The Mercedes comfort zone

Wonderful technology in the latest Mercs reminds motoring editor ALASTAIR SLOANE of just how far comfort has come since the bad old days.

The secret of his malt whisky, said a brewer in Scotland, was in the distillery's air-conditioning system: when the weather became warm he opened the doors, when it got cold he closed them.

It was once the same with cars. You wound the windows down when it got hot and up when it became cold.

This had disadvantages on a country road in summer when the car might fill with dust and flies. You would wind up the windows to settle the dust and allow the flies to quieten on the windscreen so that dad could get them with a rolled-up copy of the Weekly News.

Then you would wind the windows down again because it was getting hot, and dad was breaking into a sweat swatting flies, and mum was telling him to watch the road because the cream truck could be around here somewhere.

Then more dust and flies would be blown in and dad would swear because he had knocked the lighted roll-your-own he had in his driving hand on to the floor, and had to jam on the brakes to stop to pick it up. This would always kick up a really big cloud of dust.

Grandad snoozing in the back might wake up in a coughing fit and ask why the car had stopped and where the hell had all the dust come from. He would try to wind his window down only to find that the handle wouldn't work. He would swear.

Then dad would swear again because he had scratched his arm on a broken seat spring while rummaging around for his cigarette. Mum would tell everyone to be calm and ask if dad had remembered to lock the back door of the house because strangers in a rickety old car had been seen in the area.

The headlights were pretty basic back then, too. When it got dark you turned them on. Often only one would work. The low and high beam switch looked like a rubber doorstop and was on the floor near the clutch pedal. Changing gear at the same time as dipping the lights could be hazardous.

Sometimes you left the lights on and next morning the car wouldn't start because the battery was flat. Other people were always to blame here.

It's different nowadays what with computers and isolating systems. Switching off the ignition in many modern cars kills the lights. Either that or a buzzer warns you that they are still on.

Mercedes-Benz goes a step or two further. The air-conditioning system in its C-Class sports coupe has an optional computer-controlled gizzmo called Thermatronic, also available in other Mercs. Rival luxury carmakers use similar technology.

Charcoal filters clean the air coming into the car and sensors make sure it remains at a chosen temperature and at individual settings at all times. These settings are sent electronically to a mini-computer in the car's ignition key, which remembers them every time the car is started. It's a long way from dust and flies and slipping window-winders.

The headlights do their own thing, too, automatically switching on when sensors detect the light is low, such as entering a tunnel or forest glade during the day, or when it is getting on dusk. Low and high beam is still in the hands of the driver, although technology will soon take the driver out of the equation.

The C-Class sports coupe - a reworked two-door variant of the sedan - was unveiled in Auckland this week, along with upgraded models of the compact A-Class, including a long-wheelbase version.

Both cars come chock-a-block with the latest safety and occupant-comfort technology, either as standard or optional.

Four sports coupes are available, two using a naturally aspirated four-cylinder 2-litre engine and badged C180, and two using supercharged versions of the same unit and badged C200K.

The standard C180 coupe costs $68,000. The better-equipped C180 is called the Evolution and costs $82,500. The standard C200K costs $75,000, the C200KEvolution $89,500.

The four-cylinder engine without the supercharger produces 95kW at 5500 rpm and 190Nm of torque at 4000 rpm. With the booster it puts out 120kW at 5300 rpm and 230Nm of torque between 2500 - 4800 rpm. The standard transmission across the range is a five-speed automatic with manual override, what Mercedes-Benz calls "touch shift."

The good-looking sports coupe opens up another segment for Mercedes-Benz in New Zealand as it heads towards 800 sales for the year. But it can only get its hands on 24 coupes before Christmas. It has ordered 60 for 2002 and 80 for 2003.

The A-Class has been given an extensive facelift, including technology from the flagship S-Class. The long-wheelbase model (170mm longer) offers more interior room and is expected to gradually take sales away from the standard car.

Mercedes-Benz has sold 280 A-Class vehicles since the car arrived here in October 1998. Most have been bought by professionals aged between 40 and 55. Two out of every 10 have gone to first-time Merc buyers.