Lifestyle

Behind the wheels of the Mercedes-Benz Dream Cars

Cars of desire

02.03.2017

By Su Fen Tan

Behind the wheels of the Mercedes-Benz Dream Cars

What better way to experience the cars of desire by Mercedes-Benz than to take them for a mini road trip? Off to Cameron Highlands and Ipoh we went with the kind folks of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia and the stars of the media drive—that is the Dream Cars collection, of course: the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet, Mercedes-Benz SLC, Mercedes-AMG C 63S Coupé, Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupé, Mercedes-AMG GT S, and the Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupé.

 

“The dream cars of Mercedes-Benz are the embodiment that makes our brand fascinating,” says Mark Raine, Vice President of Sales & Marketing Passenger Cars, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia. “They are the brand shapers of our Mercedes-Benz cars. It combines power and performance, coupled with the most expressive and desirable design available in the market today. With this exciting dream car collection by Mercedes-Benz, the most demanding customers in the premium market are spoilt for choice.”

 

New to the lineup this year are the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet and SLC, so of course we had to take them for a spin. First up is the C 250 Cabriolet, our ride for the first leg of the drive up to Cameron Highlands. For those who love the sexy lines of the C-Class Coupé, and take pleasure in the thrill of open-top driving—this is one for you. As expected from the sleek beauty, performance isn’t compromised. The rated output for the C 250 variant is at 211hp/350Nm, turbo-powered by the 9G-Tronic automatic transmission. The latter applies to all variants. I took to the passenger seat for this leg of the drive, letting my car mate take the wheel, and enjoyed the smooth, quiet drive up the hill—the multi-layer acoustic soft top definitely worked its magic in reducing ambient noise. 

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Next, I had a go at the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupé—the dream car with a racing DNA, and arguably my favourite of the lot. It boasts the AMG 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo engine with 510hp, an in-house development from Affalterbach. While it was impossible to put the 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds claim to the test on the winding roads of Cameron Highlands, I was thoroughly impressed by how the C 63 S handled the tight corners with power and precision, responding swiftly to steering movements and acceleration—it has a rated torque of 700Nm at 1750-4500 rpm after all. 

{insert gallery tpl=”slide-freesize.tpl” id=”Mercedes-Benz C63 S Coupe” rid=”5016″ order=”a_tstamp”}

In Ipoh, we took on the other new kid on the block: the SLC 300. This new generation Mercedes-Benz roadster proved to be a luxurious, dynamic and comfortable ride—the perfect weekend getaway car for two. While the car packs a 245hp/370Nm 2-litre four-cylinder engine for a fun, sporty drive, it also showcases design at its finest. Despite being one of the smaller cars in the Dream Cars lineup, it houses a high-capacity boot of 335 litres, more than enough trunk space for two even with the roof down. Speaking of roofs, the panoramic vario-roof with Magic Sky Control fitted on the SLC 300 features a glass roof that can be lightened or darkened at the touch of a button, giving you welcome shade when needed.

{insert gallery tpl=”slide-freesize.tpl” id=”Mercedes-Benz SLC 300″ rid=”5017″ order=”a_tstamp”}

Alas, so many dream cars, so little time. We didn’t get to drive them all, but we sure had a thrill with the cars that we got to experience. And evidently, with the Dream Cars collection, desirability is part of the attraction. Sitting on the higher range on the price spectrum (understandably), they are a symbol of luxury, elegance and aspirations. They may not be the most common of the Mercedes-Benz models you see on the road, but once you spot one, your eyes are automatically drawn to the vehicle in admiration—flaunting desirable design and performance, these are worthy dream cars, through and through.  

 

More information on the Mercedes-Benz Dream Cars collection at www.mercedes-benz.com.my.

 

Related stories:

Review: The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupé

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia presents the Dream Cars collection

 

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