Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG

Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG we recently had in for some test-run fun. That apprehension melted away with the first proper application of the throttle. Unlike the S550, which had a mere 382 hp, the P30-package-equipped S63 brings 563 hp and a whopping 664 lb-ft of torque to the table courtesy of AMG's new 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8 workhorse. Given the big Benz's 2-and-a-half ton curb weight (4910 pounds, to be precise), that kind of power is needed to provide acceleration befitting the AMG badge. How fitting is the S63's thrust? Try 4.3 seconds to hit 60 mph and a quarter-mile pass of 12.6 seconds at 116.4 mph. For reference, the Corvette Grand Sport needs 4.1 seconds to hit 60 and 12.5 seconds for the quarter-mile sprint. Aging bankers and Russian oligarchs usually don't opt for that kind of performance, preferring to spend $160,000-plus for the prestige of the V-12-powered S600. It's not like they're going to be driving themselves, anyway. he handling numbers aren't quite as amazing, but they're impressive given the car in question: a 17.2-foot-long sedan with more legroom in the back than the front and more trunk space than some small SUVs. The S63 posted 0.89 g on the skidpad and finished our figure eight in 26 second flat at 0.73 g average. And it needed just 116 feet to stop from 60 mph.

2012 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG
BASE PRICE	$140,175
PRICE AS TESTED	$163,465
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front engine, RWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan
ENGINE	5.5L/563-hp/590-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC 32-valve V-8
TRANSMISSION	7-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST)	4910 lb (52/48%)
WHEELBASE	124.6 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT	206.7 x 73.7 x 58.0 in
0-60 MPH	4.3 sec
QUARTER MILE	12.6 sec @ 116.4 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH	116 ft
LATERAL ACCELERATION	0.89 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT	26.0 sec @ 0.73 g (avg)
EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON	15/23 mpg
ENERGY CONS., CITY/HWY	225/147 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS	1.09 lb/mile

 

 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG

 

 

Truth is, if you drive a 2012 ML63 AMG, you'll get that reaction a lot. Contradictory to common car enthusiast knowledge, it turns out that few people are able to "get" that a 5000-pound SUV that out-sprints a Lexus IS F to 60 mph (4.3 seconds, in case you're curious) is an entirely rational thing. Buy one, and you'll have to frequently deal with exasperated expressions, head shaking, and eyeball rotations that suggest a lack of mental capacity on your part. Not that you need let that be a deterrent -- I'm just warning you. From my point of view, once you drive said ML63, you'll never turn back. Now, I've always been a fan of the standard ML350 in both gasoline and diesel guise. In fact, many of us were at the 2012 SUV of the Year competition, where if it hadn't been for the revolutionary Range Rover Evoque, the ML would likely have taken top honors. In its most basic form, the ML hits all the right buttons for someone who needs a do-it-all utility vehicle and has a little coin to splurge on some luxury. The ML packs seating for four adults and a child (or more children instead of adults), a cargo area that will hold a week's worth of luggage, enough power to overtake even when loaded with these people and their gear, and enough comfort and amenities that travel is relatively stress-free. With 4MATIC all-wheel drive, it's also capable of a little more than just soft-roading, especially with Mercedes' height-adjustable air suspension, adaptive dampening, and downhill speed regulation systems. The ML63 AMG has all that stuff (as standard equipment, even!), but it also has more torque than a Lamborghini Aventador and a 5.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V-8 that growls like Hades with a bad case of indigestion. It also includes Mercedes' premium designo leather upholstery; a unique AMG gauge cluster and steering wheel; navigation, parking, blind-spot, and lane-keeping assist; and 10-way adjustable, heated and cooled front seats. Twenty-inch AMG wheels, an AMG-tuned suspension with summer tires, and beefier brakes round out the majority of the upgrades.

2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG
BASE PRICE	$95,865
PRICE AS TESTED	$107,725
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front engine, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door SUV
ENGINE	5.5L/550-hp/560-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC 32-valve V-8
TRANSMISSION	7-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST)	5243 lb (55/45%)
WHEELBASE	114.8 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT	188.2 x 77.8 x 73.3
0-60 MPH	4.3 sec
QUARTER MILE	12.8 sec @ 110.6 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH	106 ft
ATERAL ACCELERATION	0.85 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT	25.6 sec @ 0.75 g (avg)
EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON	14/18 mpg
ENERGY CONS., CITY/HWY	241/187 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS	1.25 lb/mile

Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG

Plenty of people in this world can afford an expensive car, but the closer the price of your ride gets to the median home price in America, the more rarified the atmosphere. The subset of the automotive market that can afford to drop more than $174,000 on a daily driver is a unique crowd. These are people that, if our fellow Source Interlink publication Heavy Hitters is any indication, enjoy many expensive hobbies. In addition to cars that cost more than your house, they also like houses that cost several times what yours did. They also like private planes and yachts. That brings us to the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG. Now, normally when an auto journalist brings up boats in a review, rough seas lie ahead. That's not what I'm going for here. Rather than an analogy for the handling, per the cliche, I'm referring to the experience. Anyone who's so much as seen a picture of a yacht knows it's not a blue-collar affair. Luxury and comfort are paramount, but so is performance. After all, it takes some mighty big engines to get a yacht moving at a reasonable clip. As it happens, big engines are an area of expertise for AMG. You may now be rightly pointing out that the twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8 in this CL63 is nearly three-quarters of a liter smaller than the old 6.2-liter V-8 it replaces, but I'll now point out that, at 536 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque, the new engine easily outguns the big banger V-8 and its 518 horsepower and 465 lb-ft. Actually, scratch that. It's not even that close. You see, our tester has the woefully under-named P30 AMG Performance Package, which rewrites the engine control software to pump up the output to 563 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of dimension-altering twist. As my cohort Jonny Lieberman said, it's the best $7300 you can spend in automobiledom. I just wish it did something for the transmission, which is a little clunky at times, especially when you're quickly on the throttle. This isn't an SLS -- hard-clutch engagement comes off as harsh, not fast.

All that power gets the CL63 moving with such gusto that a Cigarette racing boat (like the one AMG teamed up with Cigarette to build a few years back) might be a better comparison. Rich people like those, too, I hear. The CL63 gets to 60 mph from a standing stop in just 4.1 seconds and powers through the quarter mile in 12.4 seconds at 116.7 mph. Sure, it's not the fastest car on the road, but considering its 4800-pound curb weight, that's pretty damn quick. Thanks to modern turbo technology, the power comes on in the proverbial wave even at low RPMs, where the engine spends most of its time thanks to fuel-economy-oriented transmission programming. Equally impressive are the enormous steel brakes, which haul it to a stop in just 112 feet. There are cars that weigh 1000 pounds less that wish they could do that. Some of those cars also wish they could pull 0.88 average g on a skidpad and run our figure eight in just 25.8 seconds at 0.76 g average.

2012 Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG
BASE PRICE	$153,375
PRICE AS TESTED	$174,035
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front engine, RWD, 4-pass, 2-door coupe
ENGINE	5.5L/563-hp/664-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC 32-valve V-8
TRANSMISSION	7-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST)	4807 lb (53/47%)
WHEELBASE	116.3 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT	201.0 x 73.7 x 56.2 in
0-60 MPH	4.1 sec
QUARTER MILE	12.4 sec @ 116.7 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH	112 ft
LATERAL ACCELERATION	0.88 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT	25.8 sec @ 0.76 g (avg)
EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON	16/22 mpg
ENERGY CONS., CITY/HWY	211/153 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS	1.06 lb/mile