Mercedes Benz in hose tuning shop, AMG, is capable of producing the most wonderful cars. Given what they have to start with, large, over-weight slabs of heavy steel that are mainly four-door sedans, the fact that AMG can modify and motivate these beats down the road with the rapidity of a sports car is amazing.
For example, take the new Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG.
AMG starts with the latest E Class. Mercedes mid level ride that allows pediatric dentists and the like to say, “I have arrived! I am a success!” After AMG gets done with it, the E Class has lost any of those “don’t offend the neighbors” pretensions, and replaced them with a large helping of “I have arrived QUICKLY!”
As with all things AMG, it starts with das mill. In this case a 6.3-liter V8 that cranks out 525hp and 630 Newton meters of torque. All this Germanic power hits the tarmac via an AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission. This new transmission, by the way, dispenses with a conventional torque converter entirely and uses a compact, wet start-up clutch. Mercedes says that the whole drivetrain allows ” … an extremely emotional and highly dynamic driving experience.” In other words, it’s a paddle shifter right out of the McLaren Mercedes that Lewis Hamilton drives. Nice addition in a sedan.
Performance numbers?
How about to 100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds, with a top speed electronically limited to 250 km/h? Those are impressive number for any car, but a car with a back seat and four doors … amazing. And remember, this comes from a non-blown, although big, engine. Going with a high-revving, naturally aspirated engine gives you a LOT better drivability and throttle pick up, or, as MB puts it, ” … agile responsiveness, muscular power delivery and great flexibility.”
Stopping the AMG-stroked E-Class is done with a high-performance braking system with 360-millimeter, that features internally ventilated and perforated brake discs all-round. There’s optional ceramic composite brakes with larger brake discs guarantee even better brake performance and lower unsprung masses if the “stock” stoppers aren’t enough. Going with the ceramic rotors also gives you an impressive weight reduction of around 40 percent.
The wheels are 18-inch AMG light-alloy wheels with a width of 9 inches in the front and 9.5 inches in the rear, shod with tires that are 255/40 R 18 at the front and 285/35 R 18 out back.
Mercedes didn’t give out any price, but you know it’s going to be huge (has to match those numbers). Still if you got the scratch, it’s a car very worth considering.
Here’s a TON of shots:
