This autobahn burner is headed for a freeway near you, packing a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 with 396 hp. A fast-shifting nine-speed automatic shoots that power to the road via 4MATIC all-wheel drive. Mercedes estimates a 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds; top speed is 155 mph. The interior has front sport seats and red stitching throughout; red seatbelts make for maximum redness. An air suspension imbues the ride and handling with the right mix of sport and comfort. Look for the E43 in early 2017.
With the 10th-generation E-class an official, legitimate thing now—Mercedes-Benz introduced the car in January at the Detroit auto show—it’s time to start rolling out the variants. The E300 sedan is scheduled for a U.S. launch this summer, and the first announced performance variant, the Mercedes-AMG E43, should hit our showrooms “by early 2017,” according to Mercedes, which will showcase the car at the New York auto show.
The performance model supplants the base car’s turbo four-cylinder with a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 engine up front and a full AMG alphanumeric scheme out back. This replaces the old “AMG Sport” moniker that denoted models carrying a few less wild hairs up the wazoo than the beefcake eight- and twelve-cylinder models that carried the AMG line previously. The E43 makes 396 horsepower and 384 lb-ft of torque and is backed by a nine-speed automatic transmission. Other hardware includes AMG-tuned Airmatic suspension and four driven 19-inch wheels running a 31/69 front/rear torque bias. Naturally, the new sedan also gets an AMG body kit.
The soon-to-be-renamed C450 AMG Sport—which fills the same niche in the C-class lineup that the E43 will in the E—is a gol’durn ripper of a thing, even if it trades the violent, swingin’ nature of the 503-horse C63 model for something that, while still shockingly rapid in the real world, is a bit more cushy and wallet-friendly. Expect the E43 to hit a similarly compelling sweet spot. Whether we’ll ever again see an E-class as compelling as the previous-generation E63 4Matic remains an open question.
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