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Opening the weighty driver’s door (a surefire sign of Mercedes quality) reveals a roomy cabin filled with the same angular cues found outside. Again, designers shunned the curves in favor of masculine angularity. The treatment may seem cold, but it’s actually quite elegant, timeless and downright ergonomic. First, the seats are firm and nicely supportive. The pictographic adjuster for the driver moves the seat eight ways and is a cinch to use. However, the front passenger will still need to pull a lever to fix fore/aft movement. The flat, square-cut dash dominates the cabin and makes for larger, chunkier buttons. And it should given that the C 280 crams entertainment, telephone and riving aid functions into an eight square-inch space. Only the climate control has been kept separate—located at the bottom of the center console. Its close proximity to the shifter causes some functions to be obscured when the car’s in park.

Like some of its exterior design cues, the C 280’s cabin isn’t exactly free from any sort of controversy. The COMAND interface system from the S-Class migrates onto the baby Merc, so some functions like adjusting speaker bass/treble and radio presetting require wheel fiddling/clicking. It’s easier to master than its rivals’ systems, but it’s embarrassing when mundane functions like clock adjustment remained a mystery despite a week of usage. The COMAND functions are outputted to a large, colored LCD screen that works as well as it looks. It also lends a dash of modern luxury, like having a big Plasma TV in your living room. The screen swivels into the dash when not in use, giving a much neater cabin. This fancy system though also raises a question of longevity.

Mercedes’ new model designation still doesn’t make any sense for the consumer: the C 280 actually has a 3.0-liter engine under the hood. With 231 horsepower and 300 Nm of torque, it easily outguns its similarly displaced European rivals. Don’t let the sports car like power figures fool you, the C 280 is more of a long distance tourer. With a seven-speed automatic and drive-by-wire technology, acceleration is seamless and smooth with the engine rarely raising a whisper. Those feeling a bit sporty will appreciate the transmission’s sport and manual override functions. With all sorts of smooth highways and Autobahns, the C 280 should return 13.88 km/L. In the midst of Manila traffic though, it was closer to 7.04 km/L—not bad considering it’s close to the BMW 320i.

Beyond the C 280’s impressive drivetrain, even the chassis tuning is more on the comfortable, but remains capable when pushed. Taking the car up to Tagaytay reveals a very complaint ride, absorbing all sorts of road irregularities as if they weren’t there. And yet, throw it into a sweeping bend, it will oblige with neutral handling. The steering is also on the light side, but there’s still a nice feeling of precision and good road feel built into it. The NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness) isolation is also easily the best in its class, making this the car of choice if you’re ferry your family or boss in—and that’s despite the 45-series tires!

At P 3,980,000, the C 280 Avantgarde isn’t exactly the best bargain out there. In fact, it’s more than P 400,000 more than its closest rival: the BMW 325i. However, the Mercedes-Benz comes out as a impressive package of high-tech and luxury with a much better drivetrain and generous levels of equipment. And it’s much more comfortable, better built and roomier to boot. More than anything though, the new C-Class is a visible signal that when Mercedes-Benz puts its foot down and moves in the right direction, it can design and build cars which are true stars.