[Cammy440iGC]

Yes...I currently have a 2019 LCI C43 with AMG performance exhaust. Its really that feature that made me pull the trigger on the C43 over an M340i three years ago. Back then both the C43 and M340i were 6 cylinders....similar horsepower and similar price.

Frankly, I don't get the new C43. It has two less cylinders, less torque, and More price? Who pays more for a 4 cylinder than a 6 cylinder?

Maybe if that 4 cylinder through modern engineering were delivering better performance but that does not seem to be the case. I am hearing that this 4 cylinder is slower than both my C43 and the M340I.

So less performance, fewer cylinders, much more money? Who is doing the math over at Mercedes because that doesn't add up.

Also, if your just wed to the AMG C Class....now it makes much more sense to wait for the AMG C63 s electrified. I didn't care to upgrade to a C 63s back in 2019 because I wanted 4 matic AWD and the V6 in my C43 at 385 was pretty close to the 503 HP in the C63s. At least close enough the price didn't make sense.

But now the C63s has 4 matic and the performance gap is Huge!! The C43 has a little over 400HP but the C63s is a whopping 640HP! So if your going to spend huge money on a C43....you might as well go all in on a 63s because the performance gap is no longer "close"...its huge! The new C43 is much closer to C300 performance than the performance of the new C63s. The reverse use to be true. Not any more!

Which is why I'm going to a 2023 M340i XDrive .

[DerekTriesG20]

Originally Posted by Cammy340i

Yes...I currently have a 2019 LCI C43 with AMG performance exhaust. Its really that feature that made me pull the trigger on the C43 over an M340i three years ago. Back then both the C43 and M340i were 6 cylinders....similar horsepower and similar price.

Frankly, I don't get the new C43. It has two less cylinders, less torque, and More price? Who pays more for a 4 cylinder than a 6 cylinder?

Maybe if that 4 cylinder through modern engineering were delivering better performance but that does not seem to be the case. I am hearing that this 4 cylinder is slower than both my C43 and the M340I.

So less performance, fewer cylinders, much more money? Who is doing the math over at Mercedes because that doesn't add up.

Also, if your just wed to the AMG C Class....now it makes much more sense to wait for the AMG C63 s electrified. I didn't care to upgrade to a C 63s back in 2019 because I wanted 4 matic AWD and the V6 in my C43 at 385 was pretty close to the 503 HP in the C63s. At least close enough the price didn't make sense.

But now the C63s has 4 matic and the performance gap is Huge!! The C43 has a little over 400HP but the C63s is a whopping 640HP! So if your going to spend huge money on a C43....you might as well go all in on a 63s because the performance gap is no longer "close"...its huge! The new C43 is much closer to C300 performance than the performance of the new C63s. The reverse use to be true. Not any more!

Which is why I'm going to a 2023 M340i XDrive .

All good comments.

I think (just imo) those who pick the new C-Class 43 will be those who (most if not at least some):
1. like the exterior and interior design of this generation
2. don't mind the capacitive touch controls for basic things like heated seats, seat adjustments, and touchscreens which also includes climate controls
3. don't care for exhaust sounds as much
4. don't mind having four-cylinders
5. like the 64 ambient lighting
6. don't mind the weight when tossing around corners
7. prefers rear axle steering
8. cares or not care for engine being handbuilt
9. willing to test the e-turbo charger out which brings almost instant torque and willing to take time off from their day going to the dealership if it does go wrong being new technology at least outside of F1 and into the consumer market.
10. don't mind the higher price tag as you mentioned because it is a new generation while as the G20 had an LCI but not all new

Another good point for the C 63 e performance but do keep in mind the C 63 e's ICE itself puts out 469 horsepower. In the case of the 671 horsepower, it is only available for 10 seconds, continuous horsepower is 671-201 (electric motor peak horsepower according to press release) + 94 (horsepower from motor continuously when not at peak). Which by the way on paper, the horsepower number is not low even after the subtraction but when you factor in the weight of the battery and all the electrical systems that creates the C 63s e-performance, the remaining horsepower is needed to simply pull the vehicle. This C 63 e performance has the weight of the outgoing S-Class almost.

https://media.mbusa.com/releases/rel...n-of-a-new-era

The M340i is an enthusiast's car after all so B58, driving dynamics, etc. will be the first on the list of those shoppers.

[RCtennis3811]

Originally Posted by DerekTriesG20

All good comments.

I think (just imo) those who pick the new C-Class 43 will be those who (most if not at least some):
1. like the exterior and interior design of this generation
2. don't mind the capacitive touch controls for basic things like heated seats, seat adjustments, and touchscreens which also includes climate controls
3. don't care for exhaust sounds as much
4. don't mind having four-cylinders
5. like the 64 ambient lighting
6. don't mind the weight when tossing around corners
7. prefers rear axle steering
8. cares or not care for engine being handbuilt
9. willing to test the e-turbo charger out which brings almost instant torque and willing to take time off from their day going to the dealership if it does go wrong being new technology at least outside of F1 and into the consumer market.
10. don't mind the higher price tag as you mentioned because it is a new generation while as the G20 had an LCI but not all new

Another good point for the C 63 e performance but do keep in mind the C 63 e's ICE itself puts out 469 horsepower. In the case of the 671 horsepower, it is only available for 10 seconds, continuous horsepower is 671-201 (electric motor peak horsepower according to press release) + 94 (horsepower from motor continuously when not at peak). Which by the way on paper, the horsepower number is not low even after the subtraction but when you factor in the weight of the battery and all the electrical systems that creates the C 63s e-performance, the remaining horsepower is needed to simply pull the vehicle. This C 63 e performance has the weight of the outgoing S-Class almost.

https://media.mbusa.com/releases/rel...n-of-a-new-era

The M340i is an enthusiast's car after all so B58, driving dynamics, etc. will be the first on the list of those shoppers.

Interesting points. I went to check out the C300 again tonight to look more into the tech. Like the M340i, all the climate functions are on the screen now. Interestingly, MBUX allows you to change fan speed on any screen; IIRC, you can only change temp on any screen but need to hit the climate button to actually change fan speed. It's negated by the fact that you can use Hey BMW or Hey Mercedes, but for some reason Hey Mercedes was much quicker at doing something when using voice recognition.

Not sure why you're thinking the C43 will be some porker. Mercedes lists the weight as 3,893 lbs on the MB press site; BMW lists the M340i as 3,951 on bmwusa.com. The C43 can only be had with 4MATIC, so I'd use those numbers to compare.
https://media.mbusa.com/releases/rel...ter-efficiency
https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/3-se...specifications

The reality is that the 4-cylinder is a big question in my mind. I know it'll be fast, and I know the C43 will handle great. But how will it sound? All the YouTube videos right now show the EU version with that extra particulate filter or whatever they need to do with EU regulations. I'm gonna wait to see how the US market ones sound. I've heard some really good CLA45's out there stock, so I'm still flabbergasted that MB would allow the C43 to sound as meh as we've seen thus far.

[DerekTriesG20]

Originally Posted by RCtennis3811

Interesting points. I went to check out the C300 again tonight to look more into the tech. Like the M340i, all the climate functions are on the screen now. Interestingly, MBUX allows you to change fan speed on any screen; IIRC, you can only change temp on any screen but need to hit the climate button to actually change fan speed. It's negated by the fact that you can use Hey BMW or Hey Mercedes, but for some reason Hey Mercedes was much quicker at doing something when using voice recognition.

Not sure why you're thinking the C43 will be some porker. Mercedes lists the weight as 3,893 lbs on the MB press site; BMW lists the M340i as 3,951 on bmwusa.com. The C43 can only be had with 4MATIC, so I'd use those numbers to compare.
https://media.mbusa.com/releases/rel...ter-efficiency
https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/3-se...specifications

The reality is that the 4-cylinder is a big question in my mind. I know it'll be fast, and I know the C43 will handle great. But how will it sound? All the YouTube videos right now show the EU version with that extra particulate filter or whatever they need to do with EU regulations. I'm gonna wait to see how the US market ones sound. I've heard some really good CLA45's out there stock, so I'm still flabbergasted that MB would allow the C43 to sound as meh as we've seen thus far.

Thank you for commenting on my post with your thoughts and for providing the weight comparison. Another way to activate the voice command function without using the key words, is to simply press the button on the steering wheel, that is probably faster, not by much but faster. Yes, Mercedes' latest infotainment system has all the climate controls on the same screen all the time, I think that is how they advertised it too.

If you are only concerned with sound, you might not need to, here is a video I came across on YouTube, US Spec without the European OPF/PPF, youtube.com/watch?v=DYlZXGc9b8M

I am not sure if the speaker in the front of the vehicle and the sound bar in the rear of the vehicle that is said to be in the C 63 e performance is also in the C 43 though. youtu.be/Ae0hSODXhc4?t=211 (timestamp 3:11).

So it also depends if you prefer authentic sound (or more accurately sound coming from the exhaust) or artificial sound (coming from speaker or synthetic, although they call it the real performance sound from the exhaust I am only saying it is artificial because it is not coming directly from the exhaust).

[Cammy440iGC]

I have a 2019 LCI C43 with AMG Performance exhaust...I just cant figure out what they were thinking with the new C43? Fewer cylinders....more money? Even though its "hand built" I would still take a "factory" built 6 Cylinder B58 over it.

I also don't understand who would now choose a C43 instead of a C63 Se. I shopped both when looking at my 2019 C43 but chose the C43 because it came with 4Matic and the C63 did not. Plus the V6 Biturbo puts out 385 HP. Now its not the V8 503 HP in the old C63 but the 0 to 60s were due different given the 4Matic in the C43 and C43 was plenty fast.

But the new C43 is very expensive and now sits closer to a C300. The new C43 has 400HP but new C63se will have a whopping 640 HP. It now has 4Matic as well! So if your going to pay all that money for so so performance out of the C43 you can pay more...but not wildly more...and get the 640 HP 4Matic beast that will be the C63se. 75K for 400HP C43 vs 95K for 640HP C63se? The C63 for sure.

[andreup]

When you're in this type of dilemma what you need it's a Porsche!

[DerekTriesG20]

Originally Posted by Cammy340i

I have a 2019 LCI C43 with AMG Performance exhaust...I just cant figure out what they were thinking with the new C43? Fewer cylinders....more money? Even though its "hand built" I would still take a "factory" built 6 Cylinder B58 over it.

I also don't understand who would now choose a C43 instead of a C63 Se. I shopped both when looking at my 2019 C43 but chose the C43 because it came with 4Matic and the C63 did not. Plus the V6 Biturbo puts out 385 HP. Now its not the V8 503 HP in the old C63 but the 0 to 60s were due different given the 4Matic in the C43 and C43 was plenty fast.

But the new C43 is very expensive and now sits closer to a C300. The new C43 has 400HP but new C63se will have a whopping 640 HP. It now has 4Matic as well! So if your going to pay all that money for so so performance out of the C43 you can pay more...but not wildly more...and get the 640 HP 4Matic beast that will be the C63se. 75K for 400HP C43 vs 95K for 640HP C63se? The C63 for sure.

As mentioned in the previous post, C63s e performance weighs the same as an S-Class so you need a lot of horsepower to properly move that weight, the 640 hp you are talking about is only good for 10 seconds and then you only have about 570 of continuous power which is still a lot but then weight will hold it down. Either way the B58 equipped will be a better car around corners and twisties.

[mlcgd21]

Originally Posted by BullitX

I have driven a weekend with the new C-class, GLA, and the 3-series (pre facelift). I coming from an A-class (4 year lease).
I would say I am exceptionally disappointed in Mercedes. Don't get me wrong, they have decent cars but just the "allure" mercedes has doesn't follow up with actual implementation.

The following is purely my own experience and opinion:

The new C-class:
Very floaty, but very comfortable to drive on even, flat roads. But once going over speed bumps with decent speed, the car bounces as a trampoline, also in my experience it felt as if the seat almost came off the rails... I had this same experience with the GLA, but not as bad as in my A-class. With the 3'er I didn't have any issues whatsoever at the same speed, on the same speed bumps. In fact, the 3'er felt smoother, not crashy, no bounces, and steering was very direct.

Also the C-class tilts when taking corners, more so than the 3'er. The 3'er felt like it stayed flat, even when taking aggressive corners. Therefore the 3'er felt more dynamic and more confident and more agile than the C-class. The C-class feels like you are dragging the car with a lot of effort in corners, it feels heavier and bigger than it actually is, it felt less (steering) responsive also.

The interior of the C-class is very much as if you are in a cocoon (I guess some people like this...), when I sat in the driver seat in the 3'er my first impression was, and literally said out loud: "wow it's so spacey!". The C-class interior is too "busy" and too "in your face" for my liking. The dashboard is too close to me, bad visibility of the hood of the car and raising the seat will cause my hair on my head to sometimes stroke the roof lining (let alone the aforementioned speed bumps where I was genuinely afraid to hit my head when going over them and therefore lowered the seat beforehand...)

Next for me was the ergonomics... Somehow (maybe it's just me) but I NEVER feel like I am sitting straight behind the wheel. The seating position ALWAYS feels off to me in any Mercedes vehicle. I had this issue with the A-class, GLA, C-class and even when sitting in the E-class in the showroom. The pedals, steering wheel and the driver seat are misaligned in respect to one-another...
I don't have this issue in the 3'er. Only issue in the 3'er I found is that the gas pedal is a bit too much to the right, sometimes causing my shoe to rub the sidewall, and the brake pedal is too close the gas pedal, but I guess with muscle memory this will resolve by itself over time...

To continue on the ergonomics, the central "tablet" screen, is in my opinion a great addition, makes the car look and feel modern and sophisticated but... my main gripe is here that the screen is tilted AND rotated towards the driver. Normally this would be fine if they didn't put the passenger climate controls on the darn screen (like on the 3'er LCI)...
The passenger has an awkward position in respect to screen orientation, making it quite fiddly to adjust the climate as a passenger, especially if your passenger is not a regular C-class passenger... also because the screen is "driver centric" due to the orientation, it's actually quite distracting if the passenger actually starts using the screen, since it will be caught in your personal space and peripheral vision quite a bit, enough for you to (mostly involuntarily) quickly take your eyes and concentration from the road to see what is happing at your centre console, which by design is lower than the dashboard, therefore even less vision of the road...

To continue on the distractions part, on a nice sunny day, the air vents reflect A LOT on the windshield, and if choosing a reflective interior trim, it will cause a lot of glare as well, since the shape, curvature and location of the shiny interior trim will glare easily in your peripheral vision.

Then lets talk about the passenger, the passenger can't extend their legs fully when in a normal seating position, the footwell is too close to the seat (unless you backup your seat of course but doing that will make it very cramped for the back passenger, if you have one).
The passenger footwell is also not "box" shaped. It's more teardrop shaped with the point part at the feet.
This shape will force the passenger to keep their legs almost always pressed against each other, with their feet pointing inwards like this: /\

Needless to say it's a very uncomfortable position for the passenger on somewhat longer journeys.

In the 3'er I can stretch my legs no problem, I can position my feet however I like.

Then I have a huge gripe with the door armrests (driver and front passenger) on the C-class. The arm rests are once again teardrop shaped (I'm detecting a design pattern here...) but this time the pointy side, pointing to the rear, causing your biggest part of lower arm to be too big for the very narrow armrest. It's very uncomfortable since it requires me to use energy to keep my arm on the arm rest, cramping up my shoulder on long drives... keep in mind, I absolutely don't have "large" arms. Just "regular" arms for an athletic male.

I didn't have this issue on the GLA or my A-class. The shape in those cars are more oval instead teardrop...


Then let's talk about tech... yes the C-class has Digital Light, yes it's fancy, better than the Adaptive LED Matrix of the BMW? Probably.
In Europe we get the full features of the Adaptive LED Matrix, and the Merc's Digital Light is more expensive. To me the Digital Light is still somewhat in its infancy in real world practicality. I would rather say it's gimmicky, quite expensive gimmicky for that price point to be honest.
This is something only you could decide if it's worth.

In my personal experience I test drove the C-class and GLA with the multi beam and high beam assist and it was horrible. The system was too slow to react to oncoming cars, blinding them. About 6 out of 10 times the oncoming car had to flash me to warn me that I am blinding him. Funny enough, after the flash, the car decided to adapt the high beam assist... I was really disappointed with this.

With the 3'er, I had Laser Lights. The High Beam Assist worked absolutely flawlessly. Not a single car flashed me. (same road, same time of day, about same traffic and same weather as with the Merc).
Funny enough, on way back home, I came across oncoming car who had it's high beams on, and the oncoming car didn't turn it off when coming close, so I had to flash, after which the oncoming lights "adapted" almost immediately, once the car was passing I could see it was a Mercedes EQE... go figure. Seems like the issue is not just my bad luck.

I don't know how the Digital Light would've performed but I am hugely sceptical if they can't get the High Beam Assist to work properly...

Then the little things that took my attention as well.
For example the windscreen wipers. In the C-class they spray the water directly onto your windshield and then the wipers will move and take it away. This seemed pretty normal to me until... I drove the 3'er... where the water is sprayed onto the blades and then wipes.

You might think: "okay and?", but think about it... imagine you are in a situation where you are driving and something comes on your windshield that you need to get rid off, the Mercedes will actually disrupt your vision with water and soap for a second or two, until the wipers pass... with the BMW you keep your vision since the water is sprayed in front of the wipers, making sure the water and soap won't take away your vision while driving...
This might seem like a small thing but the attention to this detail is really impressive and arguably more safer.

Also the hybrid powertrains of Mercedes don't allow you to "Battery Hold" and recharge like on the 3'er. Mercedes does have a similar battery hold feature but it will just hold the battery level to whatever it is currently at. It will not charge it. Even when recuperating, if you go over the hold capacity, it will use it instead saving it... there is also no way of setting the hold limit, so say you want to keep 50% on hold, you first need to reduce the battery to 50% and then press the button... I can imagine that you could forget to press the button since you are not constantly staring at the battery level...

In the 3'er you can set a limit and it will regenerate using the engine (at the cost of extra consumption of course) or via recuperation.

Lastly, another huge gripe I have is with the safety features of Mercedes. If you deviate from your lane, the car will use counter-braking to pull you back in lane.
I could argue that this is the most silliest (to say it politely) way of safety intervention. Not only is the car braking, causing you to lose speed and popping your brake lights, which also causes the driver behind you to brace or react, it also makes a REALLY loud and horribly intrusive sound as if you hit something or one of your wheels locked up. The first time this happend to me, it actually almost caused an highway accident since I instinctively reacted by counter manoeuvring thinking my wheel popped off or locked up.

In the 3'er it just gently steers your back into lane. I even stressed the system by somewhat harshly moved out of lane, and the car did steer back quickly causing the car to head off to the other side of lane, which the car intervened again to gently put me in the middle again. So not only it will smoothly put you back in lane, it will also prevent the car from drifting off lane caused by its own intervention before.

It's by far the better implementation. I can't even imagine who at Mercedes thought it was a good idea for their implementation... like seriously, where I am from, Mercedes cars are almost always used as Taxi's. Imagine being a passenger in a taxi and experiencing the aforementioned horrific sound and brake intervention... therefore most people turn these features off, which defeats the purpose of having them in the first place anyway...

And there are more things that I could point out but I have noticed this post is as long as a documentary, sorry for that...

I hope this gives you a detailed in-depth explanation of my first hand experience with the C-class and the 3'er (pre LCI). And why I would rather recommend a 3'er over any new Mercedes.
Mercedes, in my opinion, have dropped the ball immensely with new cars and actually most people I have talked to, only like Mercedes because of their exterior look and the status allure the badge gives them... But once they objectively compare AND drive the C-class vs 3'er, I see them smiling more with the 3'er.

Thank you for taking the time if you have actually read everything!




EDIT:
Forgot to mention that in the NCAP crash test of the new C-class, the back passengers will bang their head against the back side pillar (the C-pillar if im not mistaken) even though the airbags are deployed. It's not good if you ask me. The crash test of the 3'er seems better for the back passengers.
Check it starting at minute 02:00 ->

I really appreciated the read. I have a prelci 330e and Mercedes just gave me a c300e for a day so I could decide my next car. Other than the amazing electric range of the Mercedes I could not find almost anything better on the Mercedes. Everything you wrote may seems little details but I felt most of them, it was like you read my mind after driving the Mercedes for a day. The "safety" systems are insanely bad, also the car feels totally disconnected, steering, front and rear, like it is just a mean of transportation for people who don't care or think about the driving experience at all. Unfortunately the battery hold on the lci 330e doesn't charge the battery, it works like in the Mercedes now, which I find very disappointing as well.

[DerekTriesG20]

OP I think you made the right decision to keep the M340i for the engine alone, however the sound is not as muted in USA compared to EU:

[G30M]

not sure about the MB but things i dislike about the M340i

- uncomfortable seats all round
- average sound system
- can't hear real engine sound, fake engine sound is not good
- steering wheel is too thick
- very difficult to find wheels that fit
- car feels heavy when you push it
- a lot of harsh road noise

[dhock_holiday]

Originally Posted by g21

not sure about the MB but things i dislike about the M340i

- uncomfortable seats all round
- average sound system
- can't hear real engine sound, fake engine sound is not good
- steering wheel is too thick
- very difficult to find wheels that fit
- car feels heavy when you push it
- a lot of harsh road noise

Do you have the vernasca leather? I hear the sensatec is more comfy.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by dhock_holiday

Do you have the vernasca leather? I hear the sensatec is more comfy.

Standard leather standard seats. Front not comfortable rear not comfortable, something is a bit off. After a 2 hour drive all 4 of us have sore backs. (1.6-1.75m, 60-75kgs)

It's not good.

[Tron-M3]

Not sure if price is a factor for you:

https://www.theautopian.com/mercedes-amg-c43-pricing/

[TheBingoBalls]

Personally there’s way too much going against the C Class than there is for it.

I will say this, the W206 is significantly better than the W205. The W205 was mostly all bling and very substandard quality (creaks galore), the W206 solves a lot of it but there’s still plastics and creaks but greatly improved over the W205.

The engine is not bad but isn’t great, it just does its job although very noisy even for a 4 cylinder (the B48 doesn’t really have this issue).

Ride quality is what you expect for the C Class, more compliant than a 3/4er (not by a huge margin) but not as soft as an E Class.

Price is ridiculous regardless of trim especially here in Canada. Lightly spec’d car will still be around $1,200-1,300. Go heavy on options you’re looking at a $90K C 300 for around $1,500/month.

The 3er isn’t perfect but you factor in engine, overall quality, price, it does it’s job better as being a 3 Series than a C 300 does as being a C Class.

[ArchJR]

Thanks for the post on this. I am in the same predicament with my 330i lease ending in 8 mos. and am tempted by the C43 for the modern interior and technology. So far I have only driven the C300 w/ AMG Line and I ruled that out quickly. The suspension is too floaty and the brake pedal too mushy; odd since the AMG Line includes a sport suspension, steering, and brakes. It drove like a 530i.

If the C43 is more "taut" then I might be swayed. But then I am reminded of why I picked a 330i over the M340i. The lighter car is more fun to toss around and I am not keen on driving a car that weighs another 500 lbs. I see posts above referencing 3,893 lbs in Mercedes press materials, but the MBUSA site lists 4,092 lbs.

[wac77]

I am a little biased, as my last 7 cars have been BMWs. But from time to time I test drive MBs just to check. My conclusion is always that, even in their sportiest trim, MBs feel like an older person car. More luxury and gadgets, but inferior handling and lack of fun-to-drive feel.

[momo3605]

I built out a C43 and a mostly but not fully loaded spec comes out to $5k more than my equivalent M340i build.

Also, I don't get what people are complaining about the tech in the M340i. There's loads of high tech features! You have lane change assist, a really nice high res HUD, carplay/android auto in IC, automated parking, backup assist, headlights are actually quite good, digital key, 3D remote view.

Im sure the new C class may have a few new features, but it's 4 cylinder, heavier, slower, and quite a bit more expensive.

[dhock_holiday]

If its any indication, I sat in a new C300 this week. My findings below:

- Some of the interior materials felt a bit cheap
- You can really tell its a 4-cylinder, but makes good power
- Tech was nice, but not a fan of the touch buttons on the steering, driver mentioned he accidentally hits them
- AMG line is a must, it looks very dull and boring without it

[RCtennis3811]

If these are actually the official EPA fuel economy numbers for the new C43, what’s the point? Slower than an M340i, sounds worse, and drinks more gas? 0 for 3, MB.

[ArchJR]

Originally Posted by RCtennis3811

If these are actually the official EPA fuel economy numbers for the new C43, what’s the point? Slower than an M340i, sounds worse, and drinks more gas? 0 for 3, MB.

Well, that rules out the C-class for me. The C300 feels too soft and numb. The C43 gets the fuel economy of an SUV. I hoped that the hybrid 4-cylinder would be at least as efficient as BMW's inline six.

I feel like every performance-oriented hybrid turns out the same. The weight required for the hybrid components offsets fuel efficiency gains, leaving a heavier and more complicated compromise. At least those with some electric range net a high eMPG.

[Cammy440iGC]

I have a 2019 C43 and will not be getting the new C43. Its M440i XDrive Grand Coupe all the way.

The engine and transmission of the new C43 just do not compare to the B58 and ZF 8 eight speed transmission.

[monkeyman8]

There is nothing "true AMG" about the c43, even if AMG make the engine the performance and overall numbers are disappointing. More marketing than anything else. Overweight (S class weight), underpowered and more expensive than than a 340. There was a time that AMG would never produce anything remotely close to this but the world has changed. Not to mention fake quad exhausts, seriously that alone will turn me off.

To me the 340 is a clear winner. Unless someone prefers the flashier interior and tech. Then so be it.