– Hamburg, Germany

There’s a great middle-ground to be had in this Mercedes-AMG E43 sedan – a sort of “AMG Lite,” if you will. It combines all the style, comfort, and technological tour de force of Mercedes’ E300 but shoves a little more oomph under the hood. Think of it as a replacement for what would have been the E550 with a much more impressive name. If you find something like an E63 too hot, but need more get-up-and-go than the E300, this E43 offers a sporty-looking, fully baked AMG experience that might be your perfect bowl of porridge.

Pros

• I can describe this car’s driving dynamics in one word: smooth. Everything about it is fluid. The 3.0-liter biturbo V6 delivers 396 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque – a healthy 155 hp and 111 lb-ft more than the E300 – and the nine-speed automatic transmission sends the power to all four wheels with a linear wave of oomph. At no point does the E43 sound or feel like it’s trying to be a hardcore-to-the-max E63, instead just launching you down the autobahn with a serene quickness.
• I’ll need to get the E43 out on some more involving roads, but my experience on the highways and lazy backroads of northern Germany reveal a car that’s willing to be hustled when provoked. Toggle the Dynamic Control switch into Sport or Sport+ modes and the chassis tightens and steering sharpens, the rear-biased all-wheel-drive system moving power around to make the E43 an entertaining dance partner.
• This car doesn’t just have the best interior...