Mercedes C450 takes a ride on the mild side,
Sedan holds its own in the middle of the road in the C-Class line
Mercedes’ AMG performance brand was once a hammer, but the luxury automaker hopes to thread a needle with the 2016 C450 AMG sport sedan.
AMG built its enviable reputation as a tuner of super-fast luxury cars by cranking the volume up to 11 on every song. For decades, the Mercedes speed shop had all the subtlety of the sonic boom: AMGs were once about going as fast as you possibly could.
That appealed to Generation Y. In a brave new world of Mercedes micro-targeted marketing, AMG has grown nuanced. Models bearing the storied initials now range from sort of fast to scary fast.
The C450 sedan is at the slower end of that AMG spectrum. It offers a 362-horsepower 3-liter bi-turbo V-6 engine, all-wheeldrive and other goodies that lift it above the base models of Mercedes’ C-Class and other small sport sedans. But only a bit.
The volume on this amp is set firmly at 6.
Prices for the C450 AMG start at $50,800, plus $925 in destination charges. That gets you the twin-turbo V-6, all-wheel-drive, a 7-speed automatic transmission and a zero to 60 mile-per-hour time of 4.9 seconds.
The $73,250 AMG C63 S sits at the top of the C-class family. It’s powered by a 503-horsepower 4liter bi-turbo and reaches 60 mph in 3.9 seconds.
Under the current system, if “AMG” comes before the alphanumeric model name, a car has the max performance. If it follows the model name, as in C450 AMG, it delivers midlevel perfor- mance. We have to assume that makes perfect sense to Germans.
I tested a well-equipped C450 AMG that stickered at $64,080. It had options such as a backup camera, 19-inch wheels, adaptive cruise control, custom metallic paint, Burmeister audio and heated front seats.
The C450 competes with AWD sport sedans such as the Audi S4, BMW 340i xDrive and the Cadillac ATS 3.6-liter. The C450 AMG’s acceleration, fuel economy and features rank in the middle of that pack. It has more power than the competition. Its price is at the high end among competitive models.
The C450 scored 21 miles per gallon in the city, 29 mpg on the highway and 24 mpg in combined driving in EPA tests. The key combined figure compares to 21 mpg for the S4, 22 for the ATS in its 3.6-liter version and 26 mpg for the 340i xDrive. All the cars but the ATS require premium fuel. That makes the regularburning ATS the least expensive to run, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates.
The drive-mode’s sport setting delivers exciting performance and handling, and the default comfort setting is comfortable and pillows impacts from rough surfaces.
The interior is comfortable, with plenty of storage and enough rear legroom that a passenger with a laptop filed several stories about the Chicago auto show to his magazine en route.
The head-up display and instruments are clear and legible, but the controls are not particular intuitive. A rotary controller for audio, navigation and more is a bit cumbersome. There’s a small touch pad, but I wouldn’t advise trying to use it in a moving vehicle. Voice recognition offsets those shortcomings. Pairing a phone is considerably more complicated than it needs to be.
It’s difficult for a car in the middle of the model line to carve out a distinct identity, particularly when it bears a legendary badge like AMG but is slower to 60 mph than a BMW 340i. Anybody who can set aside expectations based on previous AMG models should find the C450 a satisfactory midpoint in the CClass model line.
Anybody who can set aside expectations based on previous AMG models should find the C450 a satisfactory midpoint in the C-Class model line.