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By Jonathan Crouch

Mercedes' fifth generation C-Class Estate looks a more complete package, thinks Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Reviewword count: 53

The fifth generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate offers a smarter exterior, a very different cabin and a bit more space out back. This car fully embraces various forms of engine electrification, offers the optional application of Mercedes' latest autonomous driving technology and brings more than a dash of S-Class luxury to this important segment.

Backgroundword count: 181

The fifth generation C-Class Estate offers the largest boot of any C-Class station wagon yet made. That isn't saying too much, the 490-litre figure being only 30-litres bigger than the previous generation model and still well inferior to apparently smaller, humbler station wagons. Still, buyers in this segment don't usually come looking for ultimate capacity. They want sophistication and class - which this latest generation MK5 model provides in spades. What's on offer here is a sharper drive to temp BMW folk; and a big enough step forward in technology and efficiency to make a potential Audi customer think again. We've heard this before down the decades of course, particularly with this MK5 model's 'W205'-series predecessor, launched in 2014. But there are strong grounds for Mercedes' claims for conquest business this time round. Under the skin, many aspects of its updated 'MRA' ('Mercedes Rear Architecture') platform are shared with the latest S-Class - as is much else. The aim is to redefine what 'luxury' means in the premium badged part of the mid-sized estate segment. Sounds promising. Let's take a look.

Driving Experienceword count: 308

There's quite a change here. This latest C-Class Estate is powered only by electrified four cylinder powerplants - yes, right up to the top C 63 AMG variant. The mainstream engines have mild hybrid tech, with pricier plug-in options if you want them. The core petrol models are the C180 and the C200, which share a 1.5-litre unit offering, respectively, either 170 or 204hp. Next up is the 2.0-litre C300 with 258hp. Mercedes hasn't abandoned diesel either. There are two options, both of which use a revised 2.0-litre unit, which now gets an extra 42cc of capacity. The C220d has 197hp and the top C300d has 265hp. All C-Class models have to be had with 9-speed automatic transmission. And the C200, the C300 and the C220d can all be optioned with a revised and more efficient version of Mercedes' '4MATIC' 4WD system, which can now send a greater proportion of power to the front axle. At the top of the range, Mercedes has engineered the usual flagship high performance AMG 4MATIC models to complete the range. These both now have four cylinders, starting with the 402hp C 43, which is a mild hybrid. The top Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance variant is a four cylinder PHEV with a huge 680hp combined output. We mentioned plug-in options, said by Mercedes to be 'significantly more electric' - and so it proves. Courtesy of a much larger 25kWh battery pack beneath the boot floor, the C300e petrol PHEV manages between 34 and 62 miles of all-electric driving range. It's also pretty quick, courtesy of a combined 304hp output and can drive in all-electric mode at up to 87mph. All PHEV C-Class Estates get air suspension as standard. For those who don't care much about plug-in electrification, Mercedes has engineered the usual flagship high performance AMG models to complete the range.

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