2012 Mercedes-Benz C63, 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 Review, 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63AMG Coupe Black Series

2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 | The latest in a very short but highly distinguished—and completely nuts—line of Black Series Benzes is here. The C63 AMG Black Series is based on the C63 coupe, which we just drove for the first time a few months ago.

Following the lead of the not-for-U.S.-sale SLK55 Black Series, the CLK63 Black Series, and the SL65 Black Series, this C63 AMG is amped up visually and dynamically, with a steroidal bump in output to back up the flared nostrils. In case the 451 hp and 443 lb-ft in the standard-issue C63 AMG or the 481 and 443 offered by that car’s AMG Development Package aren’t quite cutting it, the C63 AMG BS makes 510 hp at 6800 rpm and 457 lb-ft at 5200. 

Like cars with the Development Pack, the Black Series borrows its pistons, connecting rods, and crankshaft from the be-gullwinged SLS AMG supercar. (And like previous Black Series cars, the C63 will sound downright nasty. Click on the video at the bottom of this page to hear it rev.) Behind the motor lives the same seven-speed automatic found in the regular C63, packing four shift modes and a launch-control function for when you really don’t want to linger at this stupid party one more split second. 

We ran a Development Pack sedan to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds; with wider rear rubber, figure on the Black Series shaving a couple tenths from that and clearing the quarter-mile in around 12 seconds flat.

Like the Black Series cars that came before it, the C63 oozes menace and purpose. Air can’t flow through stuff, so there’s remarkably little material remaining in the front fascia, the bumper that once resided there largely displaced by intakes covered by black mesh. 

A gaping central intake is flanked by two smaller holes through which cooling air enters, and two nostrils atop the hood give hot air a convenient exit from underhood. As if to emphasize its name and purpose, the front splitter comes to a sharp point in the middle of the nose. Flared fenders widen the car by 2.2 inches up front and 3.3 out back, covering tracks stretched by 1.6 and 3.1 inches, respectively. Vents behind the front wheels and ahead of the rears are both nonfunctional, which somewhat diminishes their awesomeness. The lightweight wheels at each corner have their movements controlled by adjustable coil-overs, while speed-sensitive steering issues directional orders and Black Series–specific anti-roll bars maintain the contact patches during aggressive driving. 

The brake rotors measure 15.4 inches in diameter up front and 14.2 inches out back. Red paint is standard on the calipers, which have six pistons up front and four in the rear. The rubber measures 255/35-19 up front and 285/30-19 out back—that’s up from 235/40-18s and 255/35-18s on the basic C63 AMG coupe—and a limited-slip diff is standard, as is a stability-control system that will get entirely out of the way if you want it to.

You’ll notice hard-shell sport buckets in the accompanying photos, but those aren’t likely to make it to the U.S. We are likely, however, to at least get red stitching on whatever seats we do end up with. Calm down. The rear seat has been dismissed in the interest of weight savings, but can be reactivated if you’d like to frighten more than just one person at a time. 

And AMG has flattened both the bottom and top of the steering wheel, which makes it way more serious than all those wheels with just flat bottoms. Lest the screaming V-8 deafen your passenger to the point they can no longer hear the V-8 screaming, a Black Series logo on the dash will remind them why they can’t hear. Those who feel the flared and vented look of the C63 AMG Black Series isn’t quite enough will be able to crank up the appearance even more with an AMG Aerodynamics package that includes carbon-fiber winglets on the front valance and a fixed carbon-fiber spoiler with an adjustable aerofoil. 

Mercedes-Benz C63

AMG says these bits are functional and increase downforce, but isn’t saying by how much. It also won’t provide photos of a car so equipped, so we don’t know by how much they make it look more menacing and/or ridiculous. The C63 Black’s other major option package is a Track pack that includes even higher-performance rubber of unspecified Dunlop pedigree, as well as a differential cooler. All Black Series cars to this point have been low-production affairs, the SLK55 AMG, for example, being limited to just 120 units. The CLK63 and SL65 sold in slightly higher numbers, at 700 and 350, respectively. 

Mercedes-Benz C63

While Mercedes isn’t saying yet how many C63 AMG Black Series it will build, representatives do tell us the number will be capped. Figure on a sticker edging close to $100,000. While that’s awfully steep for a car that shares its basic shape and structure with a coupe starting in the mid-$30,000 range, it is about $40,000 cheaper than the CLK63 Black Series and a whopping $200K less than the SL65 Black Series. 

So if you’ve got a spot reserved in your garage for what will certainly be the cheapest U.S.-market Black Series car yet, get on the horn to your dealer now. U.S. distribution will begin early in 2012.

Mercedes-Benz C63

Mercedes-Benz C63

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BMW i8 Concept

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BMW i8 Concept | It’s been nearly two years since BMW’s Vision EfficientDynamics concept debuted at the 2009 Frankfurt       show, and the car has now officially re-emerged one step closer to production as the BMW i8 concept.

As you can see, little has changed in the styling department. In fact, other than a new wheel design, the only other notable change we’ve spotted concerns the doors, which seem to have claimed some territory along their bottoms and thereby reduced the size of the blue body-side accent. Interestingly, the car didn’t show that change when BMW paraded it around for spy photographers this past March, but we like it.

As with the i3 city car concept that debuted at the same time (you can read about it in full here), the story of the i8 begins with its LifeDrive architecture. BMW says that its experiences in creating the Mini E and 1-series-based BMW ActiveE showed that adapting cars engineered for internal-combustion power to electric propulsion results in a lot of excess weight and compromises in packaging. 

As a result, both the i8 and i3 are built using two purpose-built modules: one to house passengers, dubbed “Life,” and one for propulsion and suspension components, called “Drive.” Combine them, and you have a car—and marketing-friendly “LifeDrive” branding. While the i3 and i8 share the LifeDrive architectural philosophy, the cars differ in execution. That’s because the i3 is fully electric, while this i8 is a plug-in hybrid, so its Drive component is actually split in two, with an electric motor at the front axle and a gas engine at the rear. 

Unlike the i3, which situates its batteries below the passenger compartment, the i8’s lithium-ion cells are actually part of the Life module, stacked through a central tunnel that might house a transmission and driveshaft in a conventional car. Arranging them this way allowed BMW’s engineers to achieve yet another claim of perfect 50/50 weight distribution, thereby preserving peace in the city of Munich. As in the i3, the i8’s Drive components are largely crafted of aluminum, while the Life module uses a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic monocoque. 

Using so much lightweight material essentially cancels out the added weight of the heavy electric drive components, thereby allowing the car to weigh less than 3300 pounds, according to BMW. The rigidity imparted by the carbon fiber also allows for long, dramatic doors that ease access to the two small rear seats, and is a boon to crashworthiness, too. While most other so-called “through-the-road” hybrids (meaning the propulsion systems each drive their own axle) are based on existing front-drive vehicles—meaning they add electric power to the rear wheels—BMW had the luxury of starting from scratch. 

Because most braking energy gathers at the front of the vehicle, the i8 has its electric motor up front for the sake of recapturing energy. The i8 uses a modified version of the i3's electric motor, with a peak output of 168 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque. It’s fed juice, of course, by those lithium-ions, which take about two hours to charge and return 20 miles of all-electric driving.

The original Vision EfficientDynamics concept used a three-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, but the i8 makes use of BMW’s new gas-fired 1.5-liter turbo three-cylinder, which we first reported on in April. It makes 220 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque, helping the i8 to its governed top speed of 155 mph. The run to 60 mph will come in under five seconds, says BMW, who also claims the i8 will return 78 mpg on the European cycle. 

But that test is notoriously optimistic, and the company says normal driving will realistically result in economy of just half that figure. The engine and electric motor can power the car on their own or in tandem for better traction, with the stability-control system’s whims playing a large part in deciding when to team them up. Each axle also contributes regenerative electricity; the front houses the regenerative braking system, while the engine at the rear has a high-voltage alternator that can recapture energy. No mention was made regarding what type of transmission is installed in the i8. A button-activated “Eco Pro” mode dulls throttle response, caps speed between 56 and 74 mph, and reduces the load of the climate-control system. (Because the climate-control system also is responsible for keeping the batteries at an operating temperature of 68 degrees, it always runs to some extent, however.) 

The i8 also features an intelligent navigation system that can decide the most energy-efficient route to a destination.

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