MERCEDES-AMG C43 4MATIC+
Rose tinted
7/
10
£60,500
FOR Powerful, linear, covers ground quickly with ease
AGAINST Steering lacks real feel, the sound is synthetic
Complicated one this, but we shall attempt to boil things down a little.
This is the new Mercedes-AMG C43 4Matic+, the less flash baby brother to an as yet undisclosed C63 (with rumoured 600+bhp), and comes in saloon or estate guises. And a lot has changed from the previous generation. So out goes the old bi-turbo V6 (385bhp/383lb ft), and in comes a 2.0-litre four-pot bolstered by a 48V mild hybrid system. Which sounds a little anaemic, until you realise that this system chucks out just over 400bhp and 369lb ft, so up on power, down a bit on torque. Performance figures are very respectable, weighing in at 4.6 seconds to 62mph for the saloon and 4.7 for the slightly heavier estate, with a 155mph top end, or 165 if you option the extra dynamic pack.