- #Manual of quickness of actio driver#
- #Manual of quickness of actio manual#
- #Manual of quickness of actio full#
For $54,559, you should get perfection-and it would be perfect with a stick. In zero to 60, zero to 100, and the quarter-mile, this C43 outruns the BMW M3 automatic, but gets creamed by the M3 manual.
#Manual of quickness of actio manual#
If Mercedes is trying to one-up the performance boys at BMW, it had better head to the parts bin for a manual gearbox. But our illogical, romantic inner child might pester us into snatching up one of the 1500 C43 AMGs Mercedes plans to import during the next three years, just to listen to its urgent wail, to revel in its quick reflexes, and to play in those multi-adjustable seats. It's faster, roomier, and handles about as well as the C43. Given a $56,000 wad of cash to blow on an exclusive sports sedan, our logical, rational side would probably steer us into the BMW store for that 540i. THE VERDICT: A runner and a gunner but outgunned by BMW's manually shifted supersedans. Wondrously adjustable works of art, they're as supportive as you'll find.
#Manual of quickness of actio driver#
The C43's front buckets feature pneumatically adjustable lumbar and thigh supports, plus torso-bolstering "wings" to hold both the driver and passenger in place during force-seven floggings. Right away we feel enough "techspertise" in C43s to go scything along a writhing, weather-lashed Arizona byway so slithery it oughta squirt us off like watermelon seeds. Prefer less techno interference? Just cancel it by poking two dash buttons. An "electronic stability program" works to sustain directional poise by selectively braking one wheel if your path wavers. ASR serves as traction control and as an electronic limited-slip differential. Moisture on the macadam let you feel "automatic slip regulation" at work. A pip to drive, it levers the power against the tail's stability-give some, take some. It boasts an artful chassis-fine steering up front, plentiful power exiting at the rear for sporting balance.
Subtly trimmed with modest spoilers and side skirts, the C43 performance flagship is a hot shot.
The aluminum V-8 is more compact and 44 pounds lighter than the C36's iron-block inline six and those attributes improve handling. Indeed, the C43 delivers precise ride control and handling without kidney-crushing harshness. Mercedes says they control body motions better than ordinary progressive-action (ever-increasing stiffness) layouts. For the C43, Mercedes modifies the C280 Sport suspension by adding higher-rate springs front and rear, and stiffer Bilstein gas-pressure "degressive-action" shocks (stiffest at first, then softer) with two-part piston and integral tension springs. Still, some say there's more to life than drag-stripping. They're the similarly sized but $14,000-cheaper BMW M3, or the larger but similarly priced 540i (either of which can rip to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and blast through the quarter in 14.0 and 14.1 seconds, respectively).
#Manual of quickness of actio full#
Even making full power, the C43 will lose drag races to its Bavarian rivals because they come armed with manual gearboxes.
Our test car fell shy of Mercedes' own (typically conservative) 5.9-second zero-to-60 time and 155-mph governed top speed, which suggests that our mini-hammer might not have been wielding its full wallop. The C36, which had a poorer power-to-weight ratio and taller gearing, managed to hit 60 mph in 6.0 seconds, and ran the quarter in 14.6 at 97 mph. Terminal velocity: 151 mph, drag limited. Our instruments measured 6.1 seconds to 60 mph and 14.7 seconds through the quarter-mile at 98 mph. The C43 AMG rewards this type of behavior with a mellifluous yet malevolent V-8 burble and right-respectable accelerative g-force. Our style consisted primarily of sledging this hammer around, foot to floorboard. This unit, borrowed from the SL500, "learns" a driver's style and adapts the C43's shift characteristics. The price premium is $18,564 more than a standard C280, or $54,559.Īs with the C36 and every vehicle Mercedes sells in the U.S., a five-speed automatic is the only transmission. To wit: M-B claims the engine performs at Ultra Low Emission Vehicle levels. The V-8 even boasts squeaky-clean exhaust emissions. These modest tweaks improve high-rpm output, raising the peak numbers to 302 horsepower at 5850 rpm and 302 pound-feet from 3250 to 5000 revs. Stiffer valve springs have been fitted, and the cast camshafts are replaced with modular ones that provide a bit more overlap. HIGHS: Beautiful, exquisitely supportive seats V-8's great engine note lunge of on-cam power fabulous sound system.ĪMG slapped on a higher pressure oil pump and oil jets to cool the bottoms of the pistons, a new twin-tube air-cleaner assembly to reduce restriction, and a modified magnesium intake manifold that is ported to improve airflow.
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