KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — If you want a really powerful car but don’t want too many people to notice you, you might want to take a closer look at the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. Although it is one of the most powerful cars around, you will not look ‘flashy’ in one — it looks, at first glance anyway, very much like an ordinary C Class, because that’s what the C63 AMG is based on. The C63 AMG is what I would consider a ‘sleeper’.

However, at closer quarters, you cannot help but note the extra wide tires, a slightly wider and lower stance, a different front mask, and a rear diffuser, but then some people might think that it is a body kit you picked up from some accessory shop. The dead giveaway would be the AMG and C63 badges on the rear boot lid, plus the different front wings sporting yet another badge that says V8 BITURBO – then again, people might still think it is part of a body kit.

I took a unit from Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, on, of all days April fool’s Day for a test, and no, it wasn’t an April fool’s day joke — the lovely MBM person was waiting there with the keys when I arrived.

If I could ever afford one, I would take off all the badges, and just put on a C250 or a C300 badge on it, and turn this car into a sleeper. Even with all the standard badges on, I have been subjected to numerous challenges from Golf GTi’s and some BMW 328i’s. Not that they posed any problem, because once you accelerate away from them, the sound of the V8 and the speed at which you become smaller as you pull away will be enough to tell them this is the real thing.

There is no magic really, in building a super car. You need a powerful engine — in this case a 4.0 litre V8, which is basically putting two 2.0 litre engines together in the shape of a V, and fitting a turbocharger onto each of the two banks.

Whilst it does sound simplistic, the fact of the matter is that each of these AMG engines are put together by one highly skilled technician, under AMG’s ‘One Man, One Engine’ philosophy. Each engine is carefully hand-built by one man, who then puts it to the test under very stringent conditions, as opposed to mass-production engines put together on an assembly line. Each engine carries the name of the person who put it together. In the case of my test car, the name of the technician who built the engine is Phillip Becker.  For the techies, the V8 Biturbo AMG engine produces 476 horsepower, and 650 Nm of torque, available in full from 1,700 rpm onwards – this is awesome power!

The V8 Biturbo AMG engine produces 476 horsepower, and 650 Nm of torque, available in full from 1,700 rpm onwards.

Next you need a strong and robust transmission — in the case of the C63, you get an AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission, which is an automatic transmission, complete with paddle shifters. Although not as fun as a manual, the AMG auto transmission does take away the hassle of having to use the clutch in traffic jams. Now there is no need for any fancy footwork – believe me, you will enjoy it just as much. Apart from the first gear which is low to allow easy take-off, second to seventh gear are close-ratio. Fifth gear is 1.00:1, while sixth and seventh gear have over-drive ratios.

Then, of course you need to make it stick to the road — so the AMG specialists put in 19-inch wheels with 265/35 ZR 19 Michelin Super Sport tyres. These are super soft compound tyres that really stick to the road – in fact, after a hard run to and from Bukit Tinggi, I found the rubber soft and tacky — they are really good for road grip, but tyre life is likely to be short, but then, if you can afford this car, it is worth it for the grip. Besides the tyres, AMG also developed a suspension system to match the engine performance, and fitted humongous brakes to make it stop.

There is some attempt to reduce overall weight by using aluminium wings (front fenders), an aluminium bonnet, and aluminium suspension arms; however, the C63 weighs in at a kerb weight of 1,715 kg, most of which comes from using the V8 engine. Not to worry, though – there is plenty of power. Zero to 100 km/h is done is 4.1 seconds, with a top speed of 290 km/h. (Top speed is electronically controlled at 250 km/h, but with the optional AMG Driver’s package, it is extended to 290 km/h).

Finally, to increase the appeal, you put in extras that make the car better — carbon-fibre inserts here and there, luxury items like hand-stitched natural leather seats, an IWC clock, electric seats, a high end stereo system, connectivity, a GPS, keyless entry, push-button start, electronic aids to help keep the driver on the road, etc, etc. The C63 has it all, including a panoramic sun-roof.

Having driven a few really fast cars over the last few weeks, all of them of German origin, I have generally come to the conclusion that all the high performance cars have great handling, and all of them are built just great — the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG is no exception.  At high speeds, the C63 is rock steady — there are a few options that can be selected by the driver in terms of suspension performance and engine performance. By means of a little roller toggle, you can select anything from Comfort to Sport, to Sport Plus, or Race.

There is also an Individual mode which you can use to set up the car behaviour, and save it for instant recall at any time. The Sport, Sport plus and Race settings modify the damping forces, but even in Comfort mode, it is already quite firm to start with – perhaps a way to ‘idiot-proof’ the system. I found the Comfort mode to be good enough for road use, as long as I keep everything ‘sane’.

Inside, you find beautiful hand-stitched natural leather seats, a high end stereo system as well as a GPS system.

However, in Sport and Sport plus mode, the handling improves, and in Race mode, everything tightens up. In the accompanying video, I used Sport mode, as this mode still allows some measure of comfort. The average driver is hardly likely to exceed the limits of the C63, because from what I can see, its limits are way beyond what one is used to — if anything untoward were to happen when driving the C63, it is probably the driver panicked. Even then, if you leave the electronic aids on, the systems would most likely be able to get you out of trouble.

With the automatic transmission, there is no necessity for the fancy footwork of ‘heel and toe’ and double declutching — this allows even a moderately good driver to go fast. Although I did miss the footwork action, I found the C63 a really nice car to drive — I did appreciate the auto though, in the suburban areas where I had to drive slowly on account of traffic.

The 476 horsepower is really awesome — all you have to do is step on the gas pedal, and you will leave everyone else behind. A couple of weeks earlier, I was with a colleague in another C63 on the way back from Penang — we met a Maserati Ghibli (V6, 3.0 turbo) somewhere near Ipoh, and we had a ‘mini’ on-the-go drag — it lasted about 10 seconds, but although the Ghibli was accelerating with the pedal flat on the floor (on an overtaking manoeuvre), we could easily zoom past, and left it behind by about 200 metres in the short time. Being good citizens, we pulled over to let it pass us after that. I am sure the owner would be looking at the C63 AMG as a replacement not too long in the future. The additional 1.0 litre in the C63 makes quite a difference.

The speed build-up is extremely quick, and in no time you would be breaching the 200 km/h mark. A word of warning to drivers is necessary here — the C63 is a very stable car, so you should monitor your speed on the speedometer — which is conveniently done through the ‘heads-up’ display on the windscreen in front of the driver — at 200 km/h, it actually feels like you are at 130 km/h — at 140 km/h, you feel like you are doing around 90 km/h. Besides, with the enormous power, your engine revolutions are relatively low at high speeds (because the gears are over-drive in 6th and 7th), and this can lull you into thinking you are going at a slower speed than you are.

Having said that, the C63 is not a monster car — you can drive it at gentle speeds through traffic, or your mother can take it to market on a weekend without any problem. What I love about this car is the gentle gurgle of the V8 when going slow — it is unobtrusive, but is there all right. If anything, I would love it to be louder when I open her up (the car I mean), but I suppose there are some noise regulations that the AMG people have to take into consideration – I looked for a button that would open up the exhaust like what we can find on the Porsche Cayman GT4, but sorry, there isn’t one. The sound-proofing works, but I think those outside the car would be hearing a little more than what I can in the car.

Fuel consumption on the C63 AMG is not your best friend here — taking a peek at the onboard memory, I note that for the past 4,227 kilometres since the Average Fuel Consumption (AFC) was reset, the fuel consumption was 25 litres per 100 kilometres, or 4 kilometres per litre of fuel. Noting of course, that this is a media and customer test car, I would expect that this is because all the media and the customers who have test driven this car, for the most part, really pushed it, hence the high fuel consumption. I don’t know how much you would get if you drove it sedately, because for the most part during my test drive, except for the times when I was in heavy traffic, I also did not go easy on the engine — but then, if you can own this car, why would you want to drive sedately?  There is a price to pay for power, as we all know. Just for the record, I got 20.8 litres per 100 km.

Would I buy one? Yes, if I had the money. Do I like it? Yes, tremendously, and here I would like to confess that I am one of those who prefer rear-wheel drive cars, like the C63 AMG! As a point in passing, our road tax system in Malaysia does not encourage ownership of large capacity engines. Owning the car may not be a problem, but paying for the insurance and road tax on a yearly basis could set you back the cost of a little car. Maybe it is time to look at a road tax system that is based on vehicle weight or some other standard, perhaps emission based?