It feels like there are fewer and fewer sporty cars with combustion technology that manufacturers are presenting. But before the stove is finally off in the truest sense of the word, AMG once again tailors a sports outfit with a Formula 1 ingredient for one of the most popular models from Stuttgart.
At the moment things are not going really well for Mercedes in Formula 1. This may make the hearts of the fans heavy, but they can now look forward to a car that carries technology derived from the premier class into one of the most popular everyday cars from Stuttgart to date in a very subtle way. We're talking about the latest addition to the C-Class, presented as the AMG C 43 4Matic. The 2.0-liter four-cylinder petrol engine, which already drives the AMG SL 43, pumps under its hood, which is reinforced with power domes. The highlight of this 408 hp unit is not the turbocharger operated via the 48-volt on-board network, which also feeds the belt-driven starter generator, but the electric exhaust gas turbocharger.
An approximately four centimeter wide electric motor is installed directly on the shaft of the turbocharger, i.e. between the turbine wheel on the exhaust side and the compressor wheel on the fresh air side. Electronically controlled, it directly drives the shaft of the turbocharger and accelerates the compressor wheel before the exhaust gas flow takes over this task. The result is a significantly improved response right from the idle speed. For driving pleasure, this means that even the slightest movement of the gas pedal is immediately converted into propulsion. Or to put it another way: communication between the driver and the vehicle is becoming even more direct.
But the AMG C 43 does not only communicate via the gas pedal. That would be too easy, those would be one-word sentences. In the case of the C-Class from Affalterbach, there are stories written across the entire range of punctuation, with periods, commas, exclamation or question marks. In this respect, the snappy start, which guarantees a sprint from the starting blocks to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds (T model), is just a short exclamation. The C 43 becomes really eloquent when it is driven via the rotary setting wheel for the driving programs on the steering wheel via Comfort, Sport to Sport Plus and Individual up to 250 km/h.
At 5000 crankshaft revolutions, the maximum torque of 500 Newton meters pushes on all four wheels. The Speedshift automatic, which has nine stages for power distribution, jumps down two or even three stages in no time at all when braking hard before the bend in Alsace; the double-declutching function, which sets appropriate exclamation marks via the exhaust flaps, ensures that the driver knows that he can step on the gas hard again when exiting a corner. As usual with AMG, the power distribution is rear-biased, which with a maximum distribution of 31 to 69 ensures a fine but not frightening wagging.
But here too, if the driver interprets the signs correctly, he can be sure that the electronics will not let him down. The ESP, which can be adjusted in three stages, remains alert even in the sportiest stage, the steering is direct with fine feedback and the steel spring chassis with adaptive adjustable damping has been tightened so that even the tightest curve can be flown through in a sporty manner. The rear axle steering installed as standard in the AMG C 43 is also responsible for this fine line, which leads to a virtual shortening of the wheelbase up to a speed of 100 km/h with a maximum steering angle of 2.5 degrees.
Of course, the parameters for the steering angle on the rear axle also depend on the driving program. Just like the already mentioned response of the propellant, the adjustable damping, the steering and the sound of the exhaust system. And all of this together makes communication with the driver what it is. Lets him know how the car reacts, what he wants and where the physical limits are. In the end, the rather intimate conversation also includes consumption. And that is not small with the 13.7 liters experienced in the maze of curves in Alsace. But be careful, that's a house number that comes about when the pin is pushed with sustained emphasis towards the floor panel.
If you want, you can also drive the AMG C 43 cautiously in the single-digit range before the decimal point. In comfort mode, whisper-quiet and restrained. Then the consumption is also reduced. But be careful: this Formula 1-driven AMG will never be able and willing to hide its genes. Somehow he's always under tension. And if you then spontaneously move the gas pedal down again, you will make the leap forward after a barely noticeable breath of the turbo.
Incidentally, the ambitious driver can also see how the components interact in the powerful central display. But if you really want to know, go to the circuit and activate the AMG Track Pace with data logger. In fact, the software records more than 80 driving-specific data such as speed, acceleration, steering angle or brake pedal actuation ten times per second while driving on the race track. Of course, lap and sector times are also shown and training and analysis tools are made available.
In this respect, the Mercedes-AMG C 43 4Matic T-Model has come a little closer to Formula 1. And if you just invite the family and pack the luggage in the 490 to 1510 liter trunk, you can dream of the black and white checkered flag on the journey when you storm over the finish line. And that for, if you measure it against a Formula 1 car, a slim 65,000 euros.
