far2000
AMG Aficionado
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Mercedes has fired another salvo in the ongoing supremacy war between it and BMW for the "family car" performance title with the launch in South Africa of its C63 AMG sedan.
There are five cars on Welkom's once-famous Phakisa MotoGP track, each with a Mercedes Dynamic Driving instructor riding shotgun in the left seat – just in case, you understand.
With 336kW and 600Nm under each driver's right foot, we're finding the new C63 AMG something of a handful and some lurid cornering is going on.
One driver goes off – no names, no pack drill – and a cloud of dust marks his passingThe show was a bit of a party, too, to celebrate 40 years of AMG
. The rest us – including me – are hanging tails through the tight corners but the car's traction/stability control, its use mandatory, is doing its job with some help through countersteering.
The ESP can be left full on or switched to 'ESP Sport' or 'Off' – which is where you're likely to go unless you're as good a driver as Bernd Maylander, who pilots the Mercedes' SL63 Formula 1 safety car and was at Phakisa to give each of us amateurs a taste of what the C63 really can do around the track. Merc SA brought him from Germany with what the company calls "a customer taxi" – a roll cage-equipped performance version of the car.
Are we having fun, or what! After all, the show was a bit of a party, too, to celebrate 40 years (and a few months) of AMG's existence in the performance-car field and – now this was a surprise – the fact that South Africa is the company's biggest market (after the US, Japan and Germany, in that order) with more than 4000 units sold here between 2001 and 2007Cramming in the huge engine extended the base car's length
.
The V8 C63 AMG will do much to boost that total and, yes, there are more to come over the next year or so –C63 Estate, SL63, facelifts of the CLS and CL55 units and the mighty ML63 and even, to order, the AMG Black Series with engines further boosted to 373kW and 630Nm and packing a 4.3sec 0-100km/h despite its 1730kg.
But for now let's focus on the monster C-Class and its modest – given its 0-100km/h time of 4.5sec – sticker price of R699 000… or you can add a performance package with composite brakes, carbon-fibre trim, limited-slip differential, rear side crash-bags, cellphone preparation and back maple highlights for another R52 500.
Go on, treat yourself! After all, as a Merc executive at the launch, explained: "Our key message for customers is performance."
Cramming that huge 6208cc, hand-built engine under a C-Class bonnet has extended the base car's length slightly to 4.726m and it rides lower to a roof height of 1.438m. Width is the same: 1.795m.
And, as AMG likes to point out, it's a "one man, one engine" job that, we were told, takes said man 2.5 hours to assemble before he sticks his signed nameplate on the top, like "Happy Birthday" on an iced cake.
Part of the cramming involved pressing two longitudinal bulges into the bonnet – believe me, they ain't there just for show…
'Superior capacity'
AMG says V8's 600Nm (at 5000rpm) is unrivalled in its class and the torque curve is almost flat from 2000-6250rpm and the driver always has more than 500Nm on tap.
"Thanks to its superior capacity," the automaker says, "the AMG eight-cylinder engine delivers 30 percent more torque than comparable engines in its performance class."
Other high-tech features include variable camshaft adjustment, four-valve technology with bucket-type tappets, a particularly rigid aluminium crankcase and a low-friction TWAS coating on the cylinder contact surfaces. Compression ratio is 11.3:1.
And it makes its presence felt through your spine which, if you're any kind of a motorhead, will tingle deliciously in time with the bass crackle of the four oval exhausts as it assaults your senses.
Which brings us to the AMG Speedshift Plus 7G-Tronic gearbox which will take you shopping (in full auto mode) or racing (with manual shifts from either the stick or the aluminium paddles behind the steering wheel).
Trademark grille
There's a built-in "blip" of the raucous exhaust on downshifts through each of the three driving modes - "S" (Sport), "C" (Comfort) and "M" (Manual). Each has its own shift characteristics and cog-swop speed: those in "S" mode are around 30 percent faster than in "C" and 50 percent faster in "M". Pressing a button next to the selector activates the desired programme.
The C63 announces itself with its trademark grille and flared AMG wings. Beneath the latter is a new three-link front suspension with a 35mm wider track and new speed-sensitive AMG sports steering for "high-speed cornering and awesome agility". Firm springs and gas-filled shock-absorbers keep the rubber on the road and the body flat through corners.
The multi-link independent rear suspension has also been thoroughly re-engineered, AMG says, with a 12mm wider track and more camber. Strengthened drive shafts and joints are standard.
The package rides on new 18", five-spoked, titanium-grey, AMG light-alloy rims shod (as standard) with 235/40 front and 255/35 rear tyres. Behind the front pair are 360mm x 36mm discs with six-piston fixed callipers; the rear have 330mm x 26mm discs with four-piston fixed callipers. They work, and they worked hard at Phakisa with the cars easily reaching 200km/h along the back straight before diving around the sharp right-hander.
The C63's cabin is surprisingly Spartan – no flash to go with the dash – but the design matches the car's performance credentials. Every luxury item you can think of is there, though, including special, very thick, AMG sports seats up front whose backs rise into fixed head restraints.
Performance wheel
They not only feature a new design with cross-piping and AMG lettering but also have backrest adjustment for the side bolsters and lumbar support. The upholstery is high-grade Nappa leather in black, reef grey or black/Sahara beige.
The new AMG performance steering wheel is three-spoked with a 365mm rim diameter and a flattened lower section. The upper section is covered in perforated leather.
Other AMG-specific equipment includes aluminium-look sill panels with embossed AMG lettering and brushed stainless-steel sports pedals. Also on the standard equipment list are:
- Adaptive brake light.
- Crash bags for the driver and front passenger.
- Aluminium trim panels on dome, doors and centre console.
- Acceleration skid control.
- Armrest with roller-top compartment.
- AMG velour floor mats.
- Power, heatable exterior mirrors.
- Outside-temperature display.
- Brake assist, adapative brakes with hill-start assist.
- Comand APS, including hard disc navigation, Linguatronic voice control and music server, on request also with 6-DVD changer.
- Child seat recognition in the front passenger seat and IsoFix kiddy-seat mountings.
- Through-loading facility and armrest with double cup holder, load securing and 1/3:2/3 split-fold rear seat backrest.
- Belt tensioners and belt force limiters for the front and outer rear seats.
- Chillable glove box.
- Black roof liner.
- Auto aircon.
- Steering column adjustable for height and reach.
- Lighting package.
- Front fog lamps.
- Tyre pressure monitors.
- Locking system with infrared/radio remote control.
- Cruise control.
- Electric tilting/sliding glass sunroof.
- Electrically adjustable front seats with memory function.
- Windowbags.
- Central locking with crash sensor.
- Bi-xenon headlights with cornering swivel and washers.
