Talk about an elusive butterfly.

Short of strapping some colourful wings on, the new Mercedes-Benz CLC350 had successfully evaded me for over 4 months. And the butterfly analogy isn't half bad as my first impression of the latest Merc Sport Coupe was its aching prettiness.

The CLC is not actually a new car; it's the old one with a few dollops of Botox. The front resembles the new C-Class with a more macho face, while the dainty back end of the old car received a similar treatment. The roundish lights were split in half and now continue into the boot lid, while the semi-useless bunker window under the rear spoiler was painted over to make it (and rearward visibility) completely useless.

Unless you're a die-hard Merc / car fanatic the profile of the car won't seem any fresher to you, and they didn't really bother with the interior either. The seats and dashboard seem identical to the old model, with only a few new items like the checkered dials and new steering wheel with shift paddles (in auto models).

The central part of the dashboard houses a few switches above a big NAV/CD/radio combo (an optional extra) and an easily comprehensible climate control system. The big entertainment unit takes a while to get used to, but first-timers are aided by satellite controls on the three-spoke steering wheel. These also call up vehicle info on the comprehensive display stuck between the two main tartan dials.

My test car had a light-grey and black interior which landed it a lot of praise from most passengers, and me. The black carpets and black roof lining offset the bright furniture beautifully, and the two-tone dashboard is contrasted nicely by faux aluminium paneling and the odd chrome highlight. Seat support is spot-on for a comfy ride with extra side padding if you want to torture the tires around town.

Pretty passengers in the back reported on sufficient leg- and head-room, but seemed much more concerned about my choice of music than their own comfort. After the 6-disc shuttle eventually located that young lady's insistence on pulling off the perfect poker face, everybody was bopping along to radio-ready beats courtesy of the CLC350's crisp sound system. Mid-range can be a bit overpowering, but otherwise the definition and response of the system can't be faulted.

I developed a personal gripe with the CLC's door, merely because it was attempting to chop my leg off. Part of the speaker enclosure innocently arches down to the door pocket and harmlessly houses electric window switches, but its relatively sharp edge turned out to be a bad place to place my knee against. As a tall driver I often rest my unnecessarily long limbs on suitable parts of a car's interior, but even seat adjustments didn't help to save me from a numb knee.

This was especially depressing as I loved the CLC350's long distance manners and lively city traffic antics. Other uncooperative furniture was swiftly dealt with (like the folding seats and seat belt holder) but the door kept sawing into my right leg. Its ravenous advances were quickly forgiven though, as the CLC turned out to be a delight to drive.

Two new engines are among the biggest changes to this range, a 2-litre supercharged 4-cylinder does its duty in the CLC200 (manual or auto), while the feisty 3.5 V6 worth 200kW shunts around the CLC350 through a 7-speed automatic gearbox. I'll take the credit for this engine's appearance as I mentioned in my C230 V6 review that the car could do with a few more horsies under the bonnet.

Someone cleverly dialed in a few degrees of feeling into the steering, and reduced its ratios to bring full lock left to right only 2 turns apart. This precise feedback couples well with the relatively hard sports suspension (and 40-series low-profile tires) to make potholes and speed bumps borderline intolerable, but twisty country roads an ear-to-ear grinning experience.

In CLC350 form with 270 plus horses and 7 gears you're never far away from a deep V6 roar accompanying your very rapid forward progress. The motor can't be faulted; in any possible way. It responds so crisply and vigorously that it makes the 7G-Tronic gearbox look placid. Which it is. The 'box comes with Comfort, Sport, and Manual modes, all of which kinda do what they're supposed to.

Comfort digs into the 350‘s opulent and apt torque reserves of 350Nm, Sport livens the cogs up a bit (also holding on to gears after brisk acceleration), while Manual will encourage the driver to change gears via the gear lever or shift paddles. Up to a point, of course. It will shift down when you stop or the revs dip too low, and it won‘t change up if there aren‘t enough revs for the next cog. It will also not allow downshifts if the preceding gear‘s red–line has been exceeded, and refuses to budge down under full throttle in a high gear unless you stomp on the kick–down button.

Clever bugger, hey? It's obviously related to the CLC's traction and stability control, which will allow the odd chirping tire and then spoil the fun, even when it's supposed to be deactivated. The latter system's interference is fine by me as the CLC350 had plenty of grip and handling, and it would hopefully only come into play in emergency situations or while attempting heroic but stupid driving.

The gearbox, however, I‘m not so sure about. Perhaps this is a good time to mention that a manual version would give the car more street cred, and infinitely more appeal to sporting drivers. And slap one in the SLK and C–Class 350, while you‘re at it. The automatic gear operation is smooth and precise, but even Manual mode and fast fingers on the paddle shifts will often find its driver waiting in wondrous anticipation.

But its smooth and slightly delayed operation just takes a few miles to get accustomed to it, and I was soon zipping around the Helderberg at close to 15L/100km. Relax; breathe deeply. Should you grow up, slow down, and merge into the flow of daily traffic the CLC350 will be happy with 11–13L/100km.

Better still, point it at a highway and set the cruise control to 120km/h (and 2000rpm in seventh gear) to start reading 9L/100km and less. This sparing consumption astonished me, as did the car's sure-footed highway etiquette. It hugs the blacktop with great precision and requires almost no throttle to cruise at the national speed limit. Slowly squeeze the versneller and a low rumble announces that 350Nm are tugging at the momentum, slam the pedal into the carpet and a few gears are skipped as the V6 roars its way into no-admission-of-guilt territory.

The brakes will quickly help you to retard any unwanted speed, although the pedal feel will take some getting used to. At city speeds and slow commuting they can sometimes be difficult to modulate, but their results are nothing to be snuffed at. With almost 280 horses pulling forward at times, it's good to know that there is sizable equipment to gracefully heave you back in the other direction.

So the CLC350 is not quite as sporty as I‘d hoped it would be, but it made up for it by being incredibly refined and well–behaved. It‘s terribly pricey and similarly trendy, which is why I‘d like to have a go in the manual CLC200 as well. And on the off–chance that someone at Benz is reading this, why not offer us a C230 (or C280) Manual? If you‘re after a pretty and sophisticated Merc but a CLK or SLK isn‘t your (or your wallet‘s) thing, the new CLC will doubtless win you over.

For

• Goes well
• Looks great
• Sounds good
• Very smooth & economical
• Very direct steering, good road holding

Against

• Auto-box too slow
• Choppy ride at times
• Rear visibility
• Price