Mercedes C230 Kompressor -original post date 4/16/2013

 

Featured today is the Mercedes Benz C 230 Kompressor hatchback Sportcoupe I spotted in a parking lot yesterday. The C 230 Sportcoupe came with a 2.3L in line 4 cylinder with a supercharger (that's where the "Kompressor" part of this comes in), which could belt out 192HP and 200 lb ft of torque. These Cars were offered for sale in the US starting in 2001, but were sold as 2002 models. They did not go over well.

I've written before about how buyers in the US tend to like their luxury cars separated out from everybody else's stuff, and this particular little car is a good example of luxury buyers spurning a lux car they figure is too easily attainable. This Mercedes hit the market at a price point (base model sticker price) of around $25,500. That's mid-sized run of the mill sedan money -which meant that if you had splashed out mega bucks on a big Benz, you could pull up at a stoplight next to some Joe Schmoe who spent a fraction of what you did, but had the same insignia on his car as you. Oh, the humanity!!!

Besides that, there were better hot hatches to be had for less money, like the VW GTI. To add more fuel to this fire, by the time you started adding options like leather and splurged an extra grand for the panoramic sliding roof, your pocketbook was venturing close to Audi TT territory. If it came down to driving this or driving an Audi TT... well, lets just say, most people would go for the Audi.

I drove one of these little hatches back in 2006, and in spite of all I've just written that has probably given you a bad impression of this car, I quite enjoyed the drive. The C230 I took out for a spin was cherry red, and was the first car I'd ever been in that featured heated CLOTH seats. I referred to it at the time as the "Red Rocket", because it was quick. Itty bitty as these things are, they don't require a lot of horsepower to send them flying. The car had a great little gearbox and was a blast to zip around in.

At the time, I worked at a dealership that was certified to deal Saleens. The guy who traded in the red rocket had a very specific and pretty hard to find car in mind. What he exchanged his rocket for was a rare little bird called the Saleen N2O -a car made in very limited numbers for 2005... also known as the Nitrous-ready Saleen Focus. There were some that did not have nitrous that were just called the Saleen S121. That's right, the guy traded a Mercedes Benz for a Ford Focus. Of course, you already know it wasn't just any old Focus.

Saleen is a company that makes high performance vehicles. It's not your typical aftermarket company that adds on a few performance do-dads and hangs some crappy body kit on a car. Saleen does build their own cars, but also tears down and rebuilds cars from other manufacturers to make it their own in a way that most other companies don't.

So, a Saleen Focus isn't really a Ford Focus anymore. Its DNA has been altered and it's a different animal. They take that 2.0L 4 cylinder that comes from the Ford factory with 150 HP and fully integrate a nitrous system, giving bursts of 75 HP to top you out at 225. This includes a 10lb bottle of Nitrous mounted in the trunk area of the car. The drawback here is that if there's any indication that the nitrous system has ever been activated, the Ford Factory warranty is instantly voided.

The Saleen Focus breathes better via a special air intake and exhaust system. Add to that improved brakes that feature vented rotors in front (they did keep the drums in back), and an engineered racing suspension, and you start to understand that this is a huge departure from Focus-dom. But why have all this stuff if you can't show it off. So, add to all this the outward appearance of the Saleen Focus. The one that was delivered to the former Benz owner was blue with special Saleen decals, new front and rear fascia, fender flares and side skirts, a hood scoop, and a huge rear wing spoiler. You'll know when and if you ever see one of these vehicles because they are very distinct looking.

The owner of the Red Rocket definitely wanted something with more flash, and though it may seem odd to move to a Focus from a Mercedes to get it, that's how it worked. In 2005, Saleen took on 200 Focuses (or is it Focii... I don't know), and only 75 of those were the N20s rather than the S121s, so the guy definitely got a car that was rarer than the one he had. In terms of which car was actually better to have and own as a daily driver, I probably would have gone with the little Red Rocket. It was plenty entertaining to scoot around in, and to be honest, the N2O Focus has way too much of that "Fast and Furious" styling than I want to be seen in. Besides, I'd have been too tempted to play with that nitrous system, and that warranty would have been voided on the first day.

Of course, now you can get a Focus ST right from the Ford dealer and keep your warranty at the same time as you get more power. The C230 Kompressor sportcoupe is no longer for sale in the US, so the choice is much, much easier to make.