice writeup B)

Hey, you cant go driving SL600s every day and then call cars underpowered :P

[Catman]

Looks kind of neat though.

[cawimmer430]

If Wimmer thinks a car is slow, it must REALLY be slow. As in 15-seconds-to-60 slow. <_<

More like 12 seconds actually, but it felt slower with the Autotronic. The manual version feels noticebly more livelier.

[cawimmer430]

Nice writeup B)

Hey, you cant go driving SL600s every day and then call cars underpowered :P

The B170 Autotronic felt ok if you drove it relaxed, but a kickdown or shifting down on the CVT showed how weak it was.    

[cawimmer430]

Looks kind of neat though.

It's a cute and nice looking car in real life, I thought it was funny when I saw it in pictures for the first time, but in real life, it's very nice looking. I'd recommmend these models:

B200
B200 CDI
B200 Turbo

^I've driven those and they're quicker, more fun (B200 Turbo even has torque steer!) and with the sports package, drive much better.^