Introducing The Diesel Driver’s Next Long-Term Car: the 2014 Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTec Sedan
NEW YORK—A 2014 Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTec 4Matic sedan is the newest member of The Diesel Driver’s long-term fleet. The Iridium Silver Metallic Benz was delivered to Jonathan Spira, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, on Tuesday.
The E250 is part of a wave of new diesel-powered vehicles that have been put on sale for the first time in the 2014 model year, although it’s a refreshed version of the outgoing E350 BlueTec, substituting a more fuel-efficient four-banger engine for the torque laden V-6. A quick look at the balloting for the Diesel Car of the Year, the winner of which will be announced on April 15 at the New York International Auto Show, reveals that that number has almost doubled since the previous year.
The E-Class’ mid-life refresh, however, wasn’t just a simple nip and tuck. Given the design language introduced by the new CLA-Class and S-Class, the E-Class and wagon bodies have been significantly redesigned as well, making it the most extensive facelift we’ve yet to see and giving it the appearance of a new model.
In a recent poll, more readers of The Diesel Driver, 24.2%, guessed that our new car would be the E-Class diesel, while the runners up were the Jeep Cherokee Diesel and the BMW 328d.
EQUIPPING THE 2014 MERCEDES-BENZ E250 BLUETEC 4MATIC SEDAN
The Benz starts off very well equipped, with numerous standard features ranging from Collision Prevention Assist, which uses radar-based technology to alert the driver if approaching a vehicle or stationery object at a speed that could result in a collision, Attention Assist, which Jonathan Spira renamed Coffee Cup Assist (a coffee cup icon pops up on the dash whenever the car’s computer determines the driving pattern indicates that the driver is too tired to be behind the wheel), to Brake Assist, which senses panic braking and applies maximum available power boost in such situations.
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