It all seemed a little easy. You see, I asked if we could test one of Mercedes-Benz鈥檚 top-enders and we were not only granted access, but it was suggested we keep it for six months. 鈥極kay,鈥?I said. Well, wouldn鈥檛 you? The big beast arrived at Unique Cars鈥?luxurious Oakleigh (Vic) HQ. 鈥榃hat the hell is this? 鈥? I thought. Truth is, I have a confession to make. I have always considered four-wheel drives as filing cabinets with wheels. Yeah, well that was then. Yep, I鈥檓 a changed editor. But it took a particularly special car to do it. Enter the ML63. From the performance arm of Benz, AMG, comes this thumping big fun factory. It鈥檚 powered by a 5.5-litre V8 that packs 386kW and more importantly, 700Nm of torque. Why the hell you would need any more is beyond me, but we are fans of overdoing it here, so knock yourself out. Until relatively recently, the ML63 was the cheapest avenue into the wonderful world of AMG.

It all seemed a little easy. You see, I asked if we could test one of Mercedes-Benz鈥檚 top-enders and we were not only granted access, but it was suggested we keep it for six months. 鈥極kay,鈥?I said. Well, wouldn鈥檛 you? The big beast arrived at Unique Cars鈥?luxurious Oakleigh (Vic) HQ. 鈥榃hat the hell is this? 鈥? I thought. Truth is, I have a confession to make. I have always considered four-wheel drives as filing cabinets with wheels. Yeah, well that was then. Yep, I鈥檓 a changed editor. But it took a particularly special car to do it. Enter the ML63. From the performance arm of Benz, AMG, comes this thumping big fun factory. It鈥檚 powered by a 5.5-litre V8 that packs 386kW and more importantly, 700Nm of torque. Why the hell you would need any more is beyond me, but we are fans of overdoing it here, so knock yourself out. Until relatively recently, the ML63 was the cheapest avenue into the wonderful world of AMG.

That now goes to the A45, and the C63 has snuck in there too but while this may sound a little counter-intuitive, the ML63 offers pretty decent value for money. 196,136.33 (drive away, Vic), how the hell can I say that? Here鈥檚 how: the ML comes stacked with so much fruit that it could open a green grocery store (do they still have those?). Anyway, cop these apples. Look, there is a shedload more, but you get the drift. The flippin鈥?thing is loaded. If you need more, take a long hard look at yourself. The ML63 has real presence. The wheels cop massive 295/35R21 tyres and the sports exhaust system emits a sound like no other. How this thing gets through ADR with that cackling houndog of an exhaust beats me, but it does. Try and drive it without selecting neutral and blipping the thing to the floor. I dare you. In fact, for frightening speed camera operators, I haven鈥檛 found a better device. Pull in close, floor the thing in neutral, and you sound like an F111, while ambling along at the speed limit.

Give it a fly. Now, a bugbear (hope they don鈥檛 take it off me for this, but what the hell). The ML63 drinks like a carnival worker on payday. Benz claims 11.8-litres/100km but the very best we could do was 14.2, and that was with a very steady right foot. Well, a couple of speed camera operator scare manoeuvers aside. 鈥楥omfort鈥?mode softens everything up nicely, but select 鈥楽port鈥?mode and manual shift and you have a ready-made rocket that handles more adeptly than its physics suggest is possible. It is a brutally efficient point-to-point beast that eats miles with absolute precision. You soon forget about the hefty juice bill at that point, I can promise you that. It鈥檚 intoxicating; attacking a sporty road in a monster like this. Six months you say Mr. Benz? Okay. We will report back on the ML鈥檚 progress here at the UC bunker as we put the big bugger through a long-term evaluation.

Sounds a bit preposterous, doesn't it? This is the all-new 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, and it isn't the first high-performance sport utility from this German automaker. In 1999, Mercedes-Benz made history when it introduced the world's first practical high-performance SUV - the ML55 AMG. Mercedes didn't disappoint when it revealed the 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG at the LA Auto Show. The ML55's first-generation body-on-frame platform was fitted with a naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V8 making 340 horsepower. Against the clock, the all-wheel-drive SUV could hit 60 mph in just under seven seconds with a top speed of nearly 150 mph. In 2005, it was succeeded by the ML63 AMG, based on a second-generation unibody platform, which was equipped with a naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V8 rated at 510 horsepower. With a 0-60 time of about five seconds and an electronically governed 155-mph top speed, the all-wheel-drive five-passenger SUV was much quicker than its predecessor. With the introduction of the completely redesigned third-generation M-Class for 2012 and the success of the earlier high-performance models, another AMG flagship was a no-brainer. Predictably, Mercedes-Benz didn't disappoint when it revealed the 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG at the Los Angeles Auto Show just two months ago.

Considering how much the fuel-efficient diesel-powered ML350 BlueTEC 4Matic impressed us last July, we were eager to get behind the wheel of the new enthusiast-tuned AMG model. As our good fortune would have it, we found ourselves holding the key fob to a brand-new Iridium Silver ML63 AMG in Santa Barbara, California, just last week. The SUV was freshly waxed and its 27-gallon fuel tank was topped-off with premium unleaded. Mercedes has ensured that there will be no confusing its AMG variant. But before we dig into the drive, let's review what sets this high-performance AMG apart from its siblings. As is common with all of the German automakers, a performance model typically displays unique bodywork, new wheels, upgraded brakes, new bucket front seats, a sport steering wheel, new gauges and an oversized engine. The ML63 AMG is no exception. While the standard gasoline- and diesel-powered M-Class models are difficult to distinguish from each other without glancing at the rear badging, Mercedes has ensured that there will be no confusing its AMG variant.