Time for a new family car.

[MikeT]

Heh, I assure you I will be in the 6s, not much worse than your car

[42Kruiser]

We shall see who's MB vehicle uses more fuel over the next 6 months. No joy driving for me, no sir.

[MikeT]

We had a sneak preview of our car when we were in Victoria Thursday evening. It had just arrived by road, showing 70 km on the ODO. I authorised its being driven over here from New Westminster, in order to get it faster.I LOVE the colour (first time I've actually seen it on a car) and the interior colour (light grey).Delivery is Saturday noon.

[darren]

Shiny!

[MikeT]

And it had railroad grime all over it!

[NJV]

The configuration of the headlights reminds me of the 451 smart headlights, not the shape, just the order of brights, lows, signals and the type of lights.So what (if any) kind of winter tires will be using on this car? OR do you just use All Season's on the Island? I mean, how much snow do you really get?

[MikeT]

I got a set of Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2s from FastEddy, on steelies with hubcaps. I'll use them three months a year....The origins of the smart and A-Class (from which the B is derived) were at the same time, same design concept (sandwich body, big inside and small outside) and the rear suspensions are surprisingly similar!Edit: no bug inside!!

[lebikerboy]

Is that a German bug inside the car? Just kidding. Sounds like you're more than a little excited. Enjoy you weekend.

[danno]

Nice car. I always check them out when I'm at the dealer for smart services but this time they didn't have any.Those pics do make it look more silver than it actually is; it is a nice light blue.

[I'm_now_smarter]

Looks lovely! Enjoy your first drives this weekend.

[smartcruzin]

Congratulations on the safe delivery of your family's new addition!! I knew you'd love that shade of metallic blue. There was another leaving the Fairfield Plaza yesterday(elderly lady-don't worry, not yours on a joy ride!), a place so accident prone I wouldn't park anything ever in that lot -never a new MB. Found myself looking for a dent as I drove by while cringing.Anyway, I wanted to be there for your noon delivery but didn't want to detract even a second from your family's excitement time. I'll see if I can have a peek on the way up island one weekend. As great as a our new cars are even better is a family so close knit that wants to share vacation time together on a road trip. Brings back many fond memories myself.Enjoy your new baby girl this weekend. Looking forward to your critiques and parallels in your future posts, contrasting the differences/similarities between the MB and Smart lines. Keep seeing the new ML CDI in black and would like one. Let us know what MB sites you prefer to frequent so our members can "research" future MB purchases.Happy safe motoring this weekend to you & your family, Mike!! We patiently await your positive reports and pics. Ride on brother!!

[MikeT]

Thanks, we got the car and if Jennifer would finally come home with it I would be at Duke Point waiting for a ferry right now....

[I'm_now_smarter]

So, the good news is that your family likes the car. and the bad news is that they like the car... and so ask daddy for the car keys!(my father can empathize with you... when I was in university, he never saw the car on Friday and Saturday nights. HE had to bum rides from HIS friends! since I was willing to be DD, it meant everybody trusted me to get us all home safely, and my father didn't have to worry about me being dependent upon some guy to get home).

[Duck]

Congrats Mike and family! Enjoy the new toy. -Iain

[herbie]

Congrats Mike. I know you and your family will enjoy this vehicle for many years to come. I love that color. It would look awesome on a smart.I saw a red B200 in town this week. Next time I see it, I just might go over and talk Merc with the owner...:-)

[MikeT]

Just got back from Seattle, a good trip, car was in the low 6s L/100 km on the highway legs (105-115 km/h). 2h wait at the border coming home.....more later.

[smart142]

Congratulations!!! I'm looking forward to your review of the ''B'' after the initial break in....

[MikeT]

I LOVE THIS CAR!

Well that is the best summary. I reminds me a whole lot of the Renault Scénic that we liked in Europe and goes one or two better in most ways.

Mainly, it looks better. Although the styling is conservative compared to the Toyota Matrix and Scénic, it is fairly striking in person.

The interior is also far nicer to look at. Although the Renault had more storage cubbies etc, the Mercedes is not half bad (and will be better when I get two underseat drawers).

The engine is smoother than it should be, for a long stroke 2 L, and the car has enough torque to pull up a steep hill at 80 km/h in top gear. It gets better fuel economy than my smart on hills where I need to gear down to 5th in the fortwo.

The fuel economy shows great potential. The number I got on the drive to Seattle was 6.2, and today on the short commute to work and back (twice, came home at lunch), we got 6.8. Remarkable! I think sub-6 numbers are possible, and for a 1345 kg car running on 205 section tires, that is massively impressive, to me at least. Tonight on a cold start after an 8 hour rest, I got a 6.6 on the way home, including a short drive to Safeway, where I stopped for a couple of minutes.

The seats are firm, as are smart seats, but the difference is that they are so adjustable that it's hard to find the optimal position. I am still working on it. Old Peugeots have more comfortable seats. The seats adjust for:

height/basic tilt

[*]of course, horizontally

[*]backrest angle

[*]seat cushion tilt (front of cushion)

[*]lumbar support

[*]headrest height

[*]headrest angle

Not to mention the height and reach-adjustable steering wheel. So the ergonomics are almost infinitely variable. I need a thousand monkeys in a thousand B Classes, experimenting to find my optimum!

The sunroof is beautiful. Huge opening, silent when closed, excellent front/rear screens (independently adjustable), it's worth the money.

The acceleration in 5th is strong enough from 90 that gearing down is counter-productive. A little dab on the accelerator shoots you from 90 to 140 in no time. The shifter is the smoothest one I've ever used. Amazing!

The low beam headlights are that pseudo DOT/E-Code hybrid and are actually not all that bad. The high beams are great. The heated seats are very powerful and the settings switch from level three to level 1 after 15 minutes, and off entirely 20 minutes later.

Visibility is excellent, and the interior mirror is height-adjustable (hooray!).

It seems like a first class car. Time will tell. I will update this from time to time....

[smartcruzin]

Sounds sweet and I'm sure the quality is better now that MB has dumped Chrysler! Enjoy

[MikeT]

Delivery day.

[MikeT]

We got 6.4 in the rain with two up on the way back from Victoria tonight, A/C and heated seats on. Lifetime FE is showing on the car's BordComputer as 7.3 L/100 km.Boo yeah!

[mixed]

Nice lookin ride Mike and possibly my next car........

[MikeT]

The Turbo's FE is significantly worse. In all honesty, the B 200 car is an absolute rocket compared to my Peugeot, which is already mind-blowingly faster than a remapped smart cdi; it has more power and torque than I would ever need.....plus it's capable of sub 6 L/100 numbers according to Derek Lecours (located in QC) of the B-Class forum.Also, the Turbo is a more complex engine with higher internal stresses. So if it's a 300,000+ km keeper, stick with the base model.

[mixed]

Go turbo.... and 6 speed.

yeah ..........I am pretty much all turbo'd out.... this will probably be my last.

[smartcruzin]

Oh no, I'm totally in love with the new ML CDI. Saw another today in the dark metallic blue shade. Kiss retirement goodbye for a couple of extra years, I think.Damn, just when I thought the Smart may be my last vehicle MB keeps producing these works of art! Sweet machines.