Review: the Mercedes C250d Cabriolet

A diesel cabriolet? No thanks...

Are you sure? The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class C250d Cabriolet could well be good enough to change your mind.

Go on, shock me.

The dugga-dugga clatter of four cylinders under compression ignition isn't too bad a problem here. We're still being pulled along by the ageing 2.1-litre 201bhp engine rather than Merc's sainted new 2.0-litre diesel, but the same tricks that keep the new SLC 250d reasonably hushed and smooth have worked well here.

Is it actively nice to listen too? No. Would you ever chase revs in it? Of course not. But it doesn’t spoil the car, which is as good as you can hope from a diesel soft-top. Raise the thickset fabric roof (a 20 second job possible up to 31mph) and you're further removed from the unglamorous motor's chuntering.

Isn’t it all blustery with the roof down?

It’s not too bad at all, in fact. However, there is an aesthetic price to pay. See, as standard, the C-Class Cabriolet gets a duo of turbulence-reducing gadgets. Click the button on the centre console and the Aircap – a sort of table tennis net that lives in the windscreen header rail – rises electrically into the airstream, forcing airflow over the cabin. Meanwhile, an electric wind deflector behind the rear seats tidies up the airflow and stops it cascading backwards into the cabin and ruffling your collar.

Together, the systems make a big difference to the amount of blowiness inside the car, reducing it from acceptable to downright placid. But why do both systems have to look so utterly ungainly?

The rear deflector looks like the pop-up tea tray Q-brand installed in Connery’s DB5 (it’s not bulletproof, we assume) and the Aircap itself, as on the E-Class Cabrio, is hopelessly awkward. Which rather spoils the point of dropping the roof and looking all posey in your Mercedes soft-top, doesn’t it?

Okay then – how usable is it?

Rear seating – for two – is fine for kids and okay for fairly slim adults. It’s not the seats which are cramped, but the access to them, past the rather bulky front chairs, full of electric adjustment, heating and neck-warming tricks. Meanwhile, the rear passengers aren’t quite as protected by the Aircap as the driver up front, so bring a headscarf.

Still, if it flops about like an old Saab there’s no point in the Cabrio at all, right?

No complaints here. The 120kg or so of reinforcement strapped into the drop-top keeps everything flex and creak-free. The acid test is if, driving for 20 minutes or so with the roof up, you can forget you’re in a canvas-roofed car at all. And the answer is yes, you can. The rear visibility’s even pretty well-sorted.

Bet it’s more about cruising than any sporting smarts, though...

A relaxed 50mph mooch is obviously the car’s favourite habitat, but even the plain ol’ £42,730 C250d Cabrio will hold its own if hustled along. The steering’s got the usual C-Class foible of lots of speed and random weighting/AWOL feedback, so it’s quite easy to overload the front tyres if you’re clumsy. Acclimatise to the sensitivity and it’s actually rather agile.

It’s swift too – this engine might be an old hack but with 201bhp and 369lb ft (albeit held for just 200rpm) to deploy it never feels overawed by the Cabrio’s extra bulk. In fact, you could see off a Toyota GT86 in your diesel Merc drop-top: 0-62mph is done in 7.2 seconds and it’ll do 150mph flat out. Not sure if the Aircap’s much good by then, mind you...