Mercedes Vision C220 Bluetec: the lowdown
Mercedes’ bigger, better and cleaner new C-class hogged centre stage at the DaimlerChrysler stand. The C is the bedrock of Merc’s range and the company rolled out a slew of derivatives to mark the occasion – including the Vision C220 Bluetec, the first four-cylinder diesel with Merc’s clean-breathing tech.
The cleanest C-class yet
Vision is a tag for Stuttgart’s concepts that are a dead cert for the showrooms, so expect something very like this soon. The Vision C220 Bluetec should meet tough Euro VI emissions regs due in 2015, thanks to the Bluetec exhaust treatment, which uses ammonia to slash nitrogen oxides. Result? A handy 170bhp, 51mpg and spectacularly clean emissions.
What’s this, the AMG version?
Not quite. Merc also showed off the DTM touring car version of the C-class, powered by a 470bhp V8. It will be driven by defending champion Bernd Schneider and three other drivers, including Mika Hakkinen. We’ll have to wait a while longer for the production AMG version. The junior super-saloon class now demands no fewer than eight cylinders, and the C63 won’t disappoint; all those cubic inches will help deliver a muscly 450bhp at least.
Anything else?
Mercedes also rolled out the new Mercedes McLaren SLR 722, the most powerful and lightest iteration yet of the Macca. To see what it’s like to drive, buy the latest April issue of CAR magazine, with its twin test of the McMerc versus the Koenigsegg CCX.