Back with a bang: Mercedes-AMG CLE gets new V8
Limited edition '646 Spezialanfertigung' channels Black Series with coilovers, rear-drive - and almost 650hp
AMG was always likely to make a very big fuss about the return of a V8 engine to something C-Class-sized. The hybridisation of the C63 has been a catastrophe, and nothing ought to banish memory of that car quite like this, the 646 Spezialanferigung. While it’s sad that V8s can no longer realistically form part of the mainstream Mercedes offering in Europe, the upside is that they can be taken to new extremes of performance.
Not so long ago, the notion of an extremely limited (even more so than a Black Series), ruthlessly track-focused CLE would have seemed a bit silly; now it’s the second model in the Mythos Series after the PureSpeed, and you can be sure they’ll all be spoken for sooner rather than later.
As Mercedes-AMG puts it, this is the result of asking a small development team: ‘How can a CLE be developed even further towards maximum driving dynamics?’. No customer clinics, no set brief or target, just a desire to push the envelope as far as it could go. ‘The goal was not a collection of individual performance upgrades or a conventional special edition’, reads the press release, ‘instead, the vehicle was reimagined as a complete performance system.’ They mean business all right.
As the design quite blatantly hints at (more on that in a sec), this isn’t utilising the standard M177 V8 either. The Spezialanf… (we’ll call it the 646) makes use of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo in Evo spec with the flat plane crank, which ‘reduces rotating masses, improves revving characteristics and promotes exceptionally responsive throttle response, further supported by dedicated engine mapping.’ Those who want V8 thrills are going to get them, with 627lb ft alongside the 646hp and an exhaust built with Akrapovic for ‘a sound signature engineered with a strong emotional focus.’
Fast? You betcha - 0-124mph takes 11.4 seconds, with a top speed of 193mph. There’s launch control in the AMG Speedshift TCT 9G gearbox, plus ‘dynamic shift characteristics and emotional double-declutch function.’ The 646 is rear-wheel drive, too, ditching the 4Matic of the CLE 53 donor and taking the V8 AMG coupe back to something like its glorious past - marvellous. There’s some mention of weight saving as a result, but also ‘controlled drifting’ in the right scenario. Which is what we really want to hear about. There’s no drift mode quite like rear-wheel drive, and the AMG nine-stage traction control features here to build up to the limit.
That being said, there’s a whole lot more to this CLE than purely V8 hooliganism. This is probably the most extreme front-engined, road-legal AMG ever made, with a broader, beefier body that boosts both track widths (by 60mm) and torsional rigidity; the carbon panels add further strength and drop further kilos (though this is still a 1,895kg car at the kerb with 170kg saved). Its maker suggests that this CLE has been ‘engineered entirely with maximum driving dynamics and performance in mind’, so a host of parts found in the series production car have been replaced by those that are more suitable for track work.
As with the old C63 Black, suspension is now by coilover in the 646, AMG working with KW to deliver a four-way adjustable (high- and low-speed compression and rebound) setup for ‘an extraordinary level of precision and confidence’; the ride is lower by 22mm at the front and 16mm at the rear compared to a 53. This car gets giant ceramic brakes included, with 420mm (!) discs at the front and dedicated cooling vents in that wild grille. The tyres are equally preposterous: 305-section fronts and 335-section rears. The 20-inch forged wheels are described as a ‘further development of technology originally created for the AMG One’, and will remain exclusive to this CLE.
Although calling it a CLE feels like doing the incredible Spezialanfertigung a disservice. There really isn’t much CLE left, with carbon fibre used for those outrageous new wings as well as the roof, aprons and side sills. The windows are polycarbonate, the battery lighter, and the rear seats gone. Even the Parktronic parking assistant has been ditched, for heaven’s sake - how on earth will anybody cope?
The 646 wouldn’t be a true road racer without an extensive aerodynamic overhaul, either. It’s hard to know where to look first, to be honest, this CLE looking like it’s just driven from a Nurburgring grid, but it seems worth pointing out that both rear spoiler and front diffuser are manually adjustable between Street and Track settings to optimise downforce (drastic enough to make for different 0-186mph times), that the underbody is revised and the louvres in the wings get air out of the wheelarch quicker, further benefitting downforce. ‘Well over’ 250kg is claimed at top speed; some way off something like a GT3 RS, if unprecedented for this kind of Mercedes.
Each of these Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigungs (not getting any easier) will be handbuilt in Affalterbach from a CLE 53, like the early pre-merger days of AMG, taking a humble Mercedes and turning it into something spectacular. A Performance Package has been confirmed as an option (it’s still a Mercedes-AMG at the end of the day), bringing six-point harnesses, though anything beyond that is unconfirmed for the moment. Given just 30 of these 646s will ever exist (there were 250 PureSpeeds, and 275 Ones), probably anything goes as far as specs are concerned for the lucky few. What they’ll pay for the privilege, unsurprisingly, hasn’t been made public.
AMG board Chairman Dr. Stefan Weckbach said: “For me, the Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung represents the very essence of AMG. This vehicle came to life because highly rational engineers dreamed of a highly irrational car. We turned that dream into reality in the form of maximum driving dynamics and an unparalleled driving experience.”
Hopes will be extremely high, then - and even if the prospect of a one-percenter 646 ultimately leaves you cold, we know that a more conventional V8-powered CLE will eventually follow in its wheel tracks. In the meantime, it's great to have dream-grade AMGs back in the world. Wonder what the Mythos Series brings next…
seems about right.
The plural is "Spezialanfertigungen". But we should not need that. One is more than enough.
They really totally lost track. And no. The aero elements do not help you to stay "on track". Not one bit.
People are going to be disappointed when the new V8 doesn't warble but sounds like the four banger that got them so upset in the first place!
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