The NY Times - Memo to Mercedes: Please CC Me

Bartek S. · Mar 15, 2009

THE first snowstorm of the season catches everyone off guard, windshield scrapers gone missing and glazed roads ensnaring out-of-practice drivers. In this winter’s opener, just before Christmas, the sky turned sinister and a slushy mess closed major roads across New York.

No one could have found fault had I chosen to punt on the test of a powerful new sport sedan that day. But the car was a Volkswagen CC — a fashion-conscious model that VW calls a four-door coupe — girded with optional 4Motion all-wheel drive. Instead of punting, I lined up for a plunge across the frozen landscape. And you know what? As other cars fell by the wayside, I had a ball.

True, I have the benefit of some winter driving experience, from off-roading near my family’s cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to drifting Porsches across a frozen lake above the Arctic Circle in Sweden, the latter with the rally champion Walter Röhrl at my side. But it’s been a while since I had as much fun on slick public roads as I did in the CC.
Mind you, this cool-as-ice performance was accomplished with low-profile 18-inch all-season tires. Strap on some dedicated winter tires and you’d have a sedan that, ground clearance aside, could draw snow angels around many S.U.V.’s.

VW’s stylish snow bunny held more surprises for me.
When it was introduced at the 2008 Detroit auto show, I shrugged. The CC is an offshoot of the Passat after all (and it is sold as the Passat CC in other markets), a family car that in current form is a midpack player. And as yet another four-door trying to disguise its sedan roots under an arching coupelike roof — a ruse that Mercedes-Benz executes brilliantly with the CLS — the CC concept seemed to give off a whiff of a premium-label knockoff.

In its defense, the VW charges easily the lowest tuition in this Ivy League class, which will soon accept models from Audi and Porsche, and perhaps Aston Martin and Lamborghini.

Read more:nytimes

Log in or Sign up

The NY Times - Memo to Mercedes: Please CC Me

Bartek S. Contributing Member

Share This Page