2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
Committed to tradition - Mercedes-Benz has also added a sporty version to the new C-Class. With a new price structure you want to be on an equal footing with the competition.
By Thomas Flehmer
This is what every car manufacturer dreams of. In response to the question about the course of the test drive, the questioner receives a grin that expresses more than 1000 words. With the C 63 AMG, Mercedes-Benz has made the sporty C-Class model extremely successful. The roadworthy sister of this season's DTM racing car is undoubtedly pure driving pleasure.
ESP has to intervene early
336 kW / 457 PS and a beefy torque of 600 Nm, which uses its strongest power at 5000 rpm, show where the path is going. Here the eight-cylinder should be kept at high speeds in order to experience the optimal driving feeling, the kick. The speedometer has moved into the three-digit range in just 4.5 seconds.
The pull is so powerful that the new three-stage ESP has to intervene after the first gear shift of the seven-speed automatic to curb the concentrated power and not let the rear break out. The stability program should therefore only be switched off for test purposes on a lonely country road.
As heavy as an Alfa Spider
Despite its 1.7 tons - the athlete is as heavy as the new Alfa Spider - the C 63 AMG is extremely agile for a sedan. Thanks to a newly designed sports chassis in conjunction with 18-inch light alloy wheels and a completely redesigned front axle with 35 millimeters more track width, the fun is not lost at all on the further course of the road.
The 4.73 meter long sedan does not tend to roll above average even at high speeds when cornering. These do not arrive in the interior either. In addition, the sports seats with automatic adjustment options for the side bolsters ensure optimum support. Of course, physics cannot be overridden, which is why caution should always be required - even in this bullet, which is equipped with many sensible safety features.
At 250 km / h it's over - or not
Brake assist, adaptive brake lights, the new ESP, Pre-Safe and Intelligent Light-System help to avoid or reduce accidents, but the driver alone has to act responsibly. Mercedes is therefore offering a sports package that costs 2700 euros. In addition to technical features, the customer receives a one-day driver training course on the Nürburg or Hockenheimring. Then the electronic controller is switched off, which otherwise curbs the power of the 6.3 liter eight-cylinder at 250 km / h.
Regardless of whether it is electronically governed or not - the C 63 AMG puts you in a good mood. The haunting but not intrusive sound also contributes to this. "Over 20 different sounds were tried out in the design studios," said Henrik Hummel, Head of Product Communication and Product Management at AMG. The noises of the high-revving naturally aspirated engine are chased through two chrome-plated, oval twin tailpipes.
When downshifting the sports car, which is available in the two versions Avantgarde and Elegance like the normal C-Class, a newly developed double-declutching function comes to light, which further underlines the dynamics and reduces load change reactions, so that the braking behavior before bends is further optimized.
One pound of CO2 per kilometer
The Mercedes subsidiary from Affalterbach specifies 13.4 liters as consumption for the sports car that can be ordered from December and available from February 2008. But the driving pleasure devours a lot more. After the 150-kilometer test drive on the autobahn and country road as well as in city traffic, almost half the capacity of the 66-liter tank was used up.
Mercedes specifies the value for CO2 emissions as 319 grams per kilometer. It should have leveled off on the test drive at just under a pound per kilometer.
At eye level with the competition
But Mercedes sees no reason to doubt environmental protection despite the AMG series. “The AMG range does not have a volume model,” says Klaus-Peter Claar, Head of Overall Vehicles at Mercedes. Around 13,000 AMG models are sold worldwide every year. Lovers of the new C model then have to put at least 56,500 euros on the table. The T-model, the sporty station wagon, starts at 58,700 euros.
Hummel is happy about the award. Instead of being several thousand euros more expensive than the BMW M3, the difference to the largest competitor has been reduced to 500 euros. "We are now at eye level and have, among other things, a 50 percent higher torque," says Hummel. But the torque is just one of the trump cards that the C 63 AMG has in store to make the driver shine after a tour.
