More Grip For The New Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Via KW Suspension Variant 3

More Grip For The New Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Via KW Suspension Variant 3

With four liter engine displacement, two turbos and eight cylinders, Affalterbach presents the latest generation of the C63 AMG (W205). While the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG offers 476 hp at the rear axle, the C63 S AMG mobilizes even 510 hp. The KW coilover suspensions Variant 3 made of stainless steel gives the new C63 AMG and C63 S AMG (W205) sedan the ideal balance of everyday practicality, driving dynamics and individual setting options in comfort and sportiness. Nobody has to accept a compromise at his AMG anymore with the KW dampers that are independently adjustable in compression and rebound damping. It does not matter whether the AMG is constantly driven at its limits of driving dynamics or if it is used mainly as sporty touring sedan. Those who drive their AMG with a KW coilover suspension Variant 3 installed, benefit from our experience with the equipment of different AMG Black Series models.

The KW bottom valve that is adjustable in twelve clicks in the low speed range of the compression damping, allows furthering increasing the performance of the AMG. So a higher compression damping at the front axle enables a more direct steering and on the rear axle, higher compression damping forces act against oversteering. Due to the declining-balance valve assembly of the KW coilover suspension, the deflection behavior during sudden driving over bumps is not affected. If the compression forces are decreased by using the integrated adjustment wheel at the lower piston end of the stainless steel housing on the rear axle, the rear will steer more. With the adjustable rebound damping, it can directly be taken influence on the handling characteristics and ride comfort of the new AMG sedan. The 16-step click adjustment for the rebound damping allows to increase or decrease the rebound damping forces. A higher rebound increases the handling and road holding; while the comfort when driving slowly is improved with a lowered rebound force. The continuous lowering can be adjusted via the dirt-resistant trapezoid thread directly on the stainless steel strut. So the C63 AMG can be lowered within the tested adjustment range from 0 to 30 mm. On the drive axle, the adjustment of the vehicle height is made directly on the rear-axle height adjustment within the range of 5 to 35 mm. The C63 AMG station wagon have a lowering range of 10 - 40 mm at the rear axles.

That package includes a hard-drive-based navigation system with traffic, 6GB of internal storage for music, and a Logic7 Harman Kardon audio system. This cabin tech suite is very good, a must-have for the C63 AMG. As it was, our test car's cabin tech was very similar to that in the Mercedes-Benz C350 we reviewed earlier this year. The car still gets the COMAND system, consisting of an LCD on the center dash and a knob interface controller on the console. COMAND controls the stereo and phone system. We like the old-time look of this radio tuner. The COMAND interface gives radio tuning a nice treatment, showing an old-time tuner on the LCD, but no HD tuner without the upgraded cabin tech. The car also comes with satellite radio. The single-CD slot in the dashboard reads MP3 CDs, and the interface made it easy to browse through folders. Pod integration comes with the Multimedia package, but is not standard in the car. Mercedes-Benz included its a-la-carte iPod adaptor in our car, but this system is a hack. Rather than show the music library on the LCD, where the car shows all other audio information, it uses the speedometer display.

The standard audio system uses eight speakers, but is inferior to the optional Harman Kardon system. Although better than an average six-speaker system, the sound was a bit hollow. A Bluetooth phone system is also standard in the car, but without the Multimedia package, it is not very robust. Rather than downloading a phone's contact list, it requires contacts to be pushed to the car, something not all phones do. Although we love driving this car, in some ways it is very primitive. It is no surprise that a big engine leads to lots of power but poor fuel economy. We would like to see Mercedes-Benz use some of the efficiency technologies coming in vogue, such as direct injection, to keep the power up but also deliver more miles per gallon. The C63 AMG earns points for its seven-speed transmission, which shows technical brilliance. Our car certainly wasn't equipped with the cabin tech we would prefer, but as Mercedes-Benz does make the Multimedia package available, and we have used it, we give the car credit for the option. We also like the distinct design of the car, which manages to stand out as a Mercedes-Benz despite the fact that it fits in the midsize sedan class, one of the more uninspired segments on the road.

This letter denotes how your tire was constructed. Radial is the standard construction method for about 99% of all tires sold today. The tire size was designed to fit rims or wheels that are 19 inches in diameter. The mark of XL means extra load. A tire with this designation can handle higher inflation pressures than a regular tire, which increases its maximum load. Simplified size is useful for shopping and buying tires. The original tire size for your 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG is 235/35ZR19/XL (Front). A color-coded explanation of the 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG's tire size is shown below. This number indicates that your tire has a width of 255 millimeters. This number means that your tire has an aspect ratio of 30%. In other words, your tire's sidewall height (from the edge of the rim to the tire's tread) is 30% of the width. In this case, the sidewall height works out to be 76 millimeters.