My Mercedes C 220d (W205) has been primarily driven in peak Bengaluru Traffic, a far cry from the mile-munching the Germans had engineered this car for.
BHPian ttm_220d recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
1200 KM of highways, ghats and torrential rain in my Mercedes C 220D
(A snapshot of the Merc when we stopped for a tea)
I feel a true car guy knows when his vehicle needs a long drive to really stretch its legs. My Mercedes C 220d (W205) had not been on a long drive in 2024, it was primarily being driven in peak Bengaluru Traffic, inching forward at a snail’s pace, a far cry from the mile munching the Germans had engineered this car for.
(The dense fog in the ghats made for my most favorite pictures of this car)
When the opportunity arose last week to drive to Kanjirappally (a town in the hills of Kerala famous for its rubber plantations) I knew it would be the perfect drive for this car as there would be the fast streches of NH-44 in Tamil Nadu, the uphill drive in the ghat section and switchback country roads which Kerala is notoriously famous for. My father and I were quite keen on this drive and spent some time researching the optimal route to take prioritising a driving experience over time to destination.
(View of the tea plantations)
What a drive! The rough route we took was from Bengaluru, Salem, Karur, Dindigul, Vatalkundu, Theni Cumbum, Mundakayam and Kanjirapally. From fast highways to thick fog through the wet ghat roads, the car performed absolutely flawlessly. This is the kind of drive I will remember for a long time.
This blog will focus more on how the car performed on the drive rather than the route itself.
(Cruising at good speed as less traffic, car was rock solid)
The speed segment:
Left home early at 5 am, it was Diwali Saturday, we were expecting a lot of traffic but the roads were empty, quite empty. Left home in Indiranagar and reached Hosur in not more than 40 minutes, and once I reached Tamil Nadu, the combination of Tamil Nadu being speed tolerant (Much more so than KL or KA) and empty roads meant I could carry extremely fast speeds. The car had its tyres changed last year, and since there was not much running since then, the car was planted on the highway, like a rock. It has been quite a while since I was able drive at speed confidently, without much traffic and the car just ate up the miles. The miles sped past and before I knew it, already reached Salem. During this stretch we would often hit the off pothole of rumble strip, and you realise how much ‘heft’ these German cars have. I was cruising at a comfortable 120-130 KMPH and everything felt refined and quiet on the inside. It would be hard to tell I was actually travelling that fast, only the speedometer gives it away. A huge miss I am starting to really appreciate in my Seltos GT is all the ADAS Tech. The lane keep assist, steering assist and blind spot warning as well as the ORVM cameras really do make driving on the highway a lot easier. The Merc is solid for when you really want to engage with the drive, but for a drive where you just want to go from A to B, the tech like what is present on the new Seltos does help.
(absolutely thick fog and rain while driving through the ghats)
The Ghat Section-
Usually in the ghat section, it’s a game of chance hoping you’re not surrounded by crazy and immature drivers trying to overtake on precarious hairpin bends, but here apart from the isolated and rogue Scorpio or State Bus, the other cars were keeping a safe distance and driving at a decent speed. I put the car in Sport Plus Mode. Overtakes were instant and seamless. Even the Diesel engine opened up and sounded a tiny bit sporty when I was performing quick overtakes. Out of nowhere, the beautiful and sunny ghat road became engulfed with torrential rain and thick fog. The visibility was so poor, it was not more than ten feet at some instances. In these situations, I really wish sedans had rear wipers, you just need a rear wiper in these situations and the omission of the same in my Merc was a bit challenging. I was very worried about aqua plaining on this stretch because even if there is rain or fog, you still have to overtake the slow-moving tractor in front you or it would take forever to reach the destination (the merc is rear wheel drive). Thankfully the traction control worked well and I was gentler on the throttle.
(Driving through an intense downpour in Kerala)
The night segments-
Driving in the heartland of Kerala is a must for any driver I feel, you learn a lot about dealing with many things but one doesn’t expect the sheer darkness while driving on these stretches. The darkness and the car windows fogging up (a huge problem for me in KL) are a challenge but what I am impressed by is the headlight performance on the Merc, it’s solid with a good reach. The only feature is miss from my Seltos is the auto high-beam assist. The roads might be dark but there’s still a lot of traffic in the other direction so having to constantly turn the high beams off was slightly annoying.
The Really Rainy Segment-
I am reminded of that scene in Jurassic park when the power goes out in the heavy rain, maybe my city dweller roots are just not used to driving through this much rain but what struck me the most was this car has a really good ability of giving you the confidence to drive through whatever. Honestly, even the potholes and bumps it takes on quite well. Yes, it scrapes on speed bumps but you never once feel that this car wont drive though anything. The only true nemesis this car has is wading through water. Thankfully, despite the heavy rain, KL roads had better drainage than our Bluru roads and did not encounter any deep water anywhere. If there is deep water, just don’t drive through it.
The return journey was nothing to write home about, it was super boring at stretches, so boring that the attention alert popped up for the first time on this trip.
(attention assist warning)
Overall, you really appreciate German engineering in moments like these. This car still has some time with us and I think there are many drives like to come in the near future.
Hope you enjoyed reading about my experience! Let me know if you have any comments.
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