Two peas in a pod, right? Nope
Every three years or so, Mercedes-AMG dusts off the Black Series badge, sticks it to the rump of some grossly overpowered road-racer and the world becomes a better place. Or if not better then certainly louder. There have been six Black Series AMGs in all, the first arriving in 2006. With every new model, the ambient atmospheric volume rises a notch higher.two. The first was the CLK63 Black Series in 2007, the second the C63 Black Series four years later.
I've spent plenty of time in this very CLK63 Black Series before, but it was raining then too. There is a great deal still to be learned. This was only the second AMG to wear the Black Series badge, after the mostly underwhelming SLK55 Black Series. It arrived 17 years ago with manually adjustable KW suspension, tracks widened by 75mm at the front and 66mm at the rear, a limited-slip differential, fixed-back bucket seats, carbon fibre wheel arches, uprated brakes and tyres and no rear seats.
The rain is lighter now and the clouds are beginning to shift. You can pick holes in this car’s cabin quality, particularly the flimsy ventilation switchgear, but more concerning are the steering wheel that’s far from round and its relationship to the pedals. They’re misaligned like a wonky spine. But you forget about that stuff once you’ve fired the M156 6.2-litre V8 into life, more so when you start digging into the travel of the throttle pedal.
All the while the body flexes and shudders, causing the interior trim to creak and groan. Gearshifts are slow and ponderous too. You seem to wait seconds for the gearbox to find a lower ratio and if you don’t call for the upshift well before you need it, you’ll crash the V8 into its limiter. You have to drive this car at its own pace. You must make allowances for its shortcomings. Hustle it too hard and it feels like it might fall to pieces like a clown car.
The spec sheet doesn’t promise a great deal over and above the older car, but you only need to travel a few hundred yards to realise how much more competent is the C63. It actually feels quicker simply because it puts its enormous power down to the road so much more effectively, meaning less is wasted in furious wheelspin and tortured tyres. There isn’t quite the same squidgy feel to the suspension over bumps, but the damping is excellent meaning ride comfort is still good.
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