I Can C Clearly

Mercedes have bridged the gap between the fourcylinder Benz and eight-cylinder AMG C-Class models in India with this: the C 43 4MATIC. Is this V6 all-wheel-drive C the one we needed to have?

- Jim Gorde

FITTING IN HAS NEVER BEEN A priority for me, and I’m not entirely happy about people, or, in fact, cars that try to do that. However, as this is life, there are always exceptions to the rule. Some of which come about rather unexpectedly, yet justify themselves entirely.

Mercedes-Benz and their high-performance AMG division have been at it for a while now and though a Benz didn’t always spend a few days in Affalterbach, there are now AMG sheets, skirts, sometimes a red tie, increasingly widely spotted around Stuttgart as well. If you recall, Mercedes introduced ‘AMG Line’ and ‘AMG Sport’ trims globally to allow a turboed 1.6-litre car to dress up like it has a BiTurbo V12 hiding under those skirts. Unfortunately – or not – it didn’t quite pick up. Then there was the matter of the 450 (or 400, if you happen to be an SL-Class. Never mind. This is India...) turning into an AMG model seemingly overnight. And it happened with a resurrected badge to top it all off: 43!

First, we received the SLC 43, and then the Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 AMG 4MATIC Coupé dropped a considerable percentage of its name and was rechristened the Mercedes-AMG GLE 43 4MATIC Coupé. The former is a petite roadster with rear-wheel drive, and the latter is a sloping-roof house of a car with full-time four-wheel drive and a 2.2-tonne weight. The only common factor is the engine: a new 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 with 367 PS and 520 Nm — ample grunt if you consider that this one, the C-Class sedan, puts two and two together: same twin-turbo V6, 1.7-tonne weight, and 4MATIC all-wheel-drive, with the added benefi t of two more doors and a sizeable boot taking care of much desired ‘prestige’ factor that many base their car-buying decisions on. Sure seems like a winner already, doesn’t it?