First Test: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

First Test: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

I recently had the pleasure of batting and booting the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG with the uncorked Performance Package option around the Hudson River Valley in Upstate New York. The twin-turbo, direct-injected 5.5-liter V-8 brawler of a motor serves up a spine-compressing 563 horsepower and an astonishing 664 pound-feet of torque. The car is so powerful it's silly. Remember, the Cadillac CTS-V makes just 556 horsepower and more than 100 pound-feet less torque (551 lb-ft). And I think I know what it is, or at least what it might be. What it is, is what it isn't. Namely, the new hand-built M157 is not the (also) hand-built M156. To refresh your synapses, M156 is the internal code for AMG's 6.2-liter V-8. It's a naturally aspirated natural wonder of an internal combustion engine that's about to ride off into the sunset. 5-per-gallon gasoline combined with rising federal mileage standards and a corporate mandate to increase efficiency (remember when Mercedes-Benz said it'd be off petroleum by 2015?) all point to one certainty: Large-displacement, race-derived V-8s are not long for this world. This sort of thing happens--once-cutting-edge technology that gets your blood pumping is crated up and put out to pasture.

The world changes, time marches on, and sadly, some of the best stuff gets shunted out of the way. We don't go there any more. Decommissioned, because satellites do a better job/the Soviets called it quits. Speaking of our old enemy, remember the truly awe-inspiring Lun-class Ekranoplan, aka the Caspian Sea Monster? Same basic fate as the Blackbird, though instead of spending retirement in the Smithsonian, "the Duck" now rots in dry dock at an abandoned naval station near Kaspiysk. The situation is not nearly as grim for car enthusiasts. But still, we'll miss the naturally aspirated AMG V-8. At its best, most potent state of tune, the M156 produced 518 hp and 465 lb-ft of twist. As mentioned, the M157 with the optional Performance Package makes way more juice, but even the "base" M157 is quite a bit more potent than the 6.2-liter object of our desire: 536 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque.

Of course there's the M159 found under the hood of the Gullwing SLS, essentially an M156 with better internals and breathing that produces a lofty 563 hp and 479 lb-ft of the torque. However, let's not forget that the new M157 gets about 30-percent better mileage than the M156, the engine it's replacing. Obviously, and to quote Paris Hilton, that's huge. To test this theory, we asked Mercedes-Benz to let us borrow an M156-equipped 2011 C63 AMG with the P31 AMG Development Package. Before we get into the specifics of that car, which we're calling Rote Sau Junior, let's talk a bit more about the M156. Despite its misleading official name (the "6.3" displaces 6.2-liters), the M156 is the real performance deal. The first engine ever designed totally by AMG, it shares very little with other MB engines and features a unique silicon-aluminum block with AMG-specific bore spacing. There's also the magnesium, dual-flap variable intake manifold and the race-derived vertical intake and exhaust ports. All that technology, along with the copious serving of power, makes the M156 just about our favorite N/A motor. We can't say absolute favorite 'cause of things like the 4.5-liter V-8 face-slapper in the Ferrari 458 Italia. But the AMG V-8 is close.

From the closed cabin, it's pretty quiet. Those great gobs of torque are located surprisingly high, peaking at 5000 rpm, although it hardly struggles at lower rpm because 370 of its 443 pound-feet of torque is available at 2000 rpm. But it's at 4000 rpm that you really feel all that torque begin to stomp you. AMG says the C63 can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, while Car and Driver magazine tested it at 3.9 seconds. That's quicker than the BMW M3, although the M3 is lighter and therefore a bit faster around a race track. The C63 AMG is so smooth that 80 mph feels like 60, which is a great thing, except it makes the car a ticket trap. One hundred mph feels like 80. It doesn't take much throttle or effort to reach 100. You can get there in less than 10 seconds, and there might be jail, of course. What else could get you in that much trouble that fast, without leaving your seat? Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph, but the performance package unleashes the car to 186 mph.