Mercedes C-Class estate: unhooking trailer
Sailing on the Medway
At the weekend my son was racing his Topper dinghy on the Medway in Rochester, Kent.
The Medway Yacht Club is situated near Upnor Castle on the opposite bank to the old Royal Naval dockyards at Chatham. It’s a terrific stretch of the Thames, steeped in naval history. It’s also a beautiful location and a very pleasant clubhouse, basking in the one day of late August sunshine we were experiencing.
We drove down, with the dinghy trailer attached, in a Mercedes C-Class estate C220 CDI Sport I was testing.
I like Mercedes estate cars. We recently sold our fabulous old 1994 E-Class 320 estate – it was a beauty but the offer was good, so it went. I still miss it. So it was a pleasure to test the all-new C-Class estate.
It’s hugely satisfying to drive, too. The steering is so linear, you can drive the car quickly, smoothly and accurately. The Sport suspension is firm, possibly too much for some tastes. But it adds to that subtle sporting character and pin-sharp steering.
The satnav works well, too. But only one beef. If you know a postcode but not the street it can be a bit cussed over accepting a destination. This has happened on two occasions I’ve used it. Otherwise it’s very accurate.
Mercedes are always about attention to detail, too. For example, the tow bar is neatly hidden away under the bumper. To release it, you detach the left hand side boot panel, twist a knob, and the tow bar descends. To retract, you do the same thing in reverse. Very neat.
Having said that, there was some tension between our trolley and the car: the slippery shape of the C-Class meeting the higher trolley and boat was obviously causing some aerodynamic disturbance. I think. Anyway, you could feel the car and trolley ‘shunting’ occasionally.
One final observation: this C-Class estate is red. Not a colour you would normally go for in a Merc. But it looks terrific: rich and purposeful. It’s certainly got Matt’s vote, too.
Talking of which, Matt had fun on the river, too, with a couple of very good starts if, perhaps, less satisfactory finishes!
