2022 Valley Run

We at CarWale have made sure to mark our presence, year after year, at the Valley Run, which is the annual festival of speed for folks in and around Mumbai. It's three days of eat, sleep, drag, repeat; quite literally. Enthusiasts from all over the country turn up with their trucks loaded with machines. Two-strokes, four-strokes, superbikes, supercars, modded Indian cars…you name it, and the Valley Run has it. And this year was extra special as it was the 10th edition of this annual fest.

We decided to enter the diesel class this year, so we took the brilliant Mercedes-Benz C 300d. Now, this isn’t your average diesel sedan. The C 300d is part of the AMG-Line, and doing justice to that badge is a 1993cc, four-cylinder, OM654M diesel engine that puts out 265bhp and a mammoth 550Nm of torque. And helping transfer all that power to the rear wheels is the 9G-Tronic transmission that has nine gears to fiddle with. Now this transmission is smooth when you’re commuting and blisteringly quick when one needs it to be.

The C 300d came in the L4 category, which meant it would compete against the likes of the BMW 320d, Volkswagen Jetta and the Audi A4. But then, none of these cars would be stock, and most of them were tuned to put out a lot more horsepower than in stock trim.

A day before our run, we managed a few practice runs to discover the C 300d’s sweet spot at launch. This was necessary because the C 300d does not get launch control, and unless one launches it right, there is a tendency for cars with automatic transmissions to bog, thereby losing precious seconds.

Before lining up at the start line, we ensured the car was in Sport mode, and the traction control was switched off. I stepped on the brakes, built the revs to 1500 rpm and jammed the throttle. The C 300d shot off like a bullet. The gear changes were super quick as the speedo continued to climb. The C 300d went through the quarter mile at an astonishingly short 13.8 seconds with an exit speed of 157kmph. Now this time was not only quicker than all the other diesel cars in its class but also the highly tuned petrol cars above its class. In its class, the C 300d decimated all its tuned competition by over a second, and it was just plain domination. Although it wasn’t, the C 300d made it look super easy.

The C 300d went about the commute to the Valley Run effortlessly. We got the car with a three-fourth tank of fuel, and even after doing over 300km and full-throttle drag runs, it reached back home with a smidgen under half a tank of fuel. The excellent fuel efficiency is just a massive cherry on the cake.

With all the luxury possible, stunning performance to boot and phenomenal dynamics, the C 300d makes for the ultimate choice for those who want the long-leggedness of a diesel but do not want to compromise on performance and dynamics. All in all, winning at the 10th anniversary of the Valley Run was special, and we can’t wait to go back next year.