We come into the C63 with muted expectations. Usually motoring missiles more than genuine sporting cars, AMGs make the right noises and go hard but fail to produce the sensitivity and subtlety you expect from top Europeans. But the C63 immediately impresses, and it isn't just the encouraging comments coming from Reynolds, fresh from a 50-mile drive, or that uplifting engine bellow that bounces off the mountain pines to announce its approach. The cabin is classy and roomy, especially for rear passengers.
Less impressive is the style. We agree the rakish BMW-the only coupe in this company-looks sportiest, the RS4 is the most classically sober and elegant, the C63 the gung-ho gawkiest. There are so many fiberglass accoutrements the styling could be the work of a SoCal tuning shop. Full of slats, scoops, wedges, humps, and strakes. And all that ornamentation on top of the normal C-Class body, which has more surface entertainment and odd angles than your average sedan.
Forget the style; let's hit the road. The big V-8 is fired into action by a conventional key; even at low revs you can feel that power. Maximum poke is 451 horses (Audi and BMW ring in with 414 and 420, respectively), top torque a mighty 443 pound-feet (BMW 295, RS4 317). And while the Benz is the heaviest car here, the weight surplus isn't enough to blunt the power and cube advantage. Zero to 60 comes in a claimed 4.3 seconds, a few ticks quicker than in the rivals. All three cars are electronically muzzled at 155 mph.
The Mercedes's power is marshaled to the rear wheels by Benz's impressive seven-speed automatic gearbox. You can drive it in normal C for Comfort mode, the shifts smooth and imperceptible. You can choose S for Sport; gearshifting is 30 percent quicker, kickdown more eager. Or you can choose M for manual and use the aluminum paddles behind the black-rimmed flat-bottomed steering wheel for fast shifting. The throttle blips-loud and thunderous-on downshifts. You end up downshifting just for the soundtrack.
But we're used to powerful AMGs dripping with high-tech, whose engines serenade with their music and thrill with their performance. Sad to say, we're also used to dead steering and lumpy rides. Fast Mercedes usually make their drivers passengers not participants. But this AMG, the C63, is different.
The Benz's steering is beautifully linear and nicely weighted, the best of any Mercedes. Choose ESP Sport from the three-choice electronic-stability-control menu, the rear wheels start to break free, and the AMG feels tight and lively and nimble. It makes you think, for the very first time, here's an AMG that's more than just a big, powerful brute. Finesse tempers force. Turning ESP off is an option but not recommended. Not with this much rear-drive power ready to break grip.
So can it match the M3 on these challenging German roads? Not quite. The lighter BMW is the more responsive, the more agile, its front end gripping with greater eagerness (the C63 will be understeering wide while the M3's nose is still under control; so will the RS4 run wide while the BMW tucks in nice and tight).
The ride of the C63 also is firm, and when the road starts to deteriorate, the AMG bucks and kicks and jars. At times, it becomes downright uncomfortable.
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