Mercedes-Benz B200T – Turbo-Powered B-Class Puts it Up a Notch
We tried the Mercedes B170 not too long ago. It was a nice car, nice to drive, nice to be seen in, nice to handle, and nice to look at…just nice. As a family vehicle, it is great, and the power from the 1.7 litre engine was just adequate, nothing more, nothing less. If you wanted a little more power, you could opt for the B200T, which is a turbo-charged version of the B-Class for the price of RM289k.
The Mercedes-Benz B200T is a different animal altogether, but not from the outside. It looks pretty much like the B170, except for the badging, (which some kiasus might be able to fix quite cheaply, but the giveaway would be the AMG 18-inch wheels. They are two inches larger, and shod with 215/40 R18 tyres, a profile so low that you see a lot of rim and hardly any tyre at all. The rims are also 7-inches wide, one inch more than those on the B170, and are made by AMG, DaimlerChrysler’s motor sport arm.
In addition, the B200T comes with Bi-xenon headlights with an active headlight system. Hidden in the innards is a sports suspension for improved handling. To justify the additional price tag, both the driver and front passenger seats are electrically adjustable, and last but not least, there are gearshift buttons mounted on the steering wheel for manual shifting.
Engine capacity has been increased to 2034 cubic centimetres, and hooking on a turbocharger gives it 77 horses more to make a total of 193 horses, and a torque of 280 Nm. The turbocharger is a move away from the traditional ‘Kompressor’ (supercharger) solution employed by Mercedes-Benz, and this seems to be the latest trend in Germany. boost pressure is kept relatively low for reliability, and although a typical turbocharged engine of this capacity is capable of more than 300 horses, DaimlerChrysler seem to have adopted a ‘play safe’ philosophy. Tipping the scales at 1,370 kg, the power to weight ratio of the B200T is similar to that of the SLK 230, and that means it is fun to drive too. The difference is of course, that the B200 is a front-wheel drive vehicle, that again is a move away from the traditional rear-wheel drive format of DaimlerChrysler, and the vehicle dynamics are slightly different.
Power is transmitted to the wheels through a 7-speed constantly variable transmission (CVT), dubbed by DaimlerChrysler as ‘Autotronic’. Zero to 100 km/hr acceleration is 8.2 seconds, while top speed is 218 km/hr. With a sports package, the front Macpherson struts and the rear parabolic suspension keep the B200T very planted on the road. Handling is crisp, and the large wheels no doubt help too.
Inside, the trim is very ‘Mercedes’, very plush, leather upholstery and high quality materials. Interestingly, the centres of the seat bottoms and backs are covered with an off-white coloured ‘brushed’ leather that makes them look very classy, but would perhaps require more care and attention since they are likely to get stained more easily than dark coloured leathers. This car will pamper, but it also needs a little bit of pampering too; people with dirty clothes are not encouraged to board.
The high point of the interior is of course the panoramic roof that opens up in stages, a feature that went down very well with the little kids who clamoured for it to be open so that they could stick their heads out while we drove very slowly in a recreational park in the evening.
The B200T is a 5-seater, with a hatch at the rear, giving it the qualities of a small MPV, and these qualities are further enhanced by the fact that the rear seats also split and fold down flat to provide more space for bulky items. Legroom is ample for everybody, and the rear passengers have the additional luxury of an air-conditioner blower located in the space between the two front seats.
Being almost an MPV, the driver and passengers sit a little higher than in a conventional car, and the view is quite commanding. The downside of sitting higher is of course that feeling of instability when cornering; however, there is a seat height adjuster that electrically allows one to lower the driver’s seat by quite a bit, and when I did that, the driving sensation immediately improved. Anyway, once you drive the B200T around a bit, you will get used to the sensation, and you will regain your confidence in the vehicle when you feel it consistently taking all the corners with ease. The sports suspension feels pretty good, being on the firm side of comfortable; the 18-inch wheels may be a little of an overkill, and even though they do contribute to the great road-holding, the cushioning effect of 40-series tyres is practically non-existent, and over bumps and potholes in the housing estates, one has to be a little careful so as not to bend those beautiful wheels. On the highway, however, the B200T remains quite comfortable, as affirmed by one of our lady testers sitting in the rear seat at close to 180 km/hr.
On the road, the B200T is fun vehicle. It will toodle along at low speeds, and do what normal, sane people want to do with a vehicle such as this. When the horns start to poke out through your skull, it can scoot faster than most cars on the road. Well driven, it does give a very good account of itself, as can be attested by a couple of my media colleagues who could hardly run away even though they were in the more powerful E280. It is a vehicle that will fit almost any application and anybody. It carries more than a C-Class can, and probably outperforms most of its variants except for the C230K. It does not exude the class of the E-Class, but it is a practical vehicle if you need something more than a car.
