Barely a couple of months after the E300 debut representing the saloon form of the all-new E-Class in Malaysia, the bread-&-butter E200 CGI has quietly crept into M-B showrooms locally.
Priced at a more realistic - but no less lofty - RM366,888 this is the E-Class that's set to push the bulk of the W212s to be sold officially (and not-so-officially a few years down the road). Not some fancy looking coupe that's more cramped internally - based on the W204 chassis - yet ridiculously overpriced, with a set of more Nissan Slyphy-ish rear lights.
The basic block of its 1.8l engine is carried over from the W211, displacing a remarkably similar 1796cc, reworked with a new top cam, pistons and con-rods to take up the higher stresses of direct gasoline injection plus turbocharging. Hence the acronym Charged Gasoline Injection (CGI).
Rated at astonishingly similar output of the last E200K's 184hp but with a higher maximum torque of 270Nm (+10Nm), initial drive has revealed a more punchier powerplant with perhaps the old school 5 A/T somewhat gagging the true potential of Daimler's reincarnated 4-pot modernised for the new decade.
With this in mind, perhaps the E250 CGI coming soon may not be the 'killer' E-Class that will snub out the real 2.5 V6 powered E230 W211 in drivetrain finesse seeing that the latter had 7G-Tronic, while the E250 CGI will make do with Merc's low cost (likely armortised, production cost-wise) 5 A/T. Once again, I am not referring to the silly E250 CGI Coupe. I'd be foolish not to consider the latest facelift Porsche Cayman 2.9 with PDK at that price segment.
Related posts:
New E-Class E200 CGI & E250 CGI
W212 E-Class launched in Malaysia
Mercedes E200K vs E200K!
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