Ferrari 812 vs Mercedes-Benz E-Class

What's the difference?

Picturing yourself driving a Ferrari is always a pleasant way to waste a few 'when I win Lotto' moments of your life. 

It’s fair to assume that most people would imagine themselves in a red one, on a sunny, good-hair day with an almost solar-flare smile on their faces. 

The more enthusiastic of us might throw in a race track, like Fiorano, the one pictured here, which surrounds the Ferrari factory at Maranello, and perhaps even specify a famously fabulous model - a 458, a 488, or even an F40.

Imagine the kick in the balls, then, of finally getting to pilot one of these cars and discovering that its badge bears the laziest and most childish name of all - Superfast - and that the public roads you’ll be driving along are covered in snow, ice and a desire to kill you. And it’s snowing, so you can’t see.

It’s a relative kick in the groin, obviously, like being told your Lotto win is only $10 million instead of $15m, but it’s fair to say the prospect of driving the most powerful Ferrari road car ever made (they don’t count La Ferrari, apparently, because it’s a special project) with its mental, 588kW (800hp) V12, was more exciting than the reality.

Memorable, though? Oh yes, as you’d hope a car worth $610,000 would be.

You like performance, love a bit of luxury and fancy a traditional sedan. The budget is healthy and there’s a surprising amount of choice. But Mercedes-AMG believes it’s created the car that perfectly answers your new-car brief. 

The Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ is a fresh expression of an established high-performance sedan formula mixing internal-combustion power with electric punch and all-wheel drive.

We were invited to its local launch, so stay with us to see if this newcomer is ready to fill that primo European performance car shaped space in your garage.