Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class vs Bentley Flying Spur

What's the difference?

The new AMG C 43 may lack the drama and excitement we’ve come to expect from the German performance brand, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad car. Yes, it could be more extroverted and the ride could be improved, but this is still a sharp-looking sports sedan with loads of punch.

This is a car that speaks to its times, with ever-stricter emissions regulations making it harder and harder for car companies to produce loud, wild and charismatic cars. So Mercedes-AMG has worked within those boundaries and come up with a car that retains at least some of those core elements that has made the brand so desirable over the years.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to plug-in hybrids like the Flying Spur. Some people believe they provide the best of both worlds, combining elements of an EV and ICE vehicle. Others believe it’s a compromise, which requires you to carry around an electric motor and batteries you may not use much of the time.

The truth is the value of a PHEV will largely depend on how you use it. If you have a short commute and access to regular charging then it should work well for your needs, but if you need to drive longer distances and won’t charge it regularly it doesn’t make sense.

What isn’t up for debate, though, is how luxurious and premium the Flying Spur is. Sure, there are some surprisingly non-standard items that require you to spend above and beyond the already sizeable asking price, but if you do you’ll be rewarded with a car that is opulent and efficient.

Mercedes has created something of a problem for itself with its decision to introduce AMG styling packages for the majority of its range, including the C-Class.

It means the C 43 has to walk a fine line between looking like a unique AMG model, rather than just a C300 with a bodykit and not out-doing the C63.

To that end it has AMG’s now familiar grille with vertical bars, the unique and complex-looking 20-inch alloy rims and a small lip spoiler on the boot. But otherwise it is surprisingly understated for an AMG, lacking the more obvious and muscular stance of previous AMG offerings.

Inside, there’s a similar theme, with the typical Mercedes-Benz luxury appointments but with a sportier, AMG twist. The steering wheel is chunky and comes with AMG branding, metallic shift paddles and a pair of rotary dials/buttons that allow you to alter the various drive modes and settings.

The one on the right allows you to switch between the pre-set Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Individual modes, while the one on the left can scroll between the various individual aspects to tailor the settings to the conditions.

In typical modern fashion the design is tech-laden, with a digital display for the instrument panel (that can be switched between various graphics) and a large, tablet-style central multimedia touchscreen that controls the majority of the car’s non-driving functions.

Bentley isn’t exactly targeting a youthful audience with this car so there’s a, shall we say, traditional design aesthetic to the Flying Spur. This is a car that’s meant to ooze sophistication and luxury and it does that with its appearance.

From the signature Bentley grille, glistening in shiny chrome, to the intricate, jewel-like detail of the headlights, through the carefully sculpted flanks and to the tapered tail the Flying Spur is all about old-school luxury.

But there are some nice modern touches, highlighted by the ‘Flying B’ bonnet mascot, which not only can retract for improved safety, but at night it illuminates when you unlock the car, lending that touch of luxury that tells you that this is a step above most rivals.

The new C-Class has grown slightly in size compared to the model it replaces, most notably with a 26mm increase in the wheelbase which you can feel in the cabin.

The front seat space is good, with excellent adjustability for the power-adjustable seats and steering column. I had no trouble finding my ideal seating position which makes for a more enjoyable and uncompromised driving experience.

Rear space is a bit tighter (which is typical for this segment/size of vehicle), but thankfully the standard seats do have very deep sculpting in the backs which allow for more knee space and foot room.

However, at approximately 180cm (six-foot), I wouldn’t like to sit behind my seating position for long periods as my knees were touching the seat back, and headroom is compromised with the panoramic glass roof.

In terms of small item storage there’s a lidded console box in between the front seats as well as a pair of cupholders and a small tray where you can place your mobile phone.

It’s worth noting, though, that early examples of the C 43 in Australia do not have a wireless smartphone charging pad, with that reportedly being introduced from February production.

While that’s good news, it’s not really competitive in this day and age to offer a car costing six-figures without such technology.

There’s also only a single USB-C power outlet in the front, which is another disappointment, but there is a pair in the back.

Mercedes does win some points back for a respectable 455-litre boot, which has a nice wide load opening that will make packing luggage easier.

Not surprisingly, there’s generous room inside this modern limousine. The Flying Spur is one of those cars you’d enjoy being driven in, arguably even more than driving.

But before we talk about the back seat accommodations, let’s start in the driver’s seat.

The front of the cabin is another display of traditional luxury with a blend of modern technology. There is a veritable smorgasbord of premium materials - fine leather, bright metals and genuine wood veneers. 

The steering wheel is thick and wrapped in very nice leather so it feels great, as does the supple hide that covers the soft but supportive seat.

In front of the driver is a digital dashboard but the graphics are traditional round dials for the speedo and tacho, with a central area for other key information, such as the use of the hybrid system.

For the trained eye there are some giveaways that Bentley is part of the Volkswagen Group, the way some of the graphics are presented, some of the switchgear and other small elements - but nothing overt.

Space in the rear is very good, with more-than-adequate head, knee and legroom, but it’s not expansive as you’ll find in an extended-wheelbase vehicle, like its Bentayga SUV sibling.

Still, those in the rear are well looked after, elevating the Flying Spur beyond what you’ll typically find in a ‘luxury car’ - like those from the ‘big three’ German brands.

There are pillow-like headrests, for example, as well as plenty more premium materials and leather-lined surfaces.

But, again, a lot of the items fitted to our test car were cost options, such as the panoramic sunroof, rear window sun blinds and vanity mirrors that flip down from the ceiling.

Boot space is another surprising element of the Flying Spur, because despite the overall size of the car, it measures just 351 litres. For comparison, the Toyota Corolla sedan has a 470-litre boot.

It’s oddly shaped too, with space lost to the wheel arches and other hidden hardware, with even more room given up for the large charging cable bag.

In a sign of the times, the Flying Spur is the sole remaining four-door sedan in the Bentley line-up, as it now focuses on the Continental GT coupe and convertible and the Bentayga SUV.

While it may be the ‘old-fashioned’ member of the range, it’s probably the one that suits… shall we say… ‘traditional’ Bentley customers.

A four-door sedan is certainly not a ‘young person's’ car, but it clearly has a place and serves a role for the brand.

The Flying Spur range begins at $445,200 for the V8-powered model or $456,000 for the Hybrid (both prices exclude on-road costs). Although, as with any luxury vehicle, the starting price is just that, a starting point before you add your personalisation options.

In the case of our test car, pictured, it ended up at $589,641, with that extra $133,641 coming with a range of additional extras that, to be blunt, are surprisingly not standard.

For example, an inductive smartphone charging pad is a cost option, remarkable for a car of this price, when you consider it’s standard on low- and mid-grade Hyundai and Kia models.

The optional 'Mulliner Driving Specification' adds 22-inch 10-spoke alloy wheels, diamond quilted leather seats, sports pedals and more, but the Touring Specification includes active lane-keeping assist - all items that you could reasonably expect to be included on your $400K luxury car.

What is standard are the full LED matrix headlights, 20-inch alloy wheels and a 12.3-inch central touchscreen that incorporates navigation, Bluetooth and WiFi streaming, smartphone connectivity and even includes a CD/DVD slot. 

The standard sound system is a 650W, 10-speaker set-up, but you can option a Bang & Olufsen 1500W, 16-speaker system or even a 2200W, 19-speaker Naim option.

The biggest talking point about this new car is the engine, with AMG downsizing from the old C 43’s six-cylinder to a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.

But it’s not just any turbocharged four-pot, because it is fitted with technology that Mercedes claims has been inspired directly from its Formula One team.

While the F1 team engine facility is based in England, this engine was designed and developed by the Mercedes-AMG team at its Affalterbach headquarters, but the concept of the electric turbocharger reportedly comes from the engine that powered Lewis Hamilton to multiple world championships.

The electric exhaust gas turbocharger - to give it its official name - uses a small electric motor on the turbocharger shaft to spin up the blades without having to wait for any exhaust gases to pass through it first.

To power the electric turbo the C 43 is equipped with a mild-hybrid 48-volt electrical system.

Mercedes claims this means reduced lag and improved throttle response for a sportier driving experience. 

It also helps make this small engine produce big amounts of performance, with AMG extracting 300kW of power and 500Nm of torque from this 2.0-litre, which is more power than the previous six-cylinder C 43 managed.

The engine is paired to a nine-speed multi-clutch transmission, which isn’t a dual-clutch with a pair of clutches operating on every second gear ratio, but instead uses a “wet start-off clutch” for better take-offs and smoother shifting on the move (at least in theory).

Power is sent to the road via all four wheels thanks to Mercedes’ 4Matic all-wheel drive system.

This is obviously the centrepiece of the Flying Spur Hybrid and under the bonnet you’ll find a 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 petrol engine paired with an electric motor and 18kWh lithium-ion battery.

The petrol engine makes 306kW/550Nm on its own, with the electric motor good for 100kW/400Nm and combined Bentley claims the powertrain produces 400kW/750Nm.

That power is sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch auto transmission.

Bentley claims the Flying Spur Hybrid is quick, as well as efficient, sprinting from 0-100km/h in just 4.3 seconds, with top speed rated at 285km/h.

Despite the smaller engine you can hardly call the C 43 miserly, with a claimed combined urban/highway cycle rating of 9.1-litres per 100km. That’s only a 0.2L/100km improvement over the old six-cylinder.

On test, which included a return trip from Sydney to Bathurst via motorways and some dynamic back road driving, we saw a return of 11.8L/100km on the car's onboard computer.

While hardly hybrid-worrying, it’s impressive to think that driven modestly, such a potent engine can return a single-digit fuel figure.

Fuel consumption and electric driving range are always tricky to judge with plug-in hybrids. The official testing cycle favours the combination of electric and petrol power resulting in an official combined cycle figure that’s difficult to hit in the real world.

As was the case with the Flying Spur Hybrid, which has claimed figures of 3.3L/100km, but we could only reach 6.5L/100km during our time in the car.

To be fair, less than 7.0L/100km for such a big, heavy and powerful car is still an impressive return, but it’s well short of the claim.

In terms of electric-only range and the energy consumption of the battery, Bentley claims an EV driving range of 40km, which we also found hard to manage during our test drive. 

The claimed energy use of 9.2kWh/100km is optimistic, though, with the car’s computer telling us it was actually 22.3kWh/100km.

Overall, Bentley claims the Flying Spur Hybrid has a maximum driving range of 804km thanks to the combination of electric and petrol power. 

Let’s start with the good news. The new Mercedes-AMG C 43 is a quick car. The engine may be small in size but the electric turbocharger does its thing and provides plenty of punch.

You can get a performance boost, too, thanks to the belt-driven starter generator, which acts as a mild hybrid and gives you a surge of 10kW for a brief period if you need a sudden burst of extra speed.

The chassis is well-sorted, too, at least from a dynamic point-of-view. The rear-wheel steering can provide up to 2.5 degrees of turning, which improves handling at speed and manoeuvrability when parking.

However, there are some less-impressive elements to the C 43, too. The obvious one is the drama, or rather the lack thereof.

As I said at the beginning, the C 43 has never been as wild or raucous as the V8-powered C 63, but when you buy an AMG there’s a rightful expectation that it will provide some thrills.

The C 43 simply doesn’t have that character about it. Yes, it’s fast, but it produces that speed with efficiency rather than excitement.

And it’s not an engine size problem, because even the 2.0-litre four-cylinder A 35 and CLA 35 offer more ‘wow factor’ than the C 43.

Yes, the engine makes noise under acceleration (and it can be altered between discreet and sporty) but even at its best it sounds muted and lacks the evocative tone of a V8 or six-cylinder engine. 

Another disappointment is the transmission calibration, with the gearbox awkwardly shifting out of first gear on multiple occasions during our test drive.

In the taller gears it felt smooth enough cruising along, but given its low speed shifts we’d like to spend more time in the urban environment before passing final judgement. 

The other notable element of the driving experience we struggled with was the ride quality. While fine on the smoother motorways, our test drive included time on some patchy country back roads and the C 43, even in the ‘Comfort’ suspension setting, was simply too firm.

Riding on low profile tyres, the adaptive dampers struggled to isolate the cabin from the imperfections in the road, leading to a fussy ride at times.

Overall the C 43 is a good car, but it feels like there are still some areas where Mercedes could improve it to make it really live up to the AMG badge.

Climbing aboard and closing the heavy door with a thud, the Flying Spur feels isolated from the outside world before you’ve even turned the powertrain on. It adds that feeling of luxury and refinements that few other cars - and certainly few sedans - can claim these days.

Before you start driving you can select which version of the powertrain you’d like to use, with the ability to switch to all-electric power, a combination of petrol and electric or biased towards petrol to charge the battery.

In hybrid mode the Flying Spur manages which element of the powertrain it uses, typically using the electric motor to get you off the mark and boost performance on the move but allowing the petrol engine to do most of the heavy lifting.

Regardless of the details, it certainly provides the performance you expect from a car like a Bentley. It has the kind of effortless performance that means, despite its size, it never labours or struggles to close a gap or burst forward with urgency.

However, it’s electric mode that seems to fit the nature of the Bentley best - quiet, refined and powerful. Which makes sense.

Electric motors are so well suited to luxury cars that it's no surprise Bentley has committed to going all-electric by the end of the decade.

It’s a shame, then, that the 40km of range runs out quicker than expected and leaves you leaning on the petrol engine again.

The standard list of safety features includes front, side and curtain airbags as well as city assist (low-speed autonomous emergency braking), pedestrian warning, reverse cross-traffic warning and top view parking camera.

However, you’ll need to pay extra for the 'Touring Specification' pack that brings active lane assist, night vision and 'Bentley Safeguard Plus' (which adds high-speed autonomous emergency braking and pre-collision mitigation).

It’s shocking that nearly $500,000 doesn’t get you a comprehensive suite of active safety features and it hurts the appeal of the Flying Spur in some regard.

The Flying Spur hasn’t been crash tested by ANCAP, likely due to the high cost of the car and the relatively low sales volumes. 

The C 43 is covered by Mercedes’ five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, which has become the new standard for the luxury car market.

Service intervals for the car are at 12 months/25,000km, which is on par with industry standard.

Mercedes-Benz Australia will offer a service plan for the C 43, prices were yet to be confirmed at the time of publication but the company has indicated it will be similar to the C300. 

That means $550 for year one, $900 for year two, the third service costs $1000 and the fourth year service costs $2450 - for a total of $4900 for the first four years of ownership.

Another surprising element of the Bentley ownership experience is the relatively short warranty, at least by modern standards.

Like every other model in the range, it’s only covered for three years (but unlimited kilometres), which is short of the five years most other brands offer, and curious given the high standard to which these cars are built. 

However, the Flying Spur Hybrid is covered by a five-year servicing plan - with 12 months/16,000km intervals - which is included in the cost of the car.

Befitting Bentley’s status as a premium brand, the local dealer will arrange to collect and return the car when servicing is required, and a loan car can be arranged if required so the owner isn’t inconvenienced.