AMG Performance Tour

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st13phil

Hardcore MB Enthusiast
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Spent an enjoyable hour or so this afternoon blasting around the Oxfordshire countryside in a variety of AMG cars courtesy of Mercedes-Benz of Oxford.

Drove a C63S, AMG GT-S, GLA45 and (perversely because I own an E63) an E63S.

The GLA was good fun, and the 4WD chassis gives very easy access to the performance. If I had never driven an AMG V8 I would have said it was extremely rapid (which it is - sort of), but it definitely lacks the killer punch of the V8's at higher speeds.

The GT-S was predictably brilliant, with a fantastic soundtrack. It's a gorgeous place to sit, and performance is great. But I could never own one as a daily driver (even if I could afford it!). On country lanes you really notice the width, and it was a bit upset on some of the bumps too, but that's not its natural environment so it's a bit of an unfair criticism.

The E63S felt just like my pre-facelift E63 BiTurbo PP+ car. The extra 28bhp didn't seem to make any difference - to my bum dyno at least - and I actually prefer the more stealthy look of my pre-facelift car that looks to Joe Public just like the ubiquitous German Taxi (not that the facelift car is too, err, "in your face" in that respect come to that).

For me the revelation was the C63S. I can see now why those who own or have owned a W204 C63 have been a bit uncertain about the W205 incarnation, but for me it's a much more rounded car. I always thought the W204 63 was fantastic fun, but it was more single-minded than I would want to own. Where the W212 E63 is a luxury car with a manic streak, the W204 C63 could never hide its inner hooligan. I thought the W205 - at least in the S guise that I drove today - was a truly superb melding of the two different characters. In many respects it's more like the character of the E63 in that it can now do the "grown up luxury saloon" bit almost as well as the E-Class, but it can also do the hooligan act of the C-Class when you wish, which is quite an achievement. The new Hot Vee engine is a peach, with pretty much instant power delivery from anywhere in the rev-range, and the MCT transmission was almost as rapid changing as the DCT 'box in the GLA45 but had a smoothness to it when you wanted as well. All I can say is that before today I wasn't sure what I'd replace my E63 with when the time comes, but I think I do now.

My wife (who has never driven my E63 because she claims its "too big" and "too brutal" :rolleyes:) spent most of the afternoon driving... yes, the E63S!!! She also drove the ML63 and enjoyed both. Go figure, as the Yanks say.

The last car I drove wasn't part of the AMG Performance Tour, but had just been taken in as a p/x: a 2012 R172 SLK55. This was the first time I'd driven an R172 or a V8 SLK and it was just what I expected. The soundtrack alone with the roof down is enough to warrant purchase :D I now have to work on Angie to persuade her to swap her R171 SLK350 for something with a couple more cylinders. Problems, problems...
 
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Nice one Phil - I expect the W213 will share the new 4.0 powerunit so that's something to look forward to.

I also expect the W213 interior will be C/GT-S special too, so it's all good :thumb:.
 
Mercedes Benz balsall common had an amg performance tour over the weekend too. My E63 was there for some paintwork. When I arrived on Saturday afternoon my car was parked in the line of AMGs:rock:

As soon as I got there I was given the keys to a new S63 Coupe. Sat in it, it was defo a big step up from the previous CL model. Took it for a spin, not much exhaust noise which is expected, it was much more of a sophisticated drive than the E63 I thought. The power was very good, just a huge surge as it gains speed.

Just wish they had a C63 's' there!
 
I hope my dealer has a day like this!

If they're an AMG Performance Centre they will, if not it's unlikely.
 
AMG Edinburgh are doing an event at the end of next week and over the subsequent weekend.
 

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