Mercedes-Benz has lifted the wraps from the latest iterations of its CL63 AMG coupé which ushers in the next generation of Affalterbach’s bi-turbo V8 powerplants and a rakish makeover.
Say what you will of the facelifted CL’s styling, there’s no denying that the bold changes to the nose (read a more angular headlamp treatment, squared-off grille and sculpted bonnet) brings the car in line with some of the company’s more contemporary offerings, such as the W212 E-Class and even the new SLS AMG.
In AMG guise the CL features deeper front air dams, a black honeycomb grille with chrome character line, LED foglamps, and AMG exhaust system with quad outlets and a set of suitably sporty 20-inch alloy wheels.
The cabin also receives such AMG niceties as active ventilated seats with drive-dynamic multicontour support (read active bolstering that squishes the driver into place during the inevitable ballistic motoring antics in which owners will indulge), a sports steering wheel and ambient lighting. Infotainment duties are taken care of by a COMAND system with and 8-inch screen featuring integrated GPS navigation and the interface for a 6 CD/DVD changer. Of course, the whole shooting match is trimmed in Mercedes’ premium leather upholstery.
The big deal, however, resides beneath the bonnet. The company’s normally-aspirated 6,2-litre V8 makes way for a new all-aluminium 5,5-litre twin-turbo V8 developing a whacking great 400 kW of grunt and 800 N.m of torque. Mated with a 7-speed Speedshift MCT transmission, this unit is reportedly capable of propelling the CL63 to 100 km/h from standstill in just 4,4 seconds on the way to an electronically-governed 250 km/h top speed.
All of that power is kept in check by an array of innovative technological features including a torque vectoring system that apportions torque between the rear wheels under hard cornering by progressively applying braking force to the inside wheel to keep the car tracking true and a module within the AMG active sports suspension that compensates for the effects of crosswinds.
You can download a comprehensive list of specifications on this model by clicking on the DOCUMENTS tab to the top, right of the above images.
