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390 HP C43 Spearheads C-Class Facelift Family in Geneva

After a couple of years of spy videos, wondering what exactly they were changing on the C-Class, we now know. Not much! But the compact executive car still looks brilliant thanks to a mild facelift, especially in C43 form.
390 HP C43 Spearheads C-Class Facelift Family in Geneva 43 photos
Photo: Guido ten Brink / SB-Medien
Mercedes brought over a number of examples. We've got a white C43 sedan, a dark silver C43 wagon, a sedan with the Elegance trim level and a C 220d with the AMG Line body kit.

In case you didn't spot this already, Mercedes is presenting two different and quite striking headlight designs. One looks like it's based on the S-Class and the other is similar to Volvo's.

As you might have heard already, the Mercedes-AMG C43 is sticking to its twin-turbo V6 engine, but power has gone up to 390 HP and 520 Nm (384 lb-ft) of torque. Mercedes says that's enough to take you to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds in the case of the sedan and 4.8 seconds in the wagon.

When it eventually makes it to the United States, the revised C-Class will also get a newly turbocharged 2-liter delivering 255-hp and 273 lb-ft (370 Nm), thus better competing with the Audi A4.

The things that sell the C43 for us are the new exhaust pipes and the interior. Finally, there's a carbon fiber dashboard for the lesser AMG model, and it goes really well with the new 10.25inch infotainment screen, steering wheel and high-definition 12.3-inch digital dash. The overall design of the interior remains the same, but at least it doesn't look like every other Mercedes currently on the market. We'd take this over the new A-Class any day of the week.

If you squint hard, you'll notice that the normal C-Class models also get new bumpers and taillights. The AMG Line body kit looks as sporty as the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Other highlights for this model include an updated Active Steering Assist system with Active Lane Change Assist and Active Emergency Stop Assist functions.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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