R emember how we raved about the handling characteristics or rather the dynamic abilities of the C-class? Well, you lower the suspension by about 20mm, give it sleeker lines, put on larger wheels and wider tyres and plonk in a more powerful engine. And while you are at it, you chop off the rear to make the wheelbase an impressive 63 per cent of the overall length, make about a hundred other changes that are in aid of fast and furious driving. And what do you get at the end of this exercise? The Mercedes-Benz C200 Kompressor Sports Coupe.

But the engineers at Stuttgart haven't been so offhand about the whole process. The smallest of details like the lift at each angle have been examined in detail and fine tuned. Directional stability has been ensured by putting in full underbody panelling, wheel spoilers, new deflectors in front of the front wheel arches etc.

The resultant of all that is that the car behaves as if on rails. Whether it be the fast straights of the expressway or the narrow winding road leading to Ambe Valley, hard as we might push and as much as we might smoke the tyres, screeching louder with every curve, the car was difficult to unsettle, with the ESP (electronic stability programme that comes standard on all Mercs and something we have often talked about in detail) playing its part to keep the car on the road.

The ride quality though is not great but then one does not expect it to be so. Another problem is ground clearance, which has to be sacrificed for the sake of great handling. But then one has to chalk out one's route to avoid unusually large speedbreakers, especially if there are more than two people in the car.

With a perfectly weighted speed sensitive power steering, the car turns crisply into corner after corner, inspiring confidence with every kilometre.

Braking is superb and there is no noticeable brake fade even after hours of hard driving.

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