I'm Living With A Mercedes-AMG C43 For Nine Months: What Do You Want To Know?
Our long-term test fleet just got a little more varied. Alongside ‘our’ Honda Civic Type R, Cupra Ateca and Skoda Superb crew car, we now have an AMG estate to get to grips with.
One step down from the base Mercedes-AMG C63, the C43 is a car I’ve always found appealing. With 384bhp on offer and a 0-62mph time of 4.8 seconds, it’s plenty fast enough, and unlike its rear-wheel drive big brother, the AWD wagon will be able to put its power down however wet it is. It’s an AMG for all seasons, this.
This particular C43 is rather generously specced, with the £51,200 on-the-road price ballooning to £62,065 after some liberal clicking on the online configurator. The biggest single option is the £4995 ‘Premium Plus’ pack, which adds - among other things - the brilliant Burmester sound system, a nice infotainment system, multibeam LED lights, and a panoramic sunroof.
We also added the £1000 AMG performance exhaust (a no-brainer) and 19-inch black multispoke wheels (possibly a mistake). The whole shebang is finished in Designo diamond white metallic.
We’ll be going through the spec in more detail after we’ve found out which choices were good ones, and which ones were bad. We’re certainly happy with the way the car looks, even if black on white isn’t exactly subtle.
Some of you will no doubt be keen to point out that the additions put this C43 perilously close to the starting price of a C63 wagon, and although you’d need to add a few options to the latter to match the spec of the former, you would have a point. So, we will at some point be doing a 43 vs 63 showdown, to see if it’s worth your while making the jump to the V8.
We’ll also be pitting it against its rivals from elsewhere, testing out the fuel economy, finding out how practical it is, and trying to work out if this ‘semi-skimmed’ AMG deserves those three letters affixed to the boot.
Is there anything else you’d like to know, or anything you’d like to see? Make your way to the comments.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Is it fun? On mountain roads? In snow? Is there an ESC off button that disables everything? How does it compare to other sporty estates? Does a mountain bike fit in the trunk without removing the front wheel?
Mountain bike test will happen soon, but I reckon it’ll fit! You can switch off ESC, but I don’t know how ‘off’ that is. Sporty estate group tests are inbound. And snow test is a little way off ;)
i bet it fits, i can fit my 29r size large enduro bike on a focus sw(2015), the c class it’s probably a bit bigger
that being said , i find it best to take the front wheel out and you can lay it perfectly tihout taking mush space or put the fork it the space on the rear leg space and you can take 3 bikes on their normal position without the front wheel)
I want to know what all those butons do?
Drag race against something similarly powered.
Its really in a class of its own.
there was the V60 Polestar, but thats now gone,
only real rival i guess is the S4 Avant, but thats less sporty
How does it go as a daily wagon compared to the trusty superb?
How many times will you use the boot fully, and how many times times did you use 1, 2 and 4 seats. It seems everyone wants a huge 5 seat wagon, but rarely uses the space. Would love to so how your case varies.
The only real question i have.
Is it a real AMG?
And is it better value than the full fat V8 C63
A good question, and one I’ll be able to answer once we’ve done C43 Vs C63 Vs C63 S. Stay tuned!
I want to know if it is a proper AMG.
I am mostly interested why non AMG car carries the great C43 AMG name at all?
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Is it too posh to be a true utility hero?
I mean if Rolls Royce and Bentley can take a dump on the name “Utility”, I’m pretty sure a C class Estate is quite utilitarian