In the past few weeks, I've been coddled by the likes of BMW's grabby, forceful M3 and Audi's no-prisoners RS4. (You can understand how coming home to drive a big-ass truck from the Big Three has left me big-time disappointed at my new lot in life.)
But there is hope--hope that I'll get a second chance at driving the new Mercedes-Benz C63. Journos are testing it this week in Arizona, and it goes on sale in April, but I drove it last fall around the time of the Frankfurt auto show and came away amazed.
I drove the C63 in the hills to the west of Frankfurt, Germany, from Autobahn to quintessential cobbled streets, on a brisk morning. And even having been drawn in by SL65 and SLK55 AMGs in the past, I wasn't prepared for the fluid ride, spot-on handling and shrieking power of what is easily the most bad-ass C-Class Mercedes ever has built.
The C63 isn't the first baby Benz to get the AMG treatment--but in general, the smallest four-door AMGs, ever since the first massaged C-Class set foot on earth in 1993, have been quieter, slower creatures than the fierce four-door fighters from BMW and Audi.
Consider this the counterpunch. The C63 AMG adds $20,000 and hundreds of horsepower to the basic Benz C-Class--and brings with it otherworldy speed and grip, and a flashy makeover to boot.
Like the other members of the holy trinity of European supersedans, the C63 makes sense at Autobahn speeds. But is it useful and entertaining in the land of 80-mph speed limits? And is the C63, the sleeper of the bunch, the best?
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