To help widen the car's appeal (read: try to capture some of the youth market owned by the almighty BMW 3 Series and upstart Audi A4), the C-Class is offered in two models: Luxury and Sport, each with distinctive front-end treatments, trim levels, and suspension tuning. When it goes on sale late this summer, three models will be offered. The C300 Luxury gets a 3.0-liter, 228-horsepower V-6 and a choice of rear or all-wheel drive. The C350 Luxury and C350 Sport are powered by a larger 3.5-liter V-6 with an output of 268 horses. The C300 Sport's engine is matched to a short-throw six-speed manual transmission, while the C300 Luxury and C350 Sport get the current seven-speed automatic gearbox. All models benefit from a new hydraulic shock system with adaptive damping called Agility Control, and all get the Adaptive Brake and Pre-Safe systems from the larger cars. The C's interior is, of course, completely restyled as well and borrows heavily from its more upscale siblings.
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