Evo Xliiita

Nope, Not a Mitsubishi. Just one heck of a Mercedes-Benz!

- Raunak Ajinkya

It’s natural to want more. It’s natural to expect that evolution will supersede the previous attempt’s very being and make the transition look as archaic as a Sega Dreamcast placed side-by-side with a PlayStation. It just is the way things are when it comes to the expectations we have. So when someone tells you that a throaty, naturally-aspirated V8 that conjured magic and blurred its housing’s surroundings faster than you can say, ‘There is a God!’ has been superseded by a barely-thunderous twin-turbo V6, you tend to get despondent faster than you can mutter ‘tree hugger’.

That, then, is how the SLC 43 — Mercedes-Benz’s replacement for the SLK55 AMG — starts off. Rather under whelming, really. It’s said that first impressions don’t count for much, and that filtering through layers of insecurity and tearing past thick curtains of pretence bring you a smidge closer to the soul. That’s about as applicable to humans as it is to the lovely SLC 43. Lovely? If you’ve been reading so far (and I hope you have been because the SLC 43 has a story to tell), then my description hasn’t been effusive enough to warrant the use of that particular word. That, however, is just what it is — lovely