Black Series C best handling ever

AMG has opened the cage on a ridiculously fast, range-topping version of Benz's C-Class Coupe that it claims will be the best-handling Mercedes in history.

The AMG C63 Black Series takes the already explosive C 63 coupe and turns it up to 11. It will boast the final, more-powerful evolution of AMG's 6.2-litre, naturally-aspirated V8, a wild body kit with more aerodynamic downforce and bigger wheels and tyres.

Only the fourth Black Series car in AMG's history, the C63 Black Series will sprint to 100km/h in just 4.2 seconds. But Benz is being coy on the be-winged coupe's top speed. It should be somewhere north of 300km/h, which will be just the thing for the autobahn, but may upset officialdom here in Australia.

AMG has developed an all-new ECU just for the C63 Black Series and has also stolen the forged pistons, conrods and crankshaft from the SLS's parts bin to massage the '63' V8. It now produces 380kW of power at 6800rpm.

The last ever 6.2-litre V8 before the clever new 5.5-litre atmo V8 begins to creep into the range, the C63 Black Series will also slap its buyers in the face with sticker shock – but in the good way. It will be hitting German streets around €20,000 cheaper than the old CLK Black Series with its tax (19 per cent) inclusive €115,430.

The enormously exaggerated over square nature of the 6.2-litre V8 means it might want for torque, but the piston speeds are relatively low, even at its 6800rpm power peak.

While the bore is 102.2mm, the stroke is just 94.6mm so even though it crunches out 620Nm of torque, it makes its drivers wait until 5000rpm before it delivers all of it.

With a thirst for 12.2 litres of the good stuff every 100km (on the combined cycle), it's not exactly an eco warrior and will emit 286 grams of CO2/km.

It will also adhere to AMG's rear-drive philosophy (all-wheel drive will have to wait for its B-Class-based baby car) and sends its torque to the locking differential through a tougher version of its MCT gearbox. An adaption of the standard Mercedes-Benz seven-speed automatic gearbox, AMG swapped out its torque converter clutch in favour of its own, more-aggressive clutch pack so that it now changes up in 100 milliseconds.

AMG insists it will corner even harder than the C63 Coupe, too, thanks primarily to new coil-over suspension. It has also slung 255/35 R19 and 285/30 R19 rubber under the front and back ends respectively to help it get there.

Mounted on forged alloy wheels, the sticky rubber sits 40mm wider at the front than the C-Class coupe and a huge 79mm further outboard at the rear. The body has had to change a bit to accommodate all this stickiness, so the wheel arches flare enormously.

That's not the only change to the bodywork, though, because the bonnet has been sculpted to let hot air out from beneath it and to draw more cold air into it. There is also a deep, carbon-fibre splitter under the nose, intakes for an oil cooler that has doubled in capacity from the C63 Coupe and new intakes for the brakes as well.

The C63 Coupe's new steering setup, which has transformed the once-stodgy handling of Mercedes-Benz, has been deemed good enough to keep, though the car gets a heavily tuned traction-control system and a realigned stability control system which can be completely switched off should you be desirous of higher tyre bills.

The Black C also sits 10mm lower than the C63 Coupe, has deep side skirts for aero effectiveness and a surprisingly small boot lip spoiler that most will replace lickety split for a huge track-spec carbon-fibre wing.

One surprise, though, is the set of steel anchors whizzing around inside the forged 19-inch alloys. While most fast cars these days are turning to carbon-ceramic rotors, Benz stuck with steel partly for cost reasons and partly because it insists the brakes are up to the job.

They're big enough to suggest they might well be, too, with the front discs carrying a diameter of 390mm (they're 36mm thick) and the rears are 360mm x 26mm. They're also cross-drilled and ventilated, with six-piston fixed calipers up front and four-piston fixed calipers in the back.

AMG hinted that the Black Series won't be that much lighter than the C63 AMG, but it has removed the rear seats. Even so, there will be some nods to luxury, such as climate-controlled air conditioning, a CD player, Bluetooth, a USB plug-in connection and eight speakers. As if you'll hear them anyway…

There will also be a faster, harder hitting C63 Black Series, called the Track Pack, with a monster carbon-fibre rear wing with an adjustable blade angle and custom-designed, semi-race rubber from Dunlop. The Track Pack also carries the option of carbon-ceramic discs and a half roll cage.

The first Benz Black Series came in July, 2006, with the SLK55. The wicked little convertible punched out 294kW of power and was demonically quick and angry. But not always nice to drive! AMG learned from that car and built the CLK63 Black Series in early 2007, which was much sharper and had a 373kW V8, while the last Black Series was the monster SL65, with a 493kW, twin-turbo V12.

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