Black Ops, AMG Style: A new take on the Big-Bang Theory


What does a niche-market manufacturer do when the niche it has carved becomes surprisingly full of eager customers? Carve another one, of course, and raise the ante. Mercedes-Benz’s performance arm, AMG—with about 45 percent of its 20,000-unit annual production destined for the U.S.—is cleverly diversifying its range into various categories and levels of performance and trim.

Hence, AMG’s Black Series version of its CLK63 hot-rod coupe. Patterned, it’s said, on the CLK63 used as a safety car at Formula 1 races, the Black Series is immediately identifiable by its aggressive air-scoop-rich front end and muscular wheel arches. The carbon-fiber ducts you see on the front fascia sides are the real thing—from a material and functional standpoint—as is the tail spoiler.

Critics have described the standard CLK coupe, with its soft, generic look, as a bit of a girl’s car. Not the CLK63 Black Series. There’s more than a hint of the company’s DTM (German Touring Car Championship) CLK race car in this vehicle’s appearance, what with its prominent front apron and rear diffuser, 19-inch forged alloys, and extroverted dual-exhaust tailpipes. The beast fairly screams high performance from every angle.

Not to mention the rumble that emanates from the pipes when you bring the big 6.2-liter V-8 to life. It starts with a deep snarl and quickly settles to a basso profundo grumble. There’s a whole boatload of torque available (peaking at 465 pound-feet at 5250 rpm, but offering nearly 370 at just 2000 rpm), so the CLK will move off easily on a whiff of throttle and a lazy burble from the exhausts.

Stand on it, and the picture changes dramatically. The exhaust note hardens to an urgent, staccato beat, and the car launches with determination. If you’ve tapped the ESP button to its off position, you may well expect some wheelspin. In this case, from both rear wheels, since there’s a taut and occasionally clunky limited-slip diff back there to keep the husky engine from vaporizing an inside rear tire in corners.

If you can get the tires hooked up, you’ll be at 60 mph four seconds later. Stay on it for 23.1 seconds after launch, and you’re at 150 mph and heading at a fairly determined rate for the 186-mph governed top speed. As you’ve probably heard a thousand times, there’s no replacement for displacement. (Apparently, there’s no replacement for clichés, either.)

But this car drives home the axiom. It warbles along merrily on the freeway at 80 mph (at 2200 rpm), barely breaking a sweat in the highest of its seven automatic gear ratios. Punch it at that speed, and the transmission drops a few gears to get the big V-8 on the boil (with a soundtrack you’ll remember forever), and the CLK checks out with alacrity.

Examine the top-gear acceleration numbers in the specs. The Black Series surges from 30 to 50 mph in 2.0 seconds and from 50 to 70 mph in 2.7 seconds. But the real measure of its output is its ability to accelerate from 60 to 150 mph in less than 20 seconds. You have to love 500 horsepower, don’t you?

But that’s just a part of the Black Series story. After all, it’s only slightly more powerful—25 horsepower—than the “normal” CLK63 AMG. The rest of the engineering focus is on the chassis and body structure. Much of the suspension is all-new, with shocks that feature adjustable rebound and compression damping and springs that allow ride-height adjustments.

In typical racing manner, front-axle camber is adjustable, whereas the rear axle has adjustable toe only. Compared with the standard CLK63, the Black Series car has a rear track 2.6 inches wider and a front track almost three inches wider. Extensive bracing—at the front strut towers, in the car’s front section, and in the trunk area—lends additional stiffness, and some weight, to the Black Series compared with its tamer sibling. There had been some talk of a carbon-fiber roof to reduce weight, but instead, that material was used on some of the body add-ons such as the rear diffuser.

Lighter is better, for sure, but the big V-8 shoves this 3920-pound car around as if it were a comparative lightweight, and the huge cast-iron-disc, composite-hub brake rotors and monoblock calipers haul it down from speed with astonishing intensity. There is much of the race car in this Black Series, and AMG chose to showcase it at the Streets of Willow circuit at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, with a few of its racing drivers in attendance to show us the way around.

Among them was three-time DTM champion and three-time Le Mans winner Klaus Ludwig, who exploited the power and track virtuosity of the CLK in no uncertain terms. With the transmission in manual mode, which locks in ratios unless otherwise commanded by paddles on the wheel, one could readily appreciate the benefits of an engine that pulls hard from low on the tach yet revs eagerly to more than 7000 rpm.


THE VERDICT

2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series
Highs: Plenty of power and a marvelous soundtrack, competition-level handling and brakes.

Lows: A somewhat jarring ride in suburbia, the boy-racer image attracts unwanted attention, no rear seats.

The Verdict: A must-have for those who find the standard CLK63 just a little too common.

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M

im loving these reports on well handling AMG´s.. we are up for a change..hehe

No kidding!

CLK63 BS FTW

Mercedes are getting into my mind lately, it's not good for me, come on BMW bring out something to rival this!

It's amazing, the current CLK has been out for a while, but this BS version with it's new bodykit still looks modern and fresh, love it!