Mercedes Benz B Class B180 CDI Diesel Road Test Review: Bang for Buck!

How does one tell the B 180 CDI from B 180 Blue Efficiency petrol from the outside?

There are quite a few changes. The first giveaway is the CDI badging on the diesel’s tailgate. Up front the radiator grilles of the two cars are different. The B petrol has a twin louver radiator grille, while the diesel gets a three louver set. The diesel also loses the chrome tipped twin exhaust units on the petrol, it has only one tail pipe to the left.

For those who get to see the car in closer detail, and who have an eye for finer elements, the front brake discs on the petrol B Class are perforated and internally ventilated, but not on the B Diesel. Also, the front brake calipers on the Sport badged B petrol have “Mercedes-Benz” lettering, the diesel variant doesn’t.

Has anything changed inside the cabin?

Yes and no. Functionally, the cabin is exactly the same as the petrol variant. In all honesty, you will have to look at the features list with a lens to figure out the differences. In terms of the overall feel and quality appeal of the cabin, these changes hardly make any difference, except for the big panoramic roof on the petrol B-Class. Infact we were surprised when we realized that there were so many differences between the two variants, as we were not able to notice more than a couple of them.

The biggest difference, as mentioned before, is that the diesel variant loses the big sunroof. The B diesel is available only in the Style variant, which doesn’t offer the feature. In addition, the Style spec B-class diesel has the following differences as compared to the Sport spec B petrol

• The steering wheel on the B Class diesel is wrapped in normal leather, unlike the perforated leather wrapped unit of the B petrol.
• The door central panel on the B petrol is made of ARTICO man-made leather with contrasting topstitching, but not on B Diesel
• B Class Diesel doesn’t have front door sill panels in stainless steel
• B Class diesel has normal pedals, unlike the stainless steel – rubber studded pedals on the B Petrol
• Black high-gloss ash wood trim on B Petrol is replaced by Brown burr walnut wood trim in silk matte finish on the diesel variant

But fret not, because you get to save money for not having those features. You get a diesel power plant for a lesser price than the petrol. The savings you make with the more frugal diesel engine come as an additional bonus.

But they launched the sexier A-class after the B. Shouldn’t I be looking there instead?

Well, the A-class is an ultra chic, fashionable compact which lends a new definition to cool in the hatchback segment. It’s got a glamorous shape, a very sporty attitude and that entire galaxy of sparkling stars on its radiator grille. So if style is high on your priority list, you most definitely should be looking at the debonair A-Class.

The B-Class, on the other hand is one of the most spacious machines in its segment. It’s big on cabin volume, comfort and boot size. So if a big, comfortable and practical family car is what you are looking for, the B-class should be your model of choice.

Refresh me about the features available on the B-class

The B-class gets the entire list of Mercedes safety systems, along with some really cool luxury features too. Leading items in the feature list would include seven airbags with ABS, EBD and ESP. There’s also the drowsiness banishing Attention Assist.

The interiors are very tastefully appointed and equally well put together. Those jet turbine inspired A/C vents made their debut first on the B-Class in India. You also get climate control, cruise control, steering mounted controls, and electrical ORVMs. The COMAND system on this car is not the most advanced version, but still has Bluetooth telephony and some other basic function. The B-class is indeed very well kitted for its segment and price.

Does the transmission behave differently with the new diesel engine?

Nope. The dual clutch 7 speed DCT unit works fabulously well with the diesel engine as well. The shifts are quicker than the traditional 7G-Tronic and the pedals behind the steering wheel make driving a lot more fun too. If anything, with the diesel’s easily accessible lower down the rev range, it’s now much easier to cruise nicely in the highest gear in low revs, extracting maximum fuel efficiency from the engine. There is also an intelligent Stop/Start system to optimize fuel efficiency in stop go city traffic.

There are three drive modes to choose from – Economy, Sport and Manual. Economy mode shifts up as quickly as possible, depending on the weight of your foot that is, Sport mode holds on longer to the revs, while manual mode wont shift all the way up to the redline, waiting for you to shift up – allowing maximum attack in corners.

So which one do you recommend? Petrol or diesel?

We’re absolute suckers for diesel motors. And this one, even with its not so enticing power output figure is still a punchy enough performer in the real world. You get comparable performance to the petrol unit, you get it for a cheaper price, you get much better fuel efficiency, and much lesser running costs, and finally, a more comfortable ride quality than the more stiffly sprung A Petrol.

In our humble opinion, the diesel offers much more value and practicality than the petrol variant. It’s a more suitable choice for the Indian market with no significant downsides against the petrol version. Sure, the petrol variant has that big, funky sunroof and a very minor edge in terms of visual enhancements inside the cabin. But honestly, that doesn’t add up to change our opinion. The diesel is indeed the better choice of the two. Now we cannot be more unequivocal than this, can we?

Price as tested :  Rs 25.3 lakh ex-showroom

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