Mercedes-Benz B-Class B170 BlueEfficiency Sport road test

When it comes to building greener cars, everyone’s at it. Even premium carmakers like Mercedes-Benz are jumping on the bandwagon, with the launch of its Blue Efficiency range of cars. However, unlike most other manufacturers, Mercedes has decided to tweak its petrol-powered cars, rather than its diesels. It does this by the addition of a stop/start mechanism, as found in models from the likes of BMW. This new system will initially be found in A-, B- and C-Class models, but it’s likely that it will be rolled out on to other models in the future, starting with the E-class in 2010.

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Performance

Mercedes-Benz B-Class The B170 BlueEfficiency is powered by a 1.7-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 114bhp and 114lb-ft of torque. The 0-62mph sprint is achieved in an unsprint-like 11.3 seconds, before pushing to a top speed of 114mph. 114 is clearly a significant number for this car. The performance is definitely what you’d call lack-lustre: the 0-62mph time, if anything, feels a bit on the generous side, as it seems to take forever for the dial on the speedo to reach it. There’s no real thrust from the torque to speak of, either, so the B170 moves along competently but it’s all a bit anodyne and uninspiring. Go elsewhere if you’re looking for thrills. The engine is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox that provides decent-enough shifts, but it could do with an extra cog, especially for driving on open roads and motorways.

Ride & Handling

Mercedes-Benz B-Class On the road, the B-Class is adequate but, we have to say, a little unimpressive. The ride isn’t great, which is not what you’d expect from a Mercedes-Benz. It gets a little too easily unsettled on poorly surfaced roads and doesn’t cope that well with the speed bumps that increasingly blight our urban landscapes. The torsion beam rear suspension is largely to blame here, suffering in comparison with the multi-link systems that are used on the likes of the Fords, Volkswagens and Audis. The body roll in the high-sided B170 isn’t that bad: it’s fairly well contained and cornering at speed shouldn’t prove too unsettling for occupants. The B170’s steering is a little on the light side for our taste when driving around town at low speed and it doesn’t get any better at higher speeds on more challenging roads, lacking accuracy in the bends and when cornering.

Build Quality & Reliability

Mercedes-Benz had a bit of a wobbly period for reliability a few years back, as a result of a cost-cutting programme. However, this is over now and the German carmaker has returned to building solid, high-quality cars. Indeed, the most recent JD Power customer satisfaction survey placed Mercedes sixth in the league table of 28 carmakers. The B-Class doesn’t show up in the JD Power table of most reliable popular cars, which is probably explained away by the fact that it doesn’t sell in large numbers in the UK, rather than because it’s particularly unreliable. However, the A-Class, which is the closest car in the Mercedes range in terms of shared components to the B-Class, did well, coming in 26th place. Quality is an issue, though, with the B-Class, despite a recent facelift: it still feels a bit like a cheap Merc, with materials that wouldn’t pass muster at Audi, for example.

Safety & Security

Safety is the one area in which the B170 excels. It comes out very well in crash testing by Euro NCAP, with five stars for adult occupant protection, four stars for child occupant protection and two stars for pedestrian protection. These scores are, in part, a result of a cleverly engineered car that has excellent side-impact protection and a special floor that allows the engine to slide underneath the cabin (instead of into it) in the event of an accident. There’s also a full complement of safety equipment on-board, including ABS with brake assist, ESP with Acceleration Skid Control, six airbags, active head restraints, Isofix child seat mount points, three-point seatbelts all round, seatbelt pre-tensioners, tyre pressure warning system, emergency lighting that responds to a crash and adaptive brake lights. For security, there’s an alarm system with immobiliser, central locking and locking wheel nuts.

Space & Practicality

The B170 certainly has a spacious, airy cabin, with lots of light. The steering column adjusts for height and reach and a height-adjustable driver’s seat, so achieving a comfortable driving position should be easy for anyone, whatever their size. In the back, there’s also a decent amount of head- and legroom, but it falls down in comparison with other compact MPVs – which, in essence, is what it is – because it only has five seats, rather than seven (or, in the Honda FR-V’s case, six). What it lacks in seating, though, it makes up for in bootspace: 544 litres with the seats up, expanding to 1,530 litres when the rear seats are folded. And if you find parallel parking a problem, you can add an optional parking assist system, that finds a space big enough for the car and steers it into position for you. Very nifty, but not cheap at £550.

Ownership & Value

This new BlueEfficiency model has been tweaked by Mercedes engineers to return better fuel economy and emit less carbon dioxide – but not by a huge amount. On the combined cycle, the B170 consumes 44.1mpg (an improvement of 2.6mpg) and CO2 emissions are an unspectacular 156g/km (a cut of 7g/km), placing it in Band G for road tax (£150 per year). When you compare these figures to those recorded by some of the competition – the BMW 116d’s 64.2mpg and 118g/km, the Ford Focus Econetic’s 65.7mpg and 114g/km, or the VW Golf Bluemotion’s 68.9mpg and 107g/km – you realise that Mercedes has some way to go. And it’s not as if you’ll get much of your money back on a B170 when you come to sell, either: residual values for the B-Class have traditionally been pretty low, so they’ve become known as something of a bargain as a second-hand car.

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