Gsbt

Over the past few years, a number of automakers have sought to create a mid-range offering that occupies a space between standard models and hardcore high performance counterparts – as evidenced by the BMW M Performance, Cadillac V-Sport, and Audi S lineups. These models seek to find a balance between civility, price and performance, delivering a driving experience that’s more performance-oriented than the garden-variety model, but not nearly as hard-edged as the full-bore performance variant. For Mercedes, that comes in the form of the Mercedes-AMG 43 lineup, which in turn results in the E43 for the E-Class sedan. It slots nicely between the E300 and the gorilla-in-a-suit that is the 603 horsepower E63, and while it might be a bit closer to the E300 than it is the E63 as a package overall, the combination does an excellent job of closing the rather sizable performance gap between those two. Although the stats sheet of the E43 certainly looks promising, numbers don’t...