Let’s get one thing straight: If you are reading this to figure out if you should purchase this $130,000 automobile, the answer is yes. Everyone should have one, if not two, 500-plus-hp interstate burners parked in the garage.
Base CLS63 AMGs come with a direct-injected, twin-turbo, 5.5-liter V-8 producing an ample 518 hp and 516 lb-ft—more than enough for the average Joe. We, and you, are not average. For people like us—well, people like us but with real money instead of imaginary fortunes—Mercedes offers the AMG Performance package. The $7300 option pack costs about as much as the high-mileage, mid-’90s S-classes that are more within our reach. Unlike those cars, however, the AMG group includes red brake calipers, a sport suspension, a lip spoiler and engine trim fashioned from carbon fiber, and most important, a power bump to 550 hp and 590 lb-ft. The governor gets upped from 155 mph to 186, too. If you can afford the CLS63’s $95,775 starting bid, go for the Performance pack over the old S-class.
Managing all that power is the AMG Speedshift MCT seven-speed transmission, also employed by the C63, E63, SL63, CL63, and S63. It’s similar to the seven-speed auto found in non-AMG Benzes, with the wet-clutch pack—instead of a torque converter—that couples the engine and transmission being the main difference. Driving around town, the MCT delivers smooth starts and seamless shifts like a torque converter. Twist the transmission-mode dial from auto to sport or sport plus, and the MCT snaps off shifts with nearly dual-clutch speed and accompanies downshifts with a blip of the throttle and emphatic exhaust bark.
Paddle Harder
In any of these modes, there’s almost no reason to use the CLS’s paddle shifters. Sport plus will hold gears until the last possible moment, but the trans will still upshift and downshift automatically to keep the revs in the fat part of the power band. For complete gear control, turn the knob one more detent to manual mode. In this setting, the engine holds gears unless the driver signals a change, bouncing off the 6400-rpm redline until the gas tank runs dry.
The fifth, and arguably the most important, mode is race start, labeled “RS” on the dial. This is launch control, and it unlocks maximum accelerative capability. Unleashing maximum thrust requires six steps: Set the stability control to sport mode, left foot on the brake, turn the trans dial clockwise to RS, confirm that you want RS with a tug of the upshift paddle, mash the accelerator with your right foot, release your left foot. Like the Corvette ZR1, the CLS63 AMG uses the wheel-speed sensors to determine how much traction the tires have and dials back the engine’s power to match available grip. It works quite well and has the advantage of being suited to any surface versus the dedicated-rpm engagements that many manufacturers use for launch control. Despite the lines of fancy code, however, we managed to beat it.
Pedal Smarter
With stability control turned all the way off and using our right foot to manage wheelspin, the CLS63 ripped to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, 100 in 8.5, and 150 in 19.5. Add 0.1 second to those times if launch control is used. The quarter-mile is 12.0 seconds away, at which point you’ll be going 121 mph. The 4275-pound, four-door CLS63 will dust a Corvette Grand Sport and hang close to a Z06. Pedestrians seeing a CLS63 picking up groceries would never know. They’ll notice the car, though; the styling ensures that. Because the engine is turbocharged, a lot of that V-8 howl is subdued—but not always. It’s quiet when you want serenity, a screamer when you’re feeling a little freaky. Stomp on the gas, and an orchestra composed of 32 valves and eight cylinders sings forth from the quad-tip dual exhaust.
One more straight-line feat while we’re at it: It takes less than one mile for this car to reach 170 mph. Although we didn’t attempt an ABS stop from this speed, a car equipped like ours can scrub felonious speeds down to mere misdemeanors with ease, thanks to the optional carbon-ceramic brakes. These pizza-pie rotors (15.8 inches in front, 14.2 in the rear) completely fill the 19-inch forged wheels. The giant calipers (six pistons up front, four out back) that come with the carbon brake package aren’t red—they’re painted gold. It’s a constant reminder that their $12,625 price might be roughly equivalent to their weight—roughly 40 percent less than the stock stoppers—in precious metal. These brakes, in combination with Continental ContiSportContact 5P rubber, brought the beast to a halt from 70 mph in a sports-car-like 159 feet and never exhibited even a hint of fade. Ceramic brakes can be grabby, but these are smooth and feel reassuringly firm underfoot. They ought to. For the cost of the wheels and brakes, you could get an ’86 560SL convertible. We’ll take the shoes and stoppers.
Despite the CLS’s stop/start system, which shuts the engine down when the car is stopped, we only averaged 16 mpg. That ties the EPA’s city-cycle score and falls 9 mpg short of the highway rating. The stop/start process can be a little slow, with some hesitation on initial step-in, especially if you try to make haste, say, when turning left across three lanes of traffic. Thankfully, tapping the eco button on the dash disables the system.
We happened to rent a racetrack while the CLS was with us and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to lap Mercedes-Benz’s so-called “four-door coupe” alongside a bunch of pure-bred sports cars. The CLS is not a track monster. It pushed more than it had when it was on the skidpad—where it posted a 0.91-g score—and generally felt too heavy. In spite of its determined understeer, this AMG’s steering is natural in hand, although a little heavy at times. The car tracks straight with an on-center sense we wish every car possessed.
Optional Give and Take
Inside, among the greatest improvements over the last-gen CLS are the enlarged rear quarters. The back seat is not as compromised now, both in space and entry and exit, although as in that last CLS, it has only two seatbelts. Avoiding optional interior décor usually is an easy way to keep costs in check, but the CLS63’s $2850 carbon-fiber package qualifies as a must-have. Besides the usual door and console trim, the pricey bundle includes a multicurve instrument surround that is one of the more artistic shapes we’ve seen crafted from the woven fibers. An ’89 190E costs about the same as this option and could easily be converted to a taxi, but the carbon bits look better.
Aside from those options mentioned above, the car tested here came with another $9810 in add-ons. Night vision, adaptive cruise control, a rearview camera, rear side airbags—the list goes on. To keep that $9810 in our hypothetical pockets, we might buy a 100,000-mile S420, in case we need room for a fifth person at some point. Otherwise, the CLS63 AMG is all the Benz we need.
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