Yesterday Kristin and I went into San Francisco and got a chance to drive the new 2008 C Class Mercedes Benz before it come out . I received an email announcement some months back about the "Drive the C Class" event and signed up figuring it would be interesting - and it was.
Our appointment was at 12:30 PM and as we drove there we were still not really sure what to expect... would it be a salesman showing us one car, would be get to drive it on a closed course, what would it be?
We arrived at the South of Market location to find a staff of valets parking cars and after they took our car, we were escorted inside where we signed a waiver to allow us to drive a car and then asked to head "down the hallway to your right". There were numerous tables, people giving instructions on where to go and plenty of people milling about, so clearly this was a big event. After signing in and registering, we went down the hall and found a live sales demonstration going on besides one of the new C's. There were 30+ people sitting around soft cube blocks listening to the presenter tell them about the features of the new car. A large movie screen showed different images of what the young well-dressed salesman was talking about and there were a number of small booths with different vendors (such as hair care products and stereo equipment) and people walking around with gourmet appetizers.
We decided to skip the talk and went outside to see about driving the car. As we walked into the sunshine, this idea seemed to be a smart move and there was a roped off maze leading to the street and not a single person in line. Within minutes a line of 5 new cars came into view and parked in front of the maze, like some unconnected roller coaster. People got out of each care and another line of 5 cars pulled up along side the first. One of the many people in black Mercedes Benz polo shirts directed us the second car in line and I made sure it was a C 350 (the one with a bigger engine) and Kristin and I hopped in.
It was still unclear what we were doing, since we didn't really stick around for the presentation where we would have no doubt been given instructions. We adjusted the seats and looked around at the navigation screen etc, and I noticed that there was something in the driver's door storage bin. I thought maybe someone left their cell phone when I realize it was a 2-way walkie-talkie and I could now see how this was going to work. Soon another Mercedes person was talking over the radio and giving us instructions - we were to follow him at a safe distance and speed for a drive around San Francisco - cool.
Once all the instruction were out of the way, off we went. I was right behind the leader so it was easy to follow him. I really like how the car felt. It was more powerful than our 330i, and less jarring for the passengers. I thought the inside was nice looking and the navigation was very slick, but some of the buttons and knobs felt very cheap to the touch. As we wound our way along the streets the leader pointed out if we were "good" we would get a special "surprise" (which I figured was being able to get on the freeway with these new cars). After a few miles, he indicated that we had been "good" and that we had actually been driving to a test track they had set up in an empty parking lot by the Giants ballpark. It was fenced off with black 3 foot high Mercedes Benz banners and inside it had red, yellow and white cones set up.
The lead driver told us to get in line and then proceeded to both run the course AND tell us what he was doing. It started with a hard acceleration over some loose sand and then all out braking. Next we got to run through a few quick slalom turns and finally some more high speed "off camber" turns and come to a stop. After he was through, the starter gave me the signal and off I went - I floored it and the car zoomed off, once I got the braking point I was probably doing 50-60 and then I slammed on the brakes which brought the car to a very quick stop (without skidding). Next I got to weave through the slalom turns and the C seemed a little less responsive than my car but still very well mannered. As I rounded the higher speed turns you could tell that the car would take much more than I was giving it and although it felt heavier than my 330i it did not push as much as I was expecting. Overall a very fun experience and showed what the car was capable of in a safe environment.
We watched as other did what I had just done, and we all got back in line behind the lead car and off we went back to the starting point. Kristin played with the Navigation and got it to start telling us directions to a different destination. It was un to hear the woman trying to get us to turn "right" when clearly we were going in a different direction. The screen continued to show us alternate routes to our "fake" destination which was nice as well as show us all the near gas stations etc. Kristin finally figured out how to run her off as we arrived back at the starting point.
There were now 30 people waiting in line to drive, as we headed back into the demonstration hall to check out all the stuff we had bypassed earlier. We listened to the salesman telling us about the suspension and stereo, blah blah blah. It was somewhat interesting but we grabbed a water and headed for the exit. They had us complete a brief survey and gave us a goodie bag on our way out. I was hoping for a baseball hat or something cool, but it was just brochures and samples from the vendors inside. We went around and got our car back from the valet as more cars and people arrived. I imagine that there were 100's of people that went through what we did, but it was a nice fun diversion for a Saturday afternoon.
