PHOTOS OF THE MONTH We’ve Been Up To Mercedes Mischief

By Manuel Carrillo III - October 26, 2015

Prime Benz

My, what a month it’s been of tremendous experiences with the three-pointed star. We got to sample some of the best cars ever to come from the minds in Affalterbach: the Mercedes-AMG C63 S (above) and the Mercedes-AMG GT S. We also got to test drive some other vehicles from the AMG stables, like the Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe. In addition to that, we were dazzled by what was on display at this month’s OC Auto Show, as well as what some folks brought to show off at Morning Octane in Pasadena, CA.

We could say we’ve experienced enough Mercedes-Benz juju to last several years, but when you sample the best the company has to offer, you never want to let your finger off the Mercedes morphine trigger, and no car offers more Mercedes morphine than the AMG GT S.

I got to drive Mercedes’ super sports car at this year’s Motor Press Guild track days at Willow Springs International Raceway. If I hadn’t driven the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse this year at Pebble Beach, the Mercedes-AMG GT S would easily have been the best car I’ve driven all year.

If you ever find your life caught in a downward spiral, figure out a way to get behind the wheel of an AMG GT S. It will open dopamine receptors you never knew you had. If Lamar Odom owned an AMG GT S, he wouldn’t have needed to turn his body into a DEA warehouse. The GT S is all the drug one could ever need.

The day I drove the AMG GT S at Big Willow, I had driven other capable performers, too — Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray — just to name a few. The Mercedes blew them out of the water. Those other sports cars are fun in the way that dinner with your friends is fun. The AMG GT S is fun in the way skydiving with 12 naked supermodels is fun.

I didn’t get to drive the thing on public roads, but during the times I wasn’t wringing the car’s neck on the track, I was using the outside rearview mirrors to help me navigate through the parking lot. Those mirrors are great. The fact that they block 20 percent of your view out the side windows isn’t great.

Back to the greatness, it’s unlikely there’s a car on sale today that’s cooler at the limit than the AMG GT S. It would be boring if the car were just well-behaved at the limit … it’s much more than that. It’s like when you’re out having a good time with your buddy who is talking crap on another guy at the bar, but he’s being charming and comedic enough to avoid getting you both punched in the faces. Typical good-handling cars still get sweaty brows at the limit. They would say, “Yeah, I’ve got this, but just be careful.” The AMG GT S says, “HAHA, you could push me harder, but I’m going to laugh at you when we fly off turn eight.” For reference, the Dodge Viper, a car I despise driving at the track, would say … well, it’s impossible you’d ever hear it saying anything after it cuts your head off, and then disembowels you, and then stuffs your remains in a tree shredder. I’m happy Viper production is ending in 2017.

The W205 C63? Not as good as the AMG GT S. The C63 S is still a friggin’ amazing car, just like the Corvette, Jag, CTS-V, ATS-V, but it won’t be one of the cars I think about on my death bed. The AMG GT S will be in my thoughts during my last moments on Earth, and thinking about its jovial attitude at the limit will always bring a smile to my face.