HOW THINGS change: In the old days carmakers cut weight off their cars and trimmed their shape to make them go faster. Now they do the same just to make them more fuel-efficient.
And whereas at one time wind spoilers, modified rear axle ratios and a low ride height were the sole preserve of the go-faster bods in the business — now they are used by cardigan-wearing eco-eggheads to turn mean machines into green machines.
In most cases the greening of a car demands a small sacrifice of its grunt — especially its take-off speed — and the loss of luxuries like a spare wheel.
In return you get lower running costs and, often, a dive into a lower tax band. That in turn means a lower purchase price because it attracts less VRT and VAT, and a smaller road tax bill.
Add this green recipe to a recession-driven demand for lower prices however and you end up with a stack of models — most of which we only ever dreamed of owning — now finally coming within our reach.
Merc’s C-Class BlueEFFICIENCY range is a case in point.
Eighteen months ago the C200 version cost €43,000. Now it comes in at just €36,350 — near enough what you’d have paid for a well-equipped Citroen C5 in 2008.
Granted when you pile on the extras like the Avantgarde trim and the automatic transmission on our test car you can quickly add another ten grand to the price.
But even so, the fact remains that Merc’s have never been so reasonably priced — and because of that we’re buying twice as many this year as we did last year.
Like the new E-Class, the C-Class is far superior to anything that went before it. It doesn’t just feel well built, as a design it feels well thought out, well executed and most certainly a premium product.
And despite its green low-friction tyres and taller gearing it is impressively peppy — even with an auto ‘box — taking just under 10 seconds to reach 100km/h.
In fact at no time during our test did we feel penalised by either the car’s green credentials or the fact that it’s the smallest diesel in the range.
And if we had, we would have felt more than compensated when it came time to fill up the tank because — with an official figure of 5.5l/100km — you’re looking at an average of just 51.4mpg.
That and the fact that it costs just €156 a year to tax the manual version makes the C200 well worth a look if you’re in the market for a premium car — and surprisingly easy to reach for if you had planned on settling for something not quite as prestigious.