Hi All,
Just something I am working on over at an Australian forum. Keep in mind that AMGs are a very rare thing indeed out here.
So I'm in the back of a taxi in Melbourne, heading out the airport. About to head home to Sydney for the week, I received a phone call from Brisbane (stay with me here). Not a call that I was expecting, but one that I was very glad to receive - an invitation to try out Mercedes-Benz's flagship CLK - the AMG CLK 63. I quickly called my wife and asked her to arrange a flight to Brisbane - up Saturday, back Sunday. A weekend of motoring pleasure was planned.....
I was waiting at the airport to be collected, when a distant rumbling could be heard. It didn't seem impressive enough to me, and I was in fact right - a ridiculous Ford something or other GT was approaching, with a silly exhaust, too many badges and a driver that looked like he spends a fair bit of time at McDonalds. It wasn't time for me to smile just yet, except for the belly laugh as the drongo accelerated at maximum effort between speed bumps.
A few minutes later, I could hear a more mature V8 noise approaching at idle. The aural difference between this and a Ford/Holden V8 was like the difference between cask wine and Bordeaux's finest. A few confused pedestrians struggled to match the rumble to the rather understated looking CLK, looking straight past it for something far more obvious. I knew however, that the three magic letters on the boot made all the difference - A, M and G. I overheard one guy nearby telling his girlfriend that there was no such thing as a CLK63, and that the badge must have been fiddled with or re-arranged to have that number. I knew better as AUD$200k ticked over in front of me.
Looking over the car, AMG have subtly reworked various aspects of the car's styling, giving it a slightly more aggresive look. The wheels are enormous garden rollers, the stupendous brakes to match and the oh-so-awesome sight of four exhausts across the back (something that would typically be installed on a Civic in Sunnybank/Brisbane).
After a few quick greetings and handshakes, it was time to move along - at least that's that the parking attended politely asked. Let it be clear at this point, that I wasn't keen to just jump in and drive. I opted to let a more experienced person show me what they'd discovered about the car.....
Inspecting the interior, I noted that Mercedes and AMG have ticked all the boxes when it comes to what's required these days inside a car. The front seats are special and supportive without being irritating (sorry - just a quick reference to the sports seats in the RS4), and they have a two stage mechanism to allow access to the bigger-than-expected rear seats. Controls on each seat allowed for the inflation of airbags in various parts of the seat to provide excellent support, whilst a button on the dash took care of the heating elements. This particular model was fully equipped in the sound/nav/tv department, which made it a very pleasant place to spend some time. The TV had me flummoxed for a little while, as I couldn't work out how to change channels (I worked it out eventually).
Behaving as one must on QLD roads these days, opportunities to experience the full extent of this car's brutality were few and far between. I am pleasedto report though, that when driven within the laws that prevail within the Sunshine State - it's a very pleasant way to get from A to B with the engine barely tipping 2000 rpm at any time, due to the utterly amazing amount of torque on tap. In fact, scratch that.... It's a freakin' super king kamaya-maya biyatch amount of teeth pulling, hair pulling, **** ramming torque - matched with a similar amount of power. The type of power delivery that puts an instant smile on anyone's face:
Extracted from the MB website: "The range-topping CLK 500 and CLK 63 AMG models feature powerful V8 engines which propel the CLK-Class Coupé to top-class performance. The CLK 63 AMG generates 354 kW (481 hp) combined with a peak torque of 630 Nm, while the CLK 500 develops a scintillating 285 kW (388 hp) and 530 Nm of torque. What´s more, these engines also score highly when it comes to fuel consumption and emission levels. (CLK 500: fuel consumption combined: 11.4 l/100 km, CO2 emissions combined: 270 g/km; CLK 63 AMG: fuel consumption combined: 14.2 l/100 km, CO2 emissions combined: 338 g/km)*"
I am fairly sure that I got kicked in the back by every single one of those four-hundred and eighty-one horses.
Part #2
Pottering around Brisbane near the airport wasn’t really my idea of fun, but we were near the redeveloped Portside Wharf and decided to drop in for a wander. Parked up outside the bottle shop, the car was starting to attract some stares from the well heeled locals who are used to seeing these sort of things frequently (but usually with 55 on the back). A couple of people wandered by, wandered by again, and then wandered by again to check what it was they were looking at.
I noticed that down a few from us was a current model Falcon with a DJR number plate carrying some DJR stickers noting a fairly impressive 350 kilowatts. Likely one of ****’s or Steven’s cars, I looked about for an owner, but couldn’t find one. I looked at the two, and realised that I had the keys to the one you’d rather drive.
Time for my pleasure to begin, the purchases were placed into the back and the key was turned. Immediate joy filled my ears, heart and soul – I was about to have a pedal of a car I have been wanting to drive for some time. Actually, I didn’t care about the CLK bit….. I just wanted to try the 63 engine, having been to AMG in Germany and seen the men working on the early test rigs a couple of years back. As I backed out of the parking space and headed toward the exit, the café society patrons were all rubbernecking, but again the image didn’t match the noise, so they looked straight past.
It didn’t take long before I met my new German friends ASR and ESP. This car has so much power that you actually have to be careful about accelerating at just about any speed. Being naturally aspirated, there’s no waiting for boost, or for the car to arrive at maximum torque. Everything is there, all the time. Simple as that. A simple press of the right foot resulted in the all too familiar blinking orange triangle on the dash. The book says that it’s an indication of technology assisting – I prefer to think of it as a computer telling you that you are trying to commit suicide. Coming out of corner was also entertaining, with the computer having to regularly stop you applying the power.
Around now I was starting to think that this car handled like a bucket, and that it couldn’t go around corners. Surely not. Heaven forbid. Heavens to Murgatroid, even. Some analysis of the situation was required - quickly. I then discovered that the problem was all my fault. I was attempting to corner at what is commonly referred to as ‘ludicrous speed’. With the wonderful AMG suspension between my **** and the road, all traces of bad behaviour has been removed from my experience and I was indeed trying to take corners at speeds well in excess of what you’d choose in a regular car.
[...more to come...]
Just something I am working on over at an Australian forum. Keep in mind that AMGs are a very rare thing indeed out here.
So I'm in the back of a taxi in Melbourne, heading out the airport. About to head home to Sydney for the week, I received a phone call from Brisbane (stay with me here). Not a call that I was expecting, but one that I was very glad to receive - an invitation to try out Mercedes-Benz's flagship CLK - the AMG CLK 63. I quickly called my wife and asked her to arrange a flight to Brisbane - up Saturday, back Sunday. A weekend of motoring pleasure was planned.....
I was waiting at the airport to be collected, when a distant rumbling could be heard. It didn't seem impressive enough to me, and I was in fact right - a ridiculous Ford something or other GT was approaching, with a silly exhaust, too many badges and a driver that looked like he spends a fair bit of time at McDonalds. It wasn't time for me to smile just yet, except for the belly laugh as the drongo accelerated at maximum effort between speed bumps.
A few minutes later, I could hear a more mature V8 noise approaching at idle. The aural difference between this and a Ford/Holden V8 was like the difference between cask wine and Bordeaux's finest. A few confused pedestrians struggled to match the rumble to the rather understated looking CLK, looking straight past it for something far more obvious. I knew however, that the three magic letters on the boot made all the difference - A, M and G. I overheard one guy nearby telling his girlfriend that there was no such thing as a CLK63, and that the badge must have been fiddled with or re-arranged to have that number. I knew better as AUD$200k ticked over in front of me.
Looking over the car, AMG have subtly reworked various aspects of the car's styling, giving it a slightly more aggresive look. The wheels are enormous garden rollers, the stupendous brakes to match and the oh-so-awesome sight of four exhausts across the back (something that would typically be installed on a Civic in Sunnybank/Brisbane).
After a few quick greetings and handshakes, it was time to move along - at least that's that the parking attended politely asked. Let it be clear at this point, that I wasn't keen to just jump in and drive. I opted to let a more experienced person show me what they'd discovered about the car.....
Inspecting the interior, I noted that Mercedes and AMG have ticked all the boxes when it comes to what's required these days inside a car. The front seats are special and supportive without being irritating (sorry - just a quick reference to the sports seats in the RS4), and they have a two stage mechanism to allow access to the bigger-than-expected rear seats. Controls on each seat allowed for the inflation of airbags in various parts of the seat to provide excellent support, whilst a button on the dash took care of the heating elements. This particular model was fully equipped in the sound/nav/tv department, which made it a very pleasant place to spend some time. The TV had me flummoxed for a little while, as I couldn't work out how to change channels (I worked it out eventually).
Behaving as one must on QLD roads these days, opportunities to experience the full extent of this car's brutality were few and far between. I am pleasedto report though, that when driven within the laws that prevail within the Sunshine State - it's a very pleasant way to get from A to B with the engine barely tipping 2000 rpm at any time, due to the utterly amazing amount of torque on tap. In fact, scratch that.... It's a freakin' super king kamaya-maya biyatch amount of teeth pulling, hair pulling, **** ramming torque - matched with a similar amount of power. The type of power delivery that puts an instant smile on anyone's face:
Extracted from the MB website: "The range-topping CLK 500 and CLK 63 AMG models feature powerful V8 engines which propel the CLK-Class Coupé to top-class performance. The CLK 63 AMG generates 354 kW (481 hp) combined with a peak torque of 630 Nm, while the CLK 500 develops a scintillating 285 kW (388 hp) and 530 Nm of torque. What´s more, these engines also score highly when it comes to fuel consumption and emission levels. (CLK 500: fuel consumption combined: 11.4 l/100 km, CO2 emissions combined: 270 g/km; CLK 63 AMG: fuel consumption combined: 14.2 l/100 km, CO2 emissions combined: 338 g/km)*"
I am fairly sure that I got kicked in the back by every single one of those four-hundred and eighty-one horses.
Part #2
Pottering around Brisbane near the airport wasn’t really my idea of fun, but we were near the redeveloped Portside Wharf and decided to drop in for a wander. Parked up outside the bottle shop, the car was starting to attract some stares from the well heeled locals who are used to seeing these sort of things frequently (but usually with 55 on the back). A couple of people wandered by, wandered by again, and then wandered by again to check what it was they were looking at.
I noticed that down a few from us was a current model Falcon with a DJR number plate carrying some DJR stickers noting a fairly impressive 350 kilowatts. Likely one of ****’s or Steven’s cars, I looked about for an owner, but couldn’t find one. I looked at the two, and realised that I had the keys to the one you’d rather drive.
Time for my pleasure to begin, the purchases were placed into the back and the key was turned. Immediate joy filled my ears, heart and soul – I was about to have a pedal of a car I have been wanting to drive for some time. Actually, I didn’t care about the CLK bit….. I just wanted to try the 63 engine, having been to AMG in Germany and seen the men working on the early test rigs a couple of years back. As I backed out of the parking space and headed toward the exit, the café society patrons were all rubbernecking, but again the image didn’t match the noise, so they looked straight past.
It didn’t take long before I met my new German friends ASR and ESP. This car has so much power that you actually have to be careful about accelerating at just about any speed. Being naturally aspirated, there’s no waiting for boost, or for the car to arrive at maximum torque. Everything is there, all the time. Simple as that. A simple press of the right foot resulted in the all too familiar blinking orange triangle on the dash. The book says that it’s an indication of technology assisting – I prefer to think of it as a computer telling you that you are trying to commit suicide. Coming out of corner was also entertaining, with the computer having to regularly stop you applying the power.
Around now I was starting to think that this car handled like a bucket, and that it couldn’t go around corners. Surely not. Heaven forbid. Heavens to Murgatroid, even. Some analysis of the situation was required - quickly. I then discovered that the problem was all my fault. I was attempting to corner at what is commonly referred to as ‘ludicrous speed’. With the wonderful AMG suspension between my **** and the road, all traces of bad behaviour has been removed from my experience and I was indeed trying to take corners at speeds well in excess of what you’d choose in a regular car.
[...more to come...]
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