Author - Kaga User: Ogor of Acura
Friends who often read my Weibo should know that almost every Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W205) of the previous generation will be severely criticized by me, and the C450 AMG is an exception, I not only did not criticize him, but praised his performance, which can be said to be the best car in its class at that time.
Starting in 2017, the C450 AMG was replaced by the AMG C43, replacing the previous 7AT with a 9AT and more horsepower. When I finished driving that C450 AMG, I was amazed that the W205 is amazing, and in my opinion combines the best cars in its class and the worst cars. Shortly after, a new generation of C-Classes (W206) was released, and it was heard that this generation of C-Classes would all be equipped with 4-cylinder engines, and the C43 and C63 were no exception. I wondered if the C43 with a four-cylinder turbine would be as good as the previous C43? Today, I finally have the opportunity to reveal the answer. In order to feel the difference between the old and new C43 more accurately, I immediately went to drive a 2021 C43 after test driving the new generation C43.
Therefore, while evaluating the new generation C43, this article will also compare with the previous generation C43 to see whether the new C43 has improved or regressed after being replaced with a four-cylinder turbocharged engine, in addition, we will also see what changes this car will have in terms other than power.
【Static dimension】
I already reviewed the new generation C300 this time last year, and I already mentioned the static performance when reviewing this car, and the static performance of the new generation C43 is in many ways consistent with that C300, so I will not comment on the static performance here, I will only mention a few details.
By comparing the appearance of the new generation and the previous generation C43, it is not difficult to find that the new generation C43 has a higher degree of recognition and richer AMG attributes, because the new generation C43 can choose from a wider range of packages, and some of the kits that used to only appear on the C63 are placed on the new generation C43, such as the car I test drove equipped with matte gray paint, and the tail characters can also be turned gold. As an aside, almost all the kits of the new generation C43 are exterior or interior kits, none of which brings an improvement in the performance dimension, at most with a sports tire with the change of the wheel, such as the car I tested was equipped with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires. What I want to say is that these visual kits are not cheap, if you match them casually, as few as thousands, as many as tens of thousands, and this matte gray spray paint alone costs more than 4,000 Canadian dollars.
Since this is a performance-oriented car, the rear seat ride experience should not be what potential users of this car are pursuing, let's talk about the front seats! In fact, the entire new generation of C-class seats has been significantly optimized compared to the previous generation, and the C43 is no exception, the C43 I test drove is equipped with a fleece seat, the material of the seat is very comfortable, and at the same time has a sense of inclusion and support, the feeling of sitting on it is more relaxed, but it can also provide a certain restraint when cornering, I think it is obviously better than the previous generation of C43 in this regard, the previous generation of seats is stiffer, and because of the leg rest, the seat is not a new generation of flatness.
Well, here I think it is necessary for me to draw a dividing line, because from then on the content will be put on dynamic performance, in addition to another reason: the above content has introduced all the optimization parts of the new generation C43 compared to the previous generation, and in the later comparison, the performance of the new generation C43 will be completely defeated by the previous generation C43.
[Powertrain: You can clearly feel the bottleneck of the four-cylinder engine]
The new generation of C43 is equipped with a 2.0L four-cylinder turbocharged engine codenamed M139, which is matched by Mercedes-Benz's self-developed 9G-TRONIC 9-speed manual automatic transmission, which should be familiar to everyone, and has been widely used in Mercedes-Benz's longitudinal layout car. I think the performance of this powertrain should be the part that everyone is most concerned about, before introducing his product power, I will first popularize this M139 engine for you.
About a decade ago, Mercedes-Benz developed the world's most powerful 2.0T engine, codenamed M133, with a whopping 360 horses, which was unique at the time. In 2019, Mercedes-Benz developed a 2.0T engine codenamed M139, the horsepower is further increased, the maximum horsepower can reach 416 horses, the new C43 is equipped with this engine, but his maximum horsepower is 408 horses, and it is also equipped with a 48V mild hybrid system. The engine was based on the M260 2.0T engine, based on the M260, which adjusted the intake, exhaust and turbine positions to make the gas flow shorter. Then there's the fact that the M139's turbine is electrically driven, and is equipped with roller bearings, which contribute to more aggressive turbine pressure and reduce friction when the turbine is running, which is not available on the M133. In fact, the main reason why the M133 and M139 have such a large horsepower is due to their large turbine, which should be regarded as the largest turbo car on the market. It should also be mentioned that whether it is the M133 or the M139, they are built by the AMG department, and still maintain the tradition of one person and one machine, which also means that these engines are all put into AMG models, in addition to the details I mentioned above, there are many technologies designed for performance cars, according to official propaganda, this engine integrates a lot of F1 technology. The previous generation C43 was equipped with a 3.0L turbocharged engine code-named M276, which was also widely used in many Mercedes-Benz models, but apparently, he was not specially developed for AMG. Therefore, the M139 engine equipped with the new C43 feels to me to be a more AMG-focused engine, which is currently equipped in the AMG models of the Mercedes-Benz transverse platform, but only recently on the SL43 and C43, two longitudinal AMG models.
So how does this M139 perform on the new generation C43? To be honest, I was rather disappointed. As mentioned earlier, this engine squeezed 408 horses on this car, which is the largest horsepower car in its class, but the actual subjective feeling of power is not as strong as it seems. First of all, the explosiveness given by this engine is lower than I expected, and I can only experience some explosiveness in one case, that is, in the case of Sport + mode floor oil (and I have to press the kick-down switch) to feel the arrival of explosive power, in other cases, I just feel that the power is relatively strong, but it has nothing to do with explosiveness, and lacks the passion that a performance car should have. Some people may ask, how do I feel that this car is not explosive? Is there a fixed standard? In fact, simply put, compared with the same type of car, the subjective feeling of power is weaker, or it lacks the push back feeling of some opponents in the same class. Then the power output characteristics of this engine are not coherent, as mentioned earlier, this engine matches an electronic turbine, and the cooling technology used on F1, which can theoretically alleviate the turbo lag phenomenon, but this engine will have more obvious lag at any time, although I don't know if these lags are the cause of the turbine, it may also be the problem of gearbox downshifting, anyway, this car will have lag most of the time, This is especially evident in medium-range and large-scale power requests. It can be specific about the performance of the lag, in fact, when performing the power request, I can still feel that the gearbox is actively downshifting, but after downshifting, I can still experience that there is a moment of power delay, and the delay time is not long, but I can experience it. After this moment the power will be connected, and continue to output, although the process of power connection does not break in, but the whole process will still appear a little abrupt, mainly when the strength of the power output is connected or has some sudden characteristics, so that the excessive process is not natural, I think this is another reason why people feel that the power of this car is not passionate, this more abrupt power connection makes the entire power output lack of coherence, combined with the lack of push back feeling of the subjective feeling of power, The power of this car can't give you a hair-trigger passion. Let's talk about the performance of the gearbox in detail, if it is driving at high speed, the logic of the gearbox is not much of a problem, but when passing at low speed, the performance of the gearbox is not very good, at the start, you can still experience some upshifts, although the setbacks are not so obvious, and then when you step on the accelerator at low speeds, the gearbox behaves a little channeling, especially in sport + mode, so that the car is not very comfortable to drive at low speeds. Let's talk about the difference between the different modes, in comfort mode, the power performance is relatively indecisive, and it is necessary to press the accelerator further deeply to release the power at a normal rhythm. In sport mode, the power intensity is definitely stronger than the comfort mode, in addition to the power release is not as lazy as the comfort mode, in this mode it is more comfortable. The output characteristics of the sport + mode are similar to those of the sport mode, but the power intensity is stronger, of course, as mentioned earlier, in this mode, the gearbox is also the most channeled under a small power request.
Let's talk about the performance of the 3.0T + 9AT equipped with the previous generation C43. With a maximum horsepower of 385 hp, this powertrain is parameterally smaller than the new C43's 2.0T, while the actual power is more subjectively felt. In fact, this set of powertrain also has the problem of power lag and gearbox more channeling, but these problems are not as obvious as the new C43 in this set of powertrain, in the process of sharp acceleration, power lag can still be experienced, but the lag process is relatively smooth, that is to say, when the power is completely released there is no power sudden increase phenomenon, will not feel abrupt, the whole process is more natural, which is different from the new C43. In Sport+ mode, the gearbox also jerks a bit when lightly pressing the accelerator, but this degree of penetration is not as pronounced as the new C43. Then there is a big difference between this engine and the new C43's 2.0T output characteristics, the power output of this engine is very smooth, and there is full explosiveness, the whole acceleration process is very in one go, plus this 9AT is very well matched on this 3.0T engine, both the shifting speed and the power response speed are very fast, so this set of power can be described as a touch of fire, which is why the power supervisor of this powertrain feels stronger.
Next, I would like to mention another more subjective difference, that is, sound. It is always known that the sound quality of the four-cylinder engine and the six-cylinder engine is different, and it can be clearly felt on the new generation and the previous generation of C43, the sound of the six-cylinder engine of the previous generation C43 sounds more magnetic and more powerful, and the sound quality of the four-cylinder engine of the new generation C43 is obviously more woody, even if the car I drive is equipped with analog sound can not make the sound wave as good as the previous generation of six-cylinder engine, more ironically, this analog sound needs to add $550 to the option.
Therefore, according to the above performance, the 2.0T engine of the new generation C43 has lost to the previous generation of 3.0T engine in almost all aspects, lacking explosiveness, and the output characteristics are not smooth, whether it is passion or comfort have regressed, and the bottleneck of a four-cylinder engine can obviously be felt. By the way, it can be mentioned here that the new generation of C43 not only has a weaker subjective feeling of power, but even the acceleration performance has also fallen behind the previous generation model, from 0 to 60 MPH acceleration performance from the original 4.1 s to 4.6 s, it seems that some high-power 2.0T engines in the same level can run this result, so I don't know where the book data of this engine is reflected, and the overall makes me feel that it is a more impetuous powertrain.
[Steering and handling: good handling, but slightly regressed feel]
In terms of handling performance, I think the performance of the new generation C43 still makes me very satisfied. Although it is a performance car, but his body following is slightly neutral, that is to say, overall it is very flexible, but not the kind of special thief body following that everyone imagines, in my opinion, such characteristics are not a big problem, although it is a performance car, but it is not that kind of purebred performance product, the person who drives him is still driving this car on the road most of the time, and will not often get off the track or run mountains. When cornering, the body has to follow very satisfactorily, there is no obvious push, and there is no need to adjust the steering too much during the whole process.
Before evaluating the steering feel of the new generation C43, I want to say that the steering performance of the previous generation C43, in general, can give absolute praise, the handling performance is as good as the new generation C43, the establishment of the steering feel is just right, light and smooth at low speed, as the speed increases, the damping sense of the steering is further gained, providing a very good sense of stability, at the same time, the gain characteristics of the steering with the angle are also very good, especially when turning at large angles, the steering provides a tighter feedback, And tight while not having a trace of pulling feeling, in general, the steering of this car is flexible and roadworthy.
The following goes on to talk about the steering feel of the new generation C43, if it is a grocery car, the steering logic is not a problem, but as a sports car, his steering feel is a little less meaningful, I think it is slightly inferior to the previous generation C43, which is why I interspersed the previous generation C43 steering feel in the previous paragraph. Why do I say that the steering feel of the new generation C43 is almost meaningful? The first is that the sense of feedback provided by steering damping is not very strong, although it will produce the gain characteristics with speed after entering the high speed, but the amplitude of the gain is not obvious, lack of a certain tightness, but fortunately the sense of center is not missing, which is not the same as the previous generation C43, the road sense provided by the steering is not clear enough, and the electronic taste is stronger. Overall, the steering of the new generation C43 has a certain smoothness, and it can maintain a light steering feel at low speeds, but the smoothness is inferior to the previous generation C43, specifically a little more viscous, not as flexible as the previous generation C43, and in my opinion, it has lost some fun, but this viscosity is far from the point of jerky.
Overall, the steering performance of the new generation C43 is good, but in contrast to the previous generation C43, the establishment of the steering feel is more lacking in the attributes of a sports car, which is a small regret for my standards, but it is not ruled out that some people will prefer the steering feel of the new generation C43.
【Chassis and driving quality: more sensitive to road gaps】
Many people complained that the chassis of the previous generation C43 was relatively hard, but in my opinion, it is not too hard. When driving at high speed, the driving quality of this car is still very calm, and the vibration on the road surface can basically be filtered. In daily driving through the big vibration, the chassis will give back some hardness, more concentrated, but the strength is not particularly large, at least for a sporty car, I think such hardness is acceptable. The new generation of C43 in high-speed driving, the chassis is also relatively calm, but when driving daily, the chassis is somewhat sensitive, through the big vibration, the chassis will still appear harder, but this hard feeling is somewhat different from the previous generation, the suspension compression time is shorter, which also means that the vibration lasts shorter, but the vibration is more concentrated, the intensity is slightly stronger, at the same time, through such road conditions will make people feel that the chassis is more jumpy, compared to the previous generation of closer to the ground. Then when continuously passing through the gap in the road surface, the chassis will feed back the vibration generated when passing through the gap into the car, resulting in more aftershocks, making the driving quality appear more loose, I think this is not very satisfactory, I think the vibration fed back into the car is slightly too much, although compared with other competitors, the chassis of this car is not upside down, but I think compared to the previous generation, such tuning is somewhat redundant, even if this is a sporty car, I don't think it's necessary to embellish the sense of road too much. However, in the performance of the body attitude, I think this car still shows the toughness that a sports car should have, except for a slight sense of jumping when the big vibration, the chassis is still good to the ground, at the same time, whether it is when cornering or changing lanes, I will not experience any dimension of swaying, so that in most road conditions will not experience the feeling of struggle caused by chassis sway, I still recognize the suppression of the chassis attitude of this car.
【Summary】
The above is the evaluation of the new generation of Mercedes-Benz AMG C43, in fact, this article is not particularly comprehensive, because most of the content of the article is written around mechanical quality, static content is very small, but I think these contents are enough to define this car, after all, for a performance-oriented car, mechanical quality is the main part. Therefore, from the above content, in addition to the better book data, the new generation of C43 is defeated by the previous generation C43 in terms of power output, steering feel and driving quality, and even the acceleration performance is worse than the previous generation C43, which means that the regression of the new generation of C43 is not only reflected in the reduction of the number of engine cylinders, it can be said that it is an all-round regression in mechanical quality. In fact, in my opinion, the new generation C43 is not a particularly bad car, if you put aside the price, it is also a midstream level in the same class, but the gap compared with the previous generation really disappoints me, mainly because as I emphasized earlier, in my opinion, the previous generation C43 is the best car in the same class, and this generation can only be ranked in the middle of the same class, this gap is still too big. I was still thinking, The new generation of C43 will not be good for the domestic market after replacing 2.0T, after all, the displacement is down, the displacement tax should also come down, but when I see the price is not so, his price is actually as high as 696,800 yuan, actually more expensive than the previous generation C43 equipped with 3.0T about 120,000 yuan, although the introduction of the new generation C43 in the country has a station wagon bonus, but in any case, in the case of smaller displacement and reduced product power, his such a high price is absolutely not worthy of his product power, unless it is a fan of Mercedes-Benz, I don't think there is any reason to spend so much money to buy such a car, cheaper than him There are countless cars that drive better than him and have more fun than him.