Nestled in the midst of rolling wheat fields that stretch to the horizon and apple and pear orchards on either side of the highway leading up to it, Affalterbach's significance can be a bit lost on the first time visitor.
This nondescript, quiet town, a couple of hours drive from Stuttgart in Germany is the hometown of Mercedes-AMG – the high-performance luxury car subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz. AMGs are typically the beefed up performance versions of Mercedes-Benz production models. Of course, Mercedes-AMG also adds its own touch of class to the design and interiors to make them look like luxury super-performance AMGs.
The culmination of the years of association with motorsports, design improvement and performance enhancement resulted in Mercedes-AMG developing and producing the SLS AMG from scratch. We have reviewed the SLS AMG and some of the other AMG models too in past issues and these can be accessed in the archives section of the magazine's website.
Even as Mercedes-AMG is testing and is poised to officially launch the SLS AMG Roadster next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show, I got to drive the latest from its stables – the CLS 63 AMG.
Design
The CLS Class from Mercedes-Benz, when launched in 2004, pioneered the concept of a four-door coupe sedan. With sinuous lines and a beautifully curved coupe-like roof, the CLS appealed to buyers and the competition alike.
The second generation CLS was launched early this year. Though it shares the same concept and some of the design lines of the first-gen, it has shed its curvy, metro-sexual image and become more macho. The design has become tauter, more aggressive and now represents an alluring combination of squared-off edges and swooping curves.
The CLS 63 AMG takes on the design of the new second-gen model and reinterprets it with typical AMG flair. Incidentally, Mercedes-AMG officials have chosen to retain the ‘63' in the moniker despite the fact that the engine of choice is now the 5.5-litre V8 Biturbo and not the earlier 6.3-litre naturally aspirated unit.
The front view of the new CLS 63 AMG is dominated by the brand's characteristic radiator grille. Its three-dimensional shape and the oversized three-pointed star logo make it look very much like the SLS AMG.
The AMG front apron also makes a powerful design statement thanks to the drawn-out side air intakes with black grilles – flanked by LED daytime driving lights – and central air intake with black-painted cross strut. Another highlight of the front view is the pair of LED high-performance headlamps.
The CLS 63 AMG's side view is an interesting interplay between lines and areas, the lateral ‘dropping line' and also the wide-set wheel arches add lot of dynamism and length to the profile of the car. The rear wheel arch, which the designer alludes to the taut haunch of a wild animal, is a particularly neat touch. More dynamism is offered by the titanium grey-painted high-sheen AMG light-alloy wheels, which feature a new triple-spoke design.
At the rear the AMG apron with black diffuser insert also incorporates the dual twin chrome tailpipes of the AMG sports exhaust system as well as the rear fog lamp. The new design, almost eye-shaped, wide wraparound bicolour tail-lamps featuring LED technology and the wide metal insert make for special visual highlights at the rear. The integrated AMG spoiler lip on the boot lid helps to reduce lift at the rear axle by around 26 per cent, further enhancing handling at high speeds.
Interiors
The interior of the new CLS 63 AMG is classy and luxurious, and clearly several notches above the stuff we have seen in previous models. Extremely well appointed and involving very premium materials, the CLS AMG's cabin has exclusivity written all over. The CLS brand's typical sweeping, symmetrical dashboard layout has been brought into the new CLS 63 AMG too. You can choose between black piano-lacquered trim and polished carbon-fibre elements for the cabin. My test drive car came with shiny carbon-fibre and matt aluminium all over the dash and door panels.
The new AMG Performance steering wheel, in the CLS 63 AMG, features a three-spoke design, has aluminium shift paddles located within easy access, and flattened upper and lower sections giving it a very sporty look and feel. The wheel also has specially shaped grip areas covered in perforated leather
The other feature of the CLS 63 AMG's cabin that I liked was the quality of the seats. Wrapped in perforated, soft nappa leather with a cross-stitch sports design, the seats are very comfortable even on long drives. Choose the dynamic mode and the side bolsters of the driver and front passenger seats automatically fold inward on the left or the right (depending on the tight turn being taken) to support you.
A special addition on the dash is the high-quality analogue clock featuring an ‘IWC Ingenieur' design located between the centre air vents.
Performance
The CLS 63 AMG has held its niche in the segment's performance rankings with the earlier naturally aspirated 6.3-litre engine. But the previous engine would have burnt a hole in your pocket. The new V8, the 5.5-litre Biturbo engine on the other hand, burns rubber better, is lighter on your wallet and also attempts to get friendlier with the greens.
The new 5,461cc Biturbo engine manages to generate about 11 bhp more power and 11 per cent more torque than the previous engine and it is also said to be about 32 per cent more fuel efficient. So how does it work?
Aiding the new V8 engine, two turbos compress the charge air to about 2.3 times the normal density and then the oversized intercooler cools the compressed and heated air to reduce its temperature and volume. Together, the turbos and the intercooler combine to force into the 5.5-litre engine's combustion chamber, twice as much air mass as a naturally aspirated engine.
Another trick is direct fuel injection, which is via piezo injectors operating at upto 200 bar. Other technologies like variable camshafts and the engine's light weight construction contribute to the high torque of 800 Nm (with the optional AMG performance package). Peak torque is still a huge 700 Nm even without the performance package. Peak power available from about 5,250 rpm is a sumptuous 525 bhp. With the AMG performance package, that gets bumped up to a brain-shifting 557 bhp, 0 to 100 kmph comes in a mere 4.4 seconds.
Crank the engine, let the exhaust burble a bit, shift into drive, ease on the throttle and then the power on tap is exciting. Reining in all that raspy, eager power and channeling them to the axles is the new AMG Speedshift MCT 7-speed sports transmission.
With this gearbox, the conventional torque converter has been replaced by a compact wet start off clutch which responds more immediately to driver demands. There is almost no loss of power during transits. The transition is also very smooth. The newly developed transmission control supplies all the necessary information to reduce response time and it modifies engine and gearshift characteristics and even automatically double clutches when down-shifting. Together, with the awesome new exhaust note of the CLS 63 AMG, the powertrain's performance will make you think that you can corner and pull off as well as Schumi, while sitting in the comforts of a super luxury sedan
But, the transmission and the new Start-Stop system in this AMG also makes sure that the car delivers respectable fuel efficiency. The AMG start-stop function which works like any other similar system is on standby when the CLS 63 is being driven in controlled efficiency (C) mode only. In the sports (S) and manual (M) modes the start-stop function is off and the engine and transmission take on a clearly more aggressive character.
Extremely agile
I personally felt that the new CLS 63 AMG is a new benchmark in performance and agility in the four-door coupe class. The steering is super precise and perfectly weighted and the wheel sits just right in your hands even in the most intense situations. The suspension is another highlight. The AMG Ride Control sports suspension packs steel struts in the front and air suspension struts at the rear.
There is automatic level control which is further improved with the help of an electronically controlled damping system. This automatically adjusts damping characteristics depending on the driving conditions and reduces body roll, striking a good mix of comfort and agility.
The burbling, enthralling exhaust note of the CLS 63 AMG must have woken up the quiet neighbourhood around the almost Atelier-like AMG plant in Affalterbach. And the thought that crossed my mind was that if this car can be priced at about Rs 1.4 crore, it can be more affordable than similar spec four-door coupes from Porsche, Maserati and Aston Martin.