CLS IL Track Tested: 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Vehicle: 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG
Odometer: 4,593
Date: 1/24/2012
Driver: Chris Walton
Price: $126,990

Specifications:
Drive Type: Front engine, rear-wheel-drive
Transmission Type: Seven-speed, dual-clutch automated manual with console shifter and Sport/Competition modes
Engine Type: Twin-turbocharged and direct-injected, DOHC, 5.5-liter V8
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 5,461/333
Redline (rpm): 7,000
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 550 @ 5,250-5,750
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 590 @ 2,000-4,500
Brake Type (front): 14.2-inch, ventilated, cross-drilled carbon-ceramic rotors, six-piston fixed calipers
Brake Type (rear): 14.2-inch, ventilated, cross-drilled carbon-ceramic rotors, four-piston fixed calipers
Steering System: Hydraulic-assist, speed-proportional, power rack-and-pinion power steering
Suspension Type (front): Independent MacPherson struts with dual lower ball joints, coil springs, twin-tube dampers, stabilizer bar
Suspension Type (rear): Independent multilink, air springs, driver-adjustable dampers, stabilizer bar
Tire Size (front): P255/35ZR19 96Y
Tire Size (rear): P285/30ZRF19 98Y
Tire Brand: Continental
Tire Model: ContiSportContact SP
Tire Type: Summer, asymmetrical
Wheel size: 19-by-9.0 inches front, 19-by-10.0 inches rear
Wheel material (front/rear): Forged aluminum alloy
As tested Curb Weight (lb): 4,250 (53.7% front/46.3% rear)

Test Results:
Acceleration:
0-30 (sec): 2.0 (2.3 w/ TC on)
0-45 (sec): 2.9 (3.6 w/ TC on)
0-60 (sec): 4.0 (4.6 w/ TC on)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 3.7 (4.2 w/ TC on)
0-75 (sec): 5.5 (6.1 w/ TC on)
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 11.9 @ 121.3 (12.3 @ 121.1 w/ TC on)
Braking:
30-0 (ft): 29
60-0 (ft): 113
Handling:
Slalom (mph): 67.3 (67.3 w/ ESC on)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.90 (0.89 w/ ESC on)
Sound:
Db @ Idle: 43.9
Db @ Full Throttle: 76.7
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 64.7
RPM @ 70 mph: 1,900
Tester's comments:
Acceleration: The trick to getting the most from this car (with traction control disabled) is to find exactly the allowable rate of throttle application that the car can manage at launch (1,500 rpm) and thereafter. This car's 0-60 time is severely restricted by the amount of grip the tires can provide (i.e., I can't got to WOT until midway through 2nd gear). Best run was with zero spin. I sampled the "Race Start" program, but it used 4K rpm to start, allowed too much wheelspin and then short-shifted to 2nd (resulting in a slower 4.6-second 0-60 and a 12.4-second quarter-mile at 120.5 mph). Upshifts are blazingly fast and smooth. Wow.
Braking: Not as short a distance as I would've expected from these brakes, but every stop was absolutely fade-free (feel + distance) and dead straight with no drama whatsoever. Felt like it would do the same stop all day long.
Slalom: With ESC off, the car is limited by front-end grip where understeer begins to crreep in subtly but consistently from cone to cone. The trick becomes precise rotation with lift-throttle without nudging cones with the rear tires -- it's a long wheelbase. Firmest setting was too firm and "skiddish." With dampers in medium setting, it didn't acknowledge the dip/hop at cone No. 3. The tires are excellent (predictable breakaway) and allow the chassis to perform at its best. This car must have the optional limited-slip differential (although it's not listed on our test car's monroney), because once the steering was straight, I could wood the throttle at the exit and rocket pas the timers. With ESC in Sport mode, it snubbed understeer, so I didn't need to lift/rotate. Very effective.
Skidpad: With ESC off, the car feels well balanced and begins with a mild understeer condition that only requires throttle steering -- I never moved my hands at all. With ESC in Sport, it allowed the same amount of understeer but began to close throttle.

IL Track Tested: 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG

 

[DeDe]

So 0-100 kph in 4,2 s and 0-200 kph in about 12,5 s - exactly the same numbers as tested by AutoBild Sportscars (without Race Start as well).

Amazingly quick car, I wonder how fast the M5 F10 would be with torque-braking, if it does 0-100 in 4 sec with LC.

 

[Guibo]

Dyno tested.

You've probably heard that the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG no longer carries its namesake 6.2-liter "M156" V8 engine. And that in its place is some puny 5.5-liter thing.

Two words: twin turbo. It's a twin-turbo 5.5-liter thing, complete with liquid-air intercoolers and direct injection. The 2012 CLS63's power plant is called the M157, making it one better than the normally aspirated M156.

After the M157-havin' CLS63 AMG clicked off an eye-opening 121.3 mph trap speed at the test track, we figured it was high time for a trip to MD Automotive's chassis dyno.

In years past, the ability for an automaker to offer, say, two distinct horsepower levels in a car entailed major engine hardware changes -- increased displacement, more cylinders, revised valvetrain, higher compression pistons, the list goes on. This adds cost and complexity, which in turns adds more cost. Automakers loathe complexity.

By contrast, a bread-and-butter turbocharged engine can slam out heaps more power or torque (or both) with little more than a software change. This, as the kids say, is relevant to their interests.

Example: those for whom the standard CLS63 AMG's rated output of 518 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque is just too feeble have an option. Literally, they have the option of shelling out an additional $7,300 for the AMG Performance Package option which -- among other things -- brings the CLS63 AMG's tally to a more reasonable 550 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. And not a single nut or bolt under the hood is turned in order to achieve it.

Naturally, our CLS63 AMG tester was equipped with the AMG Performance Package. Here's what it put to the ground:



Well, there's your trap speed. That's 514 horsepower and 543 lb-ft of torque to the wheels. Very resistant to heat soak, too -- run after run, power kept creeping up. After ten pulls it still hadn't nosed over, but it had finally stabilized to the values you see above.

And what a sound. Many turbocharged engines' character is soaked up and squirreled away by the turbos. Not the M157. AMG has retained a surprising amount of the M156's aural character in the M157. Good show, boys.

If two distinct power levels is good, four is better. Last year we dyno-tested a 2011 S63 AMG. It, too, is equipped with said 5.5-liter turbocharged V8. And it, too, is offered in yet two more levels of potency.

It's enough to make you question whether there's any truth behind all of this horsepower number parsing.

Doubt no more:



AMG's strategy of liberating horsepower with nothing more than a few lines of code may be sneaky, but the differences are real.

Bonus edition - after all of the CLS63's fourth-gear dyno runs were completed, I did a sole pull in fifth gear. Normally I stay away from such tall gears on the dyno for a number of reasons, but I wanted to double check what I'd found during my time with the S63. And just as with the S63, the CLS63's fifth gear run showed that the low end picked up and the midrange fattened.



It's the "quasi-steady" influence at work -- in higher gears, an engine dwells at any given RPM for a longer period of time, more thoroughly pummeling the turbochargers' turbine wheels with exhaust pulses and allowing the turbo speed to more easily "catch up" to the increasing engine speed.

This, in turn, brings the boost up at a lower RPM in the rev range, resulting in the improved torque you see around 2000 rpm. The fatter midrange? Not as straightforward since the wastegates are fully in play at this point. It's possible that the ECU allows a slightly higher boost target in higher gears.

However you slice it, the M157 has big brass ones. Makes me wonder how it will stack up against some American iron. Let me think about that and get back to you.

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Dyno-Tested: 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG

 

[330CIZHP]

I think I posted this a while back:

http://www.germancarforum.com/cls-class/35781-official-mercedes-benz-cls63-amg-11.html#post563379