Variety is the spice of life. And Mercedes-Benz announced last year that a new line of AMG Sports models would cater for buyers who weren’t enthused enough by standard derivatives, yet didn’t fancy one of the full-fat AMG versions. Of course, they also seek to steal some sales from Audi’s S models and the M Performance offerings from BMW.
This is their first serving: the C 450 AMG 4MATIC. And the global market launch is set for the middle of 2015. Aesthetically, it was a bit of a compromise: it couldn’t be as subdued as a standard C-Class, nor as brutish as the forthcoming C63 AMG. So they’ve opted for a happy medium. You’ll spot a light sprinkling of AMG badges, meaner alloys and a mildly aggressive body kit.
But in the area of performance, it seems they plan to pull no punches. The car employs a three-litre, twin-turbocharged V6 – the same mill that does duty in models like the SL 400. In this application, it’s tuned to produce 270Kw and 520Nm of torque. That’s more than the BMW 335i (225kW and 400Nm) as well as the Audi S4 (245kW and 440Nm).
According to Mercedes, this output is good for a 0-100km/h time of 4,9 seconds. The new C63 AMG coming this year has a claimed sprint time of 4,1 seconds. An AMG Dynamic Select switch gives you access to a number of driving programmes – but Mercedes says the Sport Plus mode is particularly fun: “exhaust rumbling” is one of the highlights they’ve mentioned.
Power is shifted via a seven-speed automatic transmission. Through the 4MATIC all-wheel drive system, 33 percent of power is sent to the front, with the rest being shoved to the rear.
-IgnitionLIVE Reporter
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