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On the road the Benz B200 drives as a solid sedan that, despite the tallness, isn't perturbed by side winds. Photo Gallery
- The B200 is a clever five-seat, five-door hatch that is roomy and despite an archaic drivetrain it's efficient and frugal.
- The handling is secure though because you sit higher in the B200, there's more body lean.
I was as wrong about the Mercedes-Benz B200 as I was about Nancy Freckle back in school.
The first time I was told I had to dance with Nancy Freckle I spat the dummy big time.
Nancy Freckle was a mean piece of work with a penchant for pushing and an attitude a prison warder would kill to emulate.
Nancy Freckle was going to toss me around the dance floor like a rag doll and I was facing humiliation in front of my parents, my peers and the parents of my peers.
Even at age seven, I knew that before me, towering 30cm above me, was the woman who would crush my manhood all over the polished timber boards of the school hall.
But, on the night, after clearly failing in my bid to back out of the dance, Nancy Freckle was not herself.
She was almost charming, polite and quite amiable in a move that changed my mind forever on judging things on past impressions.
I haven't previously been a huge fan of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class yet I understand it has appeal.
The B-Class — and you don't have to go past Year 3 to guess this is bigger than the A — appears as just an A with more of the unappealing stuff.
But that was my mistake. You see the B is unlike the A. Where the A is very European and made for crowded, musty cobbled streets, the B is a clever five-seat, five-door hatch that is roomy, versatile and despite an archaic drivetrain, efficient and frugal.
There is nothing startling about the style. It's tall, rounded with a heavy nose and tapered flanks.
The doors are tall and that's because the floor level is un-naturally high, a byproduct of the sandwich floor construction that raises the occupants to minimise injury in a crash. The A-Class shares this design.
You sit almost straight legged so it feels sporty until you glance sideways at the lights and are sharing stares with a motorcyclist. The steering wheel feels uncomfortably vertical.
Yet though it's a different feeling to most cars, it all works. The B200 tested is one of three models in the series — there's also a diesel and a turbo-petrol — and has a specification sheet that, like Nancy, doesn't impress on first look.
If you picked up the spec sheet for a 1975 car, the data would be about the same.
This can mean a few things: The engine is archaic and you're buying yesterday's technology; it's so simple that it is as reliable as a steak knife; and/or you don't give a flying raspberry tart about engines.
The B200 has a two-litre, four-cylinder with two valves per cylinder (much more common is the more efficient four valves) and a single camshaft (its rivals have twin cams, again for more efficiency).
It has a modest 100kW — that's not a lot — yet gets along surprisingly briskly thanks to an automatic continuously-variable transmission (CVT).
The biggest surprise is my 8.1 litres/100km city and suburban average — not bad for something that, on paper, is a bit dull.
On the road it drives as a solid sedan that, despite the tallness, isn't perturbed by side winds.
The handling is secure though because you sit higher in the B200, there's more body lean. That can slow many drivers down and that's a good thing.
I also rate highly the visibility, feature list and ride comfort. As I mentioned, it's a surprise package.
Meanwhile, the cabin is expansive and versatile. The rear seats split and fold flat to create a tall and wide cargo area. There is a full-size spare under the floor.
The ambience is neat and efficient though some switchgear can be fiddly.
There's no doubt the three-pointed star sells the car. But it has a lot more to offer than image and as a family machine for people wanting quality, space and safety, it's up there with higher-priced SUVs.
For people that don't need and don't want to pay for all-wheel drive, the B200 could get you dancing.
MERCEDES-BENZ B200
Price: from $46,200 ($52,690 tested*)
Engine: 2-litre, 4-cyl
Power: 100kW @ 5750rpm
Torque: 185Nm @ 3500-4000rpm
Transmission: CVT; front-drive
Performance: 0-100km/h: 10.2 seconds, top speed: 190km/h
Economy (official): 7.4 litres/100km, tested): 8.1 litres/100km
Emissions: 176g/km (Corolla: 175g/km)
