A brand apart

The Mercedes B-Class is stylish, sleek and extremely well-built, but you’ll pay for the badge, says Paul Carter

It seems that many car manufacturers are keen to steer clear of the MPV label. Mercedes are no exception, calling their B-Class a “compact sports tourer”.

Despite having little to suggest anything sports-like, even at first glance the B-Class is unmistakeably a Mercedes.

From the outside, the design is stylish and surprisingly sleek for a relatively big vehicle, while the interior of the cabin is well put together with an above average range of features as standard.

A good quality CD system is easily operable, and all buttons and switches have been thoughtfully placed for ease of access.

The seating is firm without being uncomfortable, and offers a pleasantly high driving position.

It should also be noted how quiet it is inside the cabin, with very little noise coming through either from the road or from the engine, even at higher speed.

As with similar vehicles in the class, the floor of the car is fairly high off the ground, which is something that should be considered when thinking about transfers.

Otherwise, it is exceptionally roomy with a good amount of storage, and plenty of extra legroom available.

Out on the open road, the B-Class excelled at higher speeds and in the upper gear ranges, though it did feel surprisingly light around some of the sharper bends for a car of its size, which may not be a good thing if the car is likely to be used mainly for inner-city journeys.

In terms of performance, the car has enough under the bonnet to provide a decent level of acceleration, feeling responsive and punchy on the straights.

As you might expect from a brand such as Mercedes, the B-Class is an extremely well built, solid, all-round vehicle, with a decent range of features. As you may also expect from a brand such as Mercedes, you are likely to pay more than for similar vehicles in the class.

With competition in the market for similar vehicles extremely fierce, and with many of the B-Class’s less expensive counterparts proving equally capable in terms of performance, whether you feel it is a reasonable price to pay ultimately depends on how much value you place in the badge on the front.

The Mercedes B-Class is available on the Motability scheme in both petrol and diesel models, with either manual or automatic transmissions across the range. Prices range from an advance of £3,471 for the 1.5 petrol manual, up to £8,280 for the 2.0 litre diesel automatic