Saturday Star

Bless me, but this Merc is marvelous!

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product, there is a feeling of quality and luxury around you in the cabin. The latest iterations of the C-Class and indeed other models in the range now have a cabin aura which is not far off that of class leader Audi and equal to that of BMW. The AMG, with its sports seats and red seat belts, is a very seductive environmen­t in which to spend time.

Again, however, I have to give a smack to the MB designers for taking the radio interface back a number of steps. The new radios in the latest cars take ages to get used to and require many more steps to do simple things like saving favourite stations. Sometimes, people, please accept: if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.

That really is the only complaint I have about the C43 AMG.

It is not cheap at R900 000, but if you consider the performanc­e on offer it is good value for money and about R400 000 cheaper than a C63S.

I realise some will prefer the brawnier, bigger-engined car: but, for me, the C43 AMG is as fast as you’ll ever need, as luxurious as you’ll ever need and, compared to the C63S, better value for money.

It is one of the best performanc­e saloons on the market (and this includes BMW’s cheaper but less powerful 340i, which is one of its competitor­s, as well as the BMW M3, which is more powerful but only slightly quicker than the C43).

I have driven many Mercs over the years but this is simply the best.

My advice would be: enjoy it now before the government regulators forever ban these sort of engines.

I suppose as penance for my transgress­ion I will have to drive a hybrid.

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