The C Drive Tour

Experience the drive? While it is a nice makeover and the C-class is bread and butter, what in the world is MBZ trying to say, this is a revolutionary car or something. I wish these automakers do come out with something the world can get very excited about, so far in the last many years i see nothing great?

i was invited to the one in SF but i cant make it. lol

its a taste of lexus wannabe event where you get to drive the car and eat gourmet food.

'taste of lexus' was an attempt to copy BMW's long-standing driving schools. of course, since lexus are so boring to drive, they have to smother people with gourmet food to make the events interesting....

audi is running something similar too, but it may have certain hidden restrictions. unfortunately this article was posted AFTER the event finished in SF. but from what i hear the event was pretty lame anyway.

Lexus events are first class. The best and most expensive foods are flown in like Russian Caviar, Japanese wines etc. I enjoyed every Lexus event I went to. I can't say the same for any German event because you first of all had to pay to get in (typical German) and then they served no food unless you paid again. In order to drive a car you had to pay. When you exited the event you had to pay an exit fee and if you wanted to go back you had to pay again to get in. Nothing beats a Lexus event.

you get what you pay for...lexus events are free, while bmw and mercedes CHARGE for most of their programs. that tells you how much people actually want to drive a lexus. however, i think this C event is free if you've been invited.

The Lexus dealership networks can afford to host their events for free. They more than pay for themselves in sales of vehicles...

This is not about saying that the C is a revolutionary car. Rather that its an improved M/B C class and to get as many people to drive it as possible.(including new potential buyers). I think it's a good way to market w/o having people go into a car dealership and by pressured to buy.

I have been to BMW driving events. They certainly didn't charge, and were a bit better than the MB events (professional race car drivers were hired). But both were fun.

I think these promotional days are good, many companies do them.

For some odd reason Mini, Volvo and Lexus invite me to lots of events...I can't go (too young for them to let me drive)...the only reason they ask me is because I got a couple of brochures.
Merc don't invite me, I'm not rich enough (I seriously reckon they check house prices before you get an invite).

LOl. too young? How old are you if I may ask. You dont seem young at all.

I'm 17.

They won't let anyone under 21 drive at those events, insurance etc.

Youth does not help in this situation unfortunately as most teenagers just want to take a test drive. I'm a test driver also because I want to pick a car from a manufacturer who got it right and then select the dealer who will give me the best price (usually cost pus a hundred minus any factory-to-dealer and factory-to-consumer incentives and the dealer keeps the holdback). Actually they have no way of telling whether or not you can afford a certain car.

The best test drive I ever did was in a hot new Chrysler 300 when it first came out. It was on a special temporary track that Chrysler set up to showcase their new models during a cross country tour. I tried to turn the 300 over on a sharp 90-degree turn but the Mercedes-supplied suspension components it had completely prevented that.

If you have a certain presence, they will always be happy to serve you. I went to the fur salon at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in White Plains a couple of decades ago when my wife was looking for a fur coat. I was dressed like a bum with jeans and slouched in a chair while their models paraded before us wearing various furs they wanted me to buy for my wife. They never once tried to get rid of me. My wife is always embarrassed when I do that but I always manage to get a real good deal on luxury goods.

I went to my local Mercedes dealership the other day, and the car looks spectacular in person.
Much better than the last generation.

Im going to the MB event in Chicago as well as the Audi event next week. They are always fun. BMW's Ultimate Drive is always fun and its a worthwhile event because it benefits breast cancer research. I am really looking forward to driving the R8 next week at the Audi event. I think that one is gonna be a blast. A few years back when the Cayenne was first introduced they had an event for it that was freakin amazing. Had a real good time at that one.
T

where is the audi one?? anything in cali??

I don't know if there are any in California but the link is www.audidrivingexperience.com .Good luck.
T

Looks like Mercedes is borrowing a page out of the Lexus playbook with these events. Commence fiery responses now:

It is obvious that the whole industry is moving forward in unison. Nobody is truly copying anyone exactly. They simply all share forward-thinking ideas and some manufacturers incorporate them into their vehicles a little earlier than others. even within the same brand, luxury features in the more expensive models quickly migrate down to cars in lower price categories. Similar migration of ideas occurs elsewhere, even in the area of National defence -- they don't hold meetings to deliberately share ideas, but things get said at professional conferences, get posted on the Internet, and get written about in articles that people read and good ideas are quickly picked up by scientists and engineers who then design products based on these ideas.

My wife and I went to the C Drive in SF last weekend. Mercedes had a street course and a closed track to try the cars on. I was immediately impressed with the much improved quality of the new C (we drove the C350 Sport) Firm, but well controlled suspension on the street, and great fun to drive on the track. In my 63 long years I have driven most cars (and owned Porsches, BMW's Mercedes, Ferarri's etc) The new C class is the first car that has REALLY impressed me for a long time!

what was so impressing about it? the old 268hp engine when everybody else has at least 300hp. the pop-up nav screen that looks like an afterthought?

bagwell, don't get so hung up on power. Anything over 200 h.p. in a car the size of the C is good enough. I drive a leased 2004 Audi A6 Quattro (bigger than the new C) with only about 225 h.p. and I find its acceleration more than adequate.