Bentley Continental vs Mercedes-Benz C43

What's the difference?

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Bentley Continental
Bentley Continental

$452,670 - $471,718

2025 price

Mercedes-Benz C43
Mercedes-Benz C43

2023 price

Summary

2025 Bentley Continental
2023 Mercedes-Benz C43
Safety Rating

Engine Type
W12, 6.0L

Twin Turbo V6, 3.0L
Fuel Type
Premium Unleaded Petrol

-
Fuel Efficiency
14.5L/100km (combined)

9.4L/100km (combined)
Seating
4

5
Dislikes
  • Only four airbags
  • Modest warranty cover
  • Kids-only rear seats

  • Engine lacks drama expected from AMG
  • Ride feels unresolved
  • Big price jump over old model
2025 Bentley Continental Summary

Close your eyes for me and try to picture a two-door vehicle with a thumping V8 engine, 575kW and a whopping 1000Nm on tap, a 0-100km/h burst of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 335km/h. Does it look like a Ferrari in your head? Something else Italian, or German perhaps?

Well, what if I tell you it also weighs 2.5 tonnes. Are you imagining a luxe SUV with the rear doors removed, perhaps? Think again, because what we’re discussing here is arguably the very best of Britain (albeit German-owned), the all new and highly impressive Bentley Continental GT Speed.

Gone is the famous and fabulous W12 engine, never to return (Bentley was long the world’s biggest maker of 12-cylinder engines, henceforth it will make exactly none), to be replaced by the one and only power plant the company will now offer, in various tunes, in all of its ICE cars (yes, a Bentley EV is coming, of course).

All that torque isn’t just from the big 4.0-litre V8, it’s also an 'Ultra Performance Hybrid', which will allow you to drive up to 81km in fully silent electric mode, should you be so boring.

We flew to a posh and very private members-only race track in Japan to find it out if this really is, as Bentley suggests, the everyday supercar.

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2023 Mercedes-Benz C43 Summary

Think of a Mercedes-AMG and the first words that spring to mind are probably not - understated, efficient and restrained. And yet those are probably the best words to describe the all-new C 43.

Of course, before we go any further it’s important to note that the C 43, even in its previous six-cylinder guise, was never meant to be as wild, raucous or powerful as the C63 flagship - that’s simply not its role in the AMG line-up.

But even so, this new model is a dive into fresh territory for the brand and puts a very different spin on the AMG sports sedan as we know it.

This is a four-cylinder model, complete with a Formula One-derived electric turbocharger, so it lacks the sound and fury you expect from something carrying the ‘AMG’ badge - but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad car, as we’ll explain.

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Deep dive comparison

2025 Bentley Continental 2023 Mercedes-Benz C43

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