RE: 2023 Mercedes-AMG C43 | UK Review

[Chris-5s2lq]

Regardless of the engine, this is a bland-looking car for £40K never mined. £71K this is Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio money

[PSB1967]

That's Uber, most likely

[J4CKO]

MOOSECORTINA said:

Hopefully the combustion engine is here to stay with EV private sales going down, dates going back etc.

I would say that ICE is here for a good while, but I wouldn't say one slump in EV sales and prices means thats that done, the adoption of every new technology ebbs and flows as it becomes standard, the ban has been moved forward, not removed entirely.

I am partisan in this, but I wouldn't get too complacent, its a stay of execution, not exoneration.

I dont mind this, in isolation its a decent looking car (Why they chose white I dont know) and I imagine it is pretty good but those C63 N/A V8s do seem suspiciously good value, well until you tax, insure and fuel it I guess.

[axel1990chp]

Absolutely bland in looks and no doubt in feel too.

Really cant get on board with the new Mercs. Nothing about Hybrid little engines excites me with regards to a "performance" car.

Suppose its an interesting insight into the future of cars though. Is hybrid actually viable? (weight increase vs battery dead mpg)

[Darnoc95]

Haven't got a problem with the engine just as long as it doesn't fart/pop & bang every 200 yards like the the A45's do.

[andy43]

It’s not really an AMG is it? No character, no noise, no feeling of driving an overengined hot rod.
But buyers will lap it up because of the badge. Meh.

[cerb4.5lee]

J4CKO said:

I dont mind this, in isolation its a decent looking car (Why they chose white I dont know) and I imagine it is pretty good but those C63 N/A V8s do seem suspiciously good value, well until you tax, insure and fuel it I guess.

That has bit me on the backside because of my love(obsession) with V8's as well. Everytime I've tried to run a V8 as a daily(X5 4.8iS/E92 M3), they have crippled me financially for sure sadly.

[E90_M3Ross]

Panayiotis said:

In all measurements (weight included) it's basically a E39 M5

If you want something smaller they sell an A class saloon.

[fantheman80]

Darnoc95 said:

Haven't got a problem with the engine just as long as it doesn't fart/pop & bang every 200 yards like the the A45's do.

The 2020 onwards A45 doesn't (except for the pull paddle 'emotional start') so don't expect this to. The old one did like a grandad after sprouts but everything is muted these days.

[BenS94]

Thats a good looker. I like that - and the engine. Surely the lighter weight at the front helps.

[Jon_S_Rally]

I knew the exhausts would trigger people. Might be time to get over it, chaps.

I actually think it's a nice looking car. Relatively subtle and well resolved compared to a lot of other stuff out there. I'm just not quite sure how I feel about the four-pot engine. It's more of an issue in the C63 of course but, even in this, it does seem a bit odd. A bigger engine just suits the character of this type of car, and that would instantly make me look to a BMW 340i instead I think.

[Mouse Rat]

On one hand that's a smart, fast, all weather family car.

On the other its a £70K dull, 4 pot faux AMG. As others have said that's close to Alfa Giulia QV money

Edited by Mouse Rat on Thursday 16th November 09:29

[Om]

Nice Merc. Poor AMG.

[ArmaghMan]

andy43 said:

It’s not really an AMG is it? No character, no noise, no feeling of driving an overengined hot rod.
But buyers will lap it up because of the badge. Meh.

This.
AMG's have 8 or more cylinders.

[pb8g09]

Absolutely nuts price. I'd have an S3 saloon over this. Don't care if they're not identical sizes, my passengers can be uncomfortable in the back for the sake of £25k. Isn't this into RS3 pricing?

The mind boggles at who's paying for these.

[D4rez]

MOOSECORTINA said:

Hopefully the combustion engine is here to stay with EV private sales going down, dates going back etc.

Ok but even if you were right, it’s not going to be a free for all on CO2. It’s going to be 4-pots like this. The V8 is definitely dead long term. Worth saving? I would suggest an EV is more fun and doesn’t have the limitations of a big turbo.

[Julian Scott]

Easy to say that it's too close to Alfa QV money, but it's a very different proposition.

Plenty of people want rapid, well-specced, entertaining small saloon cars but without the sub-20mpg and sky-high and increasing insurance costs.

[thecremeegg]

I think we're all assuming that the C63 has been canned right, given there has been NO press on it for like a year?

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Has 400bhp ever looked so boring?

(and I say that as the owner of a pretty mundane, white c-class)

[akashzimzimma]

I owned the previous model , an S205 C43 Estate with AMG perf. exhaust.
Despite being an AMG 'lite', one of the best things about the car was the wonderful, raw and characterful engine- the 3.0 TT V6. These had great response and sounded lovely .
Mine was then quite heavily tuned, and with downpipes amongst other mods sounded absolutely savage with the valves open-
video here : https://youtu.be/tiZKaRpv82A?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/uGRYf-QVt2Q?feature=shared

It had the same fixed AWD system 31;69, and with greater torque than this you could get some nice 4wd drifts going on easily.
The 2.0 M139 engine, despite being powerful for its size, its completely lacking in character , sound and is just not refined enough for a car of this class or price either. Also when we look at the weight, despite having a much smaller engine, this saloon is much heavier than my V6 estate- which i weighed at 1762 KG empty, which obviously defeats the main purpose of having a lighter smaller engine.
The M276 V6 was a very stout engine as well, mine had 15,000 miles tuned, many drag strup runs and several track days, beaten hard and the drivetrain never had an issue.
HOWEVER with these new C43s there are many back at the dealer battery / drivetrain issues they cant fix, and the same engines in the A45 have problems with heat soak > limp mode when being used hard on a hot day.

Edited by akashzimzimma on Thursday 16th November 10:40