Thursday 5th April 2007

Mighty Merc from the dark side

Hardcore CLK 63 AMG Black Series rumbles in

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At weekends, I hold up F1 cars...

The latest instalment in the Mercedes ‘Black Series’ range has arrived for the New York Motor Show. The CLK 63 AMG Black Series follows in the smouldering tyre tracks of the ‘Black Series’ SLK 55 AMG in offering a more track-focused specification and is said to be ‘technically and visually related’ to the official F1 safety car.

It uses the latest 6.2 litre AMG V8 in a stronger specification, providing 500bhp (up from 474bhp for the regular car) and 0-62mph in just 4.3 seconds, and thanks to an AMG sports exhaust it should sound suitably menacing as well.

Bespoke AMG exhaust system

The 7G-Tronic auto box is revised with a shorter final drive and there’s new, driver adjustable AMG sports suspension too. Like the ‘Black’ SLK before it, a limited slip differential is standard, and there are larger iron-composite brake discs on the front axle compared with the regular CLK 63.

The revised bodywork is part of some ‘sophisticated cooling design measures’ aimed at giving the 'Black' CLK enough stamina for track work. Looks like it might be fun finding out…

[ffelan]

i want one....

[fatboy b]

[mini_ralf]

fatboy b said:

Seconded.

[patently]

I keep looking at the picture, but it still looks white to me

[abarthchris]

patently said:

I keep looking at the picture, but it still looks white to me

Ba dum tish!

I think it looks quite cool, alright so its just a power upgrade with a few aero tweaks but why the snoozing?

[burtjp]

mini_ralf said:

fatboy b said:

Seconded.

thirded

[mat205125]

That is quality. Want one now!

[Top Trump]

burtjp said:

mini_ralf said:

fatboy b said:

Seconded.

thirded

A future of driving at 68mph in the middle lane or a life pottering around west London beckons.

Looks nice though.

[edb49]

Wonder how much you'll pay for the privilidge?

[mrtoad]

Auto box in a more track focused version?!

[Aftab]

edb49 said:

Wonder how much you'll pay for the privilidge?

Far too much. What will they come up with next? 10.0 litre 600bhp? Nice styling but virtually every car manufacture is capable of this performance at this price!

Make it 4.0 litre, 500bhp and then you’ll have my attention.



But then again Mercedes probably don’t particularly care whether they have my attention or not. I’m not a sultan or own a private island.

[Fire99]

Aren't Mercedes having to limit their torque? (If i vaguely remember a topgear episode)

[nubbin.]

Top Trump said:

burtjp said:

mini_ralf said:

fatboy b said:

Seconded.

thirded

A future of driving at 68mph in the middle lane or a life pottering around west London beckons.

Looks nice though.

Performance car experts all agree then.

[road_terrorist]

Fire99 said:

Aren't Mercedes having to limit their torque? (If i vaguely remember a topgear episode)

That's only the twin turbo V12, though I think there were some issues with the higher tuned versions of the old supercharged V8 as well.

This new 6.3L V8 is a higher revving NA engine so doesn't suffer from that issue.

[hendry]

Cue Fast Show sketch:

"Ooh, I like the look of this new Merecedes dear"

"Come away from the AMG Johnny"

I really like the look of this. It really lifts the look of the CLK too. What's all the crap about it being boring and "any car manufacturer can offer this performance and this price" - I am not sure we know what it costs, OR what it goes like (and I am not sure how Suzuki and Kia fit into that equation either). I'll reserve my penultimate judgement until some trusted journos have given their feedback (and my ultimate until I get a go!), but on looks alone it's scoring highly.

[LukeBird]

I think it looks truly incredible!
If it sounds anything like the Safety car, can't wait to hear it either!

[the pits]

why oh why oh why do they refuse to put a manual box in their sporty models??????

I know most people are too lazy to change gear but a driver focused car should at least offer the owner the pleasure of changing gear.

[dazren]

Interesting. No mention of price though. Wonder how much it costs in comparison to buying one of the CLK DTMs which were hand built at AMG and come in at 580bhp through a flappy paddle gearbox.

[badapple]

dazren said:

Interesting. No mention of price though. Wonder how much it costs in comparison to buying one of the CLK DTMs which were hand built at AMG and come in at 580bhp through a flappy paddle gearbox.

I've always wanted to know what that gearbox is like on the dtm

[adam towler]

As of last night, there was no official word on what it will cost in the UK, but the standard '63' costs £65,215 without options.