Automotive Faqs

 The Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black-Series is a vehicle that has been beefed up with more power than a normal Mercedes-Benz. You may not be able to outrun any of the racers on the Formula 1 racers, but you will be able to race alongside them.

Compared with the “standard” CLK63 AMG coupe, the Black Series is nearly 100 pounds lighter, and more potent. For one thing, there’s enough featherweight, beautifully sculptured carbon fiber inside and out to make about 1000 of those chic executive ashtrays.

Other upgrades include a retuned suspension with adjustable coil springs and ride height, a wider track front and rear, 19-inch forged-alloy AMG wheels wearing Pirelli performance tires, thicker composite front brake discs, strut tower braces under the hood and in the trunk, and a multiplate rear limited-slip.

As in all AMG products, the engine is handbuilt by one man from start to finish. The 6.2-liter V-8 is upgraded for Black Series duty with newly enlarged intake ducts, reprogrammed software, and a low-restriction sport exhaust. The result is 25 additional horsepower, a heady 500 horses at 7000 rpm. Torque climbs 13 pound-feet, to 478 at 5200 rpm.

As in the standard car, the transmission is an AMG-optimized version of Mercedes’s fine seven-speed automatic. Aluminum shift paddles behind the wheel and three transmission modes-including full manual-allow as much or as little gear-changing involvement as you like.

The Black Series cockpit is an intimate space. The deeply bolstered sport seats fit like a wetsuit, and the C-Class cabin doesn’t have an ounce of airy flab. Ahead of you sits a superb leather steering wheel with “F1-style” flat bottom. To your right is a stubby aluminum shifter that works so well you wonder why any car needs a Louisville Slugger jutting up between the seats. Judging by the reckless expanses of pricey carbon fiber draped across the dash and console, the designers are the sorts of people who feed Osetra caviar to their cats.

On the road, the Black Series reminds you of its track-optimized mission with a ride that’s as taut as an upper-octave piano string. Thanks in part to its ultra-stiff chassis, though, impacts are well absorbed and the driving experience is never brutal. The speed-sensitive power steering, modified for Black Series action, has a pleasing heft and feels more communicative than what we’ve experienced in other AMG models recently. Turn-in is sharper than the typical AMG model, too-though at 3911 pounds, the Black Series is hardly a slim sports racer.

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