Cars/ First-drive/ Mercedes-AMG E53 4Matic+ Cabriolet | Ah My God | First Drive Review

Mercedes-AMG E53 4Matic+ Cabriolet | Ah My God | First Drive Review

A ballistic missile that manages to catch everyone's eye when she takes her top off? This possibly is the best way to describe the E53 4Matic+ Cabriolet.

For

Sex Appeal, AMG Performance

Against

Does it really matter?

Driving

While this isn't the full-bore V8 motor that AMGs are famous for. The in-line six-cylinder on the E53 doesn't shy away from making you smile ear to ear when you floor the throttle. Combined with an e-motor, the E53 makes 435hp and gets an e-boost of 22hp. Torque is a very healthy 520Nm. The electric auxiliary compressor delivers boost first for lag-free acceleration, with the large exhaust gas turbocharger chiming in later. Power is then sent predominantly to the rear wheels. Moreover, owing to the 4Matic+, some power is also sent to the front wheels, making it quite stable in corners. 

Now, despite its 20-inch AMG-inspired rims, owing to the air springs, the E 53 manages to ride very comfortably in 'Comfort' mode. Furthermore, suppose the road conditions worsen, or you must tackle a large bump. In that case, you can further raise the vehicle's height, making it easy to tackle the biggest of breakers. There is no thudding over poor sections of roads, and then even when you ride over some larger bumps, it swallows them up without the car moving around too much. On the other hand, there is a fair bit of tyre noise with the roof down and over bad roads, a bit of shimmy and shake.

The true party piece of the E 53 has to be the straight-six motor. It works well as a smooth Mercedes unit and an over-the-top AMG one. In Comfort, the straight six pulls you forward in a long, smooth and seamless manner. You are met by a nice slug of e-boost as soon as you tap the throttle. The big turbo comes in shortly after and then carries you forward with a wave of torque and effortlessness. But being an AMG, you do tend to want to push the E 53 after putting it in 'Sport +' mode. Everything is dialled to 100, and the E 53 becomes a different beast altogether. Flooring the throttle gives you an instant surge of power and actually pins your head to the headrest. With the roof down, you can hear the turbo whistling, you can see the electric boost spike in via the blue bar on the instrument panel, and then driving along on the right sort of road with the roof down is well just a little bit of magic. The straight six even pulls hard all the way to 6,500rpm, and, in Sport+, not only does the motor have a delicious rumble, but there are also pops and bangs on overrun. The E 53 is quick, too; 0-100kph comes up in just 4.5sec, and acceleration is so strong the E 53 sometimes feels even faster.

Around corners, the E 53 feels in an element of its own. In Sport Plus, the suspension stiffens up, making this Cabriolet feel more like a sports car. You can feel the vehicle tighten up around you as you turn the mode selector knob on the steering wheel. The springs, the dampers, throttle responses, and even the amount of weight you have in the steering. And then, despite it being a convertible that weighs in at around two tonnes, there's a lot of driving pleasure to be had. To further aid the driver to grip the road, the four-wheel drive system works overtime to avoid any understeer or oversteer, but you can have some fun with the accelerator pedal and make the E 53 slide around corners without it causing you to soil your trousers.



TopGear Magazine February 2024