#c450amg

What it is: 2016 Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG 4Matic Sedan

Price Range: starting at $50,800 but the model we drove was fully loaded and came in at $69,125

Competitors: BMW 340i, Audi S4

Alternatives: Lexus IS F-Sport, Cadillac ATS

Pros:  Drool-worthy good looks, fantastic suspension, enough power to enjoy, all-wheel drive and enough room for two adults to sit comfortably in the back seat.

Cons: All the best bells and whistles cost a pretty penny.

Would I Buy It With My Own Money: Yep, where do I sign? A better question would be would I ever drive it on the Tail of the Dragon again….

What a difference a (model) year makes. Just one model year after the Mercedes-Benz C400 made it to U.S. shores, it is being replaced. As of 2016 Mercedes-Benz will instead offer the more souped-up version of its gorgeous C-Class in the form of the C450 AMG 4Matic and it is just the right flavor for my taste…even when driven in traffic on the Disneyland of “best roads in America,” the Tail of the Dragon.

You know how you get to some new city and Yelp up a place for the “best pizza” with the hope that it will meet all of your earthly desires for the perfect pizza? Then, maybe you get there, chow down, pay up, and think…WTF? Meet the Tail of the Dragon in all its disappointing, frustrating glory. With 318 curves in just over 11 miles it’s populated with turgid, blue-haired hog-riders rolling along at 20 miles per hour, ignoring the enormous line of traffic queued up behind them as they tick a box off their bucket list. Driving it in a fast car is equivalent to trying to hoon around in Monday morning commute bumper-to-bumper traffic. But driving it in the 2016 Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG 4Matic makes all that infuriating frustration dissolve.

First, there’s the engine. While it isn’t hand-built like its faster C63 AMG brother, the C450 AMG 4Matic puts out ample power and torque in a more affordable package. It starts with the same 3.0L twin-turbo V6 engine from the C400 but it gets an extra 30+ hp in the AMG Sport tune, bringing it in at 362 hp and 348 lb. ft. of torque. That’s still considerably less than the monster 503 hp of the C63 AMG S  that I drove in Portugal earlier this year, but it leaves ample headroom to push the car hard. Combine that engine with the AMG 7-speed Speedshift automatic transmission with paddle-shift and Mercedes’ 4Matic all-wheel drive and you’ve got a fantastic sedan.

Then there’s the ride. The C450 AMG gets a magnetic suspension that is C63-derived--and it is spot on. Four different settings, including Individual, Sport+, Sport, and Comfort control ride and steering feel in the car. In Sport and Sport+ you get direct steering and a stiffer ride. In Comfort you get more play in the steering and a softer body feel. Individual is by far my favorite setting, however. Once I got off the Dragon and onto some not-to-be-named side roads (just use Google maps), and set the Dynamic Select to Comfort suspension, Sport steering, and Sport+ handling and engine/transmission management, the fun began. On downshift you get that wonderfully audible AMG blip and rattle. You can chose to let the transmission do the work for you, or push a button on the center console and put it into manual-shift mode where you have total control over gearing by using the paddles attached to the steering wheel. By the way, that annoying habit of shifting before redline that other manufacturers have, isn’t a problem in the Mercedes C450 AMG. In manual mode, you can drive the car all day long in second gear if you wanted to (though really, we wouldn’t recommend it).  Torque split is rear-biased (33:67) making the C450 AMG a blast in the corners without making it unwieldy. The suspension easily absorbs the bumps on some of the rough, barely populated two-laners in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. Mercedes says that the C450 AMG does 0-60 in 4.8 seconds and as a result, it gets an upgraded braking system that hauls the 3,700-lb. car to a stop in short order.

The C450 AMG doesn’t just get upgraded power, transmission, and suspension parts--interior and exterior cues abound, as well. While you can opt for more traditional Mercedes styling with subtle interiors in the form of open pore wood and monochrome seats you can also opt for my preference—the AMG red seatbelts, AMG seats with contrast stitching, and a carbon fiber dash. Exterior touches also make the C450 AMG stand out and include a black diamond grille, a series of chromed accouterments like dual exhaust tips, AMG badging on the front fender, and more aggressive wheel designs. Under the hood you get the AMG red engine cover as well.

Combine all this with Mercedes' optional comfort and technology packages, including the best-in-the-business Intelligent drive system that’s so good the car nearly drives itself, and you’ve struck gold. Then, why, you may ask, would Mercedes retire the really solid C400 for a slightly more powerful C450 AMG? The simple answer is that Mercedes sees an opportunity to entice more people into an AMG-flavored car—particularly the much sought after Millenials. As it turns out, AMG models are incredibly popular on the used market—young people in particular are snapping them up at a surprising (to Mercedes, anyway) rate.

“You have the base models, and you have the AMG models,” General Manager of Product, Bart Herring, said.  “The current AMG cars were a bit out of reach in terms of budget for a lot of people. There is a clear position in between the top of the line AMG and the base Mercedes. There is room for a performance oriented car in a different price class as a way to keep people in the brand.”

To this end Mercedes created the AMG Sport line—an AMG-light version of some of its cars (and SUVs). Some of the power, the handling and the suspension bits that all have been backed by years of development in Stuttgart— are now offered at a “more affordable price.” That is, if "more affordable" still includes cars that cost well into the mid-$50,000 range. The C450 AMG Sport is only the third model to get the AMG Sport treatment, behind the GLE450 AMG and the GLE450 AMG Coupe that we drove recently. Mercedes-Benz is taking their AMG push so far as to create AMG pop-up stores in their physical dealerships across the country.  CEO Steve Cannon said he wants them to be like “Porsche franchises inside a Mercedes-Benz store,” and plans to have at least ten up and running by the end of the year.

“We are reaching a point in the AMG trajectory where we need to take a different approach. We want to create a space where customers can go in and get under the skin of AMG, pull it apart and see where the $15,000 to $20,000 difference comes from,” Cannon said.

Mercedes isn’t worried that the AMG Sport versions may dilute the sporty reputation of the full AMG brand, and after driving the C450 AMG, there’s no reason they should be. While the Tail of the Dragon should be permanently stricken from any list of the “Best Driving Roads in America,” the C450 AMG makes driving any road, whether in traffic or not, thoroughly enjoyable. The Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG is on sale now.