Thread: Mercedes E 220 CDI And E230 V6

A high flying New Delhi tycoon wn exorbitantly expensive designer ts like a hunter pursuing big game. oaded with cash but short on time, he takes ff on shopping safari to stuff his closet with products from Breitling, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Prada, Bulgari, Gucci et al. Attitudes towards luxury are varied. In the India of a century ago, luxury was tradition with the maharajas figuring as the most wanted clients for the planet's luxury brands. The Patalia royals once owned 26 Rolls Royce cars. Today luxury is no longer the sole preserve of the royals with the indw,trialist, entrepreneur, corporate boss and assortea celebs strutting around like the maharajas.

Despite global oil prices continuing upward spiral, Indians continue to feel good and splash the dosh. While China and Russia are still far bigger draws for luxury brands,India actually leads the world in wealth creation. Last year India and China saw bigger growth in millionaire population and the average Indian salary surged 14 per cent (18 per cent for IT professionals), the highest wage growth in Asia. A country which only a few decades ago was scrambling for bread is now gorging on French cake.

With more moolah to flash, no surprise the well-heeled Indian pampers himself with flashy automobiles. Mercedes-Benz, India's largest luxury car maker, sold 2,491 cars. In the first four months of this year, the company achieved more than 50 percent of -its target. Over 100 S class Mercs were sold alone and the company rolled out its 20,000th locally produced car recently. And of those 20,000 cars sold since 1995, the E class accounts for 50 per cent.

The Indian luxury car market has grown significantly, so even with the advent of BMW and Audi there are still lucrative slices of pies for all. Moreover, such competition means India will no longer be the dumping ground for aging models. Which is exactly what's happening with Mercedes-Benz and to counter growing competition and criticisms of skimping on equipment (stuff like bi-xenons and fully-powered memory seats) Mercedes Benz has launched two new variants of the E class, the E 220CD! and, to replace the E200K, the E230. The E220 CDI is the new en.try-level diesel Merc, slotting below the E280 CD and gets the same 2148cc turbodiesel that does duty in the C-Class. The all-aluminium engine develops 170.3PS of power at 3700rpm and a stomping 410Nm of torque atjust 2000rpm.

This is of course down on the E280's 440Nm of torque and 190PS of power, but since the E220 weighs 100kg less this could well be the perfect compromise. As with all common-rail diesels, diesel clatter is audible outside the car at start up but it's all hush-hush inside. The engine borrowed from the lighter C c1ass is no slouch and if anything is markedly per.ky with low end grunt and power always on tap. The awesome torque makes picking up speeds a breeze, a boon both in city and on highway.

On the petrol front the old super-charged four-cylinder petrol makes way for a 2.5¬litre V6 in the E230. The newly developed V6 engine is designed to provide enhanced performance and higher torque delivery and develops 205PS of power at 6100rpm and 245Nm of torque. This engine features infinitelyvariable adjustment of both intake and exhaust camshafts thereby ensuring that all 24 valves open and close at the most favourable time according to engine load. In turn, the charge cycle operates more effectively; thus energy losses are reduced resulting in improved efficiency.

Thanks to variable camshaft adjustment, internal exhaust gas recirculation, secondary air injection and other relevant measures, exhaust emissions are lowered. The refinement and inherent balanced qualities of a naturally aspirated V6 engine result in minimal engine vibration and oozes mechanical finesse which was missing in the four-pot E200 Kompressor. Both engines are mated to its seven-speed 7G-Tronic automatic 'box that's utterly and serenly refined. It also has a manual override, nudge the stick to the left and it goes down a gear, to the right and it goes up. Shifting, as is to be expected, is butter smooth though could be a little more urgent.

The pace at which diesel engines have evolved in the last decade is dazzling. Considering that the 220COI engine is borrowed from the lighter C class, we certainly didn't expect a sub 10-second figure'in our 0-100kmph sprint but the E220 scorched its way to 100 in 9.96s, while the quarter mile mark was reached in 16.97s.





To put these figures into perspective, the C220CDI clocked lOOkmph in 9049s, while the more powerful E280 CD! does it in 8.11s. The E220CDI performance figures might not be in supercar territory but despite getting smaller engine she remains quick. Her quarter mile figure is also just 1.1Ssec off the E280CDI's. As far as kickdown acceleration is concerned, she took S.76sec to accelerate from 20-80kmph, which believe.4t or not is better tha n the E280CD The time increases to 8.S3sec while accel¬erating from 40-100kmph. As the figures suggest, the E220CD has great driveability; and doesn't call for a lot of work from the 'box.

Responses are amazing for a diesel engine while fuel efficiency for a car of this size and weight is nothing short of commendable. She recorded a best efficiency (highway driving at 8Skmph) of lS.8kmpl and worst fuel efficiency of 7.81kmpl. Both runswere done with the aircon running and though the highway figure is better than the E280CD!'s, the city figure is lkmpllower. As for the E230, she doesn't benefit from a weight advantage over the E280 and the sprint to 100kmph took 10.84seconds, which is a little over 2.6s slower than the E280 V6. Compared to the 200K which it replaces, the E230 is one second quicker to lOOkmph and with a quarter mile time of 17.73sec, it betters the previous model by half a second.

As you can see, the petrol E is slower off the blocks compared to the diesel and that can be attributed to the stronger and lower torque curve of the diesel. As far as her in¬gear acceleration is concerned, she takes 6.S2sec to motor from 20-80kmph and 8.73sec to accelerate from 40-100kmph. These figures aren't a big improvement from the model it is replacing but the car nevertheless has good driveability. Despite being a V6, the E230 has lower fuel consumption which is realised by the two-stage intake manifold. She returned the best (highway) fuel efficiency of 14kmpl which is 004kmpl less than the 200K's and marginally better than the E280's, while her worst fuel efficiency was 4.3kmpl.

Braking is handled by 29Smm ventilated discs at the front and 300mm ventilated discs at the rear, backed by ABS, ESP and whole bag of safety nets. From 100kmph to rest the E230 she takes 4S.80meters while the E220 CD takes 41.S8meters. Despite all the German prestigious manufacturers being present in India, in most parts of the country Mercedes-Benz still remains the more sought after marque. It's probably got do to with perceptions built over the years; Audi is sophisticated and BMW dynamic, but it is a Merc that oozes timeless elegance, luxury and, of course, immense wealth.

And the E-class epitomises all those qualities. It's no secret that the E now seems a bit old and dated compared to its rivals (especially on the inside) and a new one is barely a year away but there is still a lot going for it, chief among them being spaciousness and un matchable ride quality. After all customers in this segment are invariably chauffer driven and ride quality is (or rather should be) of prime importance.

And now with the entry of the E220CD and the E230, owning an E-class won't completely bust the bank. The V6 petrol 14lakh (ex-showroom Pune) and though this is a whopping six lakh rupees more than the 200K, high rollers can now get to boardroom in double quick time. Which is a cool four lakh rupees less than the E280CDI. With good fuel efficiency and no loss in power, the E220 CD delivers more than one bargains for. And thanks to competition she finally gets seats that are electrically adjustable fore and aft and also has bi-xenon headlamps.