IAA-C63

I've driven various Mercedes and BMWs over the years, but the C63 I picked up last week is my first truly high-performance car.

I never would have imagined joining an online forum to discuss a particular car, but I felt compelled to connect with other C63 owners to better understand why this car is so intoxicating (even for a middle-aged professional like me), so here I am.

Here are my thoughts on why this car is so special (especially compared to the M3, various Porsches, Audi, etc.):

- Muscle-car power and sound (love the roar, burbling, and blipping!), with corresponding acceleration; seems to be one of the fastest sedans you can get for under $100K
- Quick steering and responsive handling, of a kind only a smaller car can deliver (good reason to prefer the C63 over an E63 or S63)
- Sedan practicality, with a back seat big enough for kids
- Slightly aggressive and masculine looks, while still somewhat low key (important for some of us)
- Nice interior which is somewhat upscale, but also sporty (especially with those seriously bolstered seats!)
- Good ride quality on decent roads (not so great on rough roads, but must take the bad with the good)
- Decent amenities
- Mercedes refinement, even with the aggressiveness of the car
- The distinct way it all comes together perfectly -- engineering magic!
- Bargain price, considering the performance and refinement

What do you think?

khmergod

What you said. First forum for cars for me also lol.

CELLryuu

+1

glad you love the car. there are so many cars to choose from and for some of us, it was a tough decision to make. you dont want to pay that much for a toy and it not be exactly what you want. I for one love the decision I made. In my area it is very rare, in fact I have yet to see one on the road ever.

now its time for you to start modifying it. this forum will rope you into it. i wasnt going to do anything to my car, but its going into the shop on monday to get some aftermarket goodies put on the engine. Im hoping for 75 more horsepower. im getting before and after dynos and ill post those when i get them.

congrats on the car

jacob502

You wanna know why it is special?

Because its the little monster from hell

and trust me, your going to love it

Just tune it to 550 HP (ECU tune only) and you will really feel that 6.3 liter Engine. You will make more than 100 horses.

not alot of tuning companies offer 100 HP gains from an ECU only tune. YOu could do it with Modern Horsepower, MKB, and Carrlsson. There might be other out there, But those are a few that can really give you power for 100 HP for a considerable price.

Good Luck

Benz-O-Rama

Honestly, I never thought much about the C63, then I met Mike and Hagi.


Respect.

khmergod

The camera zooms to your back, and you turn around with maniacal eyes. Dun Dun Dun. Cue the crazy soundtrack. Man I should become a director.

Sincity

The "rawness" of the exhaust. I was hooked when I heard the car during our local AMG Tour event. Everyone that test drove it had to blip the throttle and when doing so, everyone one of us in line giggled like a little school kid.

CELLryuu

Have you installed those manifolds yet?

jsc1234

everything!!

MiamiAMG

Well said! And welcome to MBWorld!

dodger63

Torque enough said

dodger63

Torque enough said

916sp

Because it's an axe murder with head lights!

I have my 2010 for three weeks now and I have to say the car is addictive.
Being a die hard M3 enthusiast for years, I fell in love with the C63 after an extended test drive. Compared to the M3 this car is raw, brutal and the sound is intoxicating.

I sill have (and will keep) my E93 M3 and getting out of the C, in direct comparison the M feels definitely less powerful. The M is more refined, handling in tight turns is better and more confidence inspiring. Haven't had the C on the track yet, so I don't know its limits yet.

The C transmission sucks. It's nervous in S and lethargic in C. M mode is a joke, it doesn't even let you shift 2 or 3 gears back. If I want to shift from 4 to 2 , it should be possible, shouldn't it? A 6M would be a dream.

But you can't have it all I guess, I love them both!

CELLryuu

if you hold down the down-shift paddle, the transmission will skip several gears to the lowest gear available at a given speed. you can also hold the shifter to the left for a second or two to get the same effect.

but you are right, the transmission could use some improvement. once you get the hang of the thing you will get to like it better. maybe not much better cause it can be finicky at times.

_AMG_

It is a very solid car, with an amazing engine.
I personally think its one of the true sport cars AMG has made next to the CLK63 BS, CLK DTM, and SLS.

IAA-C63

Does this mean that the transmission is smart enough to avoid going into too low a gear and blowing up the engine?

AdrianL

As he said, it's a monster from hell!

With an exhaust intake and a dyno tune your car will REALLY blow your mind.

IAA-C63

Yes, took me months to decide on a car. Did a lot of reading and test drives which proved disappointing (except the excellent Panamera, but that's too flashy for my situation). The C63 looked good on paper but I fully expected it to disappoint too. Then I did the test drive and was blown away -- everything just clicked with this car.

And I've never seen one in the Baltimore area either. Doesn't seem to be a well-known car even among enthusiasts, probably mainly because of the luxury image of Mercedes.

As far as mods, the car is leased (for business reasons), so that's probably a no go (:

IAA-C63

I think this points to the essence of it. You can compare cars quantitatively in lots of ways (hp, torque, 0-60, skidpad, etc.), but the qualitative side is ultimately more important for those of us who aren't racing these cars to make a living (ie, pretty much all of us). I don't really care if a GT-R or something else is technically faster than my car -- there's only so much craziness you can indulge in on public roads anyway. For me, what matters is the subjective experience of driving the car in varying conditions, and I think AMG has created something special in that regard with the C63. If people shopping for a car in this category were somehow all forced to test drive a C63, I bet sales of the car would triple.

Tricanuck

Haven't felt like this about a car since my 340 Demon back in the 70's, yah I'm a geezer but what a blast the C63 is! Got mine 4 days ago, so much fun. Kid today remarked "man that's a sweet ride" my only reply, I know, I know! Thanks to those on this forum for help in making my decision to buy this car, I think that I chose wisely. Cheers everyone.

_AMG_

I dont know about you, but I have never heard or seen any company that can make 100hp with only a tune for the M156.

VCA_AMG

It's overweight, it pushes and doesn't like to turn...but it has a wonderful (de-tuned) engine?

Sincity

I'm taking it to a shop for an evaluation on Monday that was referred by the Vegas Kleemann dealer. Tough to find an installer here in Vegas and my last resort is to take the vehicle to ACGSD in San Diego.

How about you?

jacob502

Where have you been wondering?

Anyway let me show you, visit MKB's website and see for yourself:
http://www.mkb-tuning.de/

and not every M156 gets 100 HP. I was talking only about the C63. Because a stock C 63 comes 451 HP . MKB tunes it to 550 HP (545 HP for USspec). So thats about 100 HP. Other M156 platforms like the SL, CL, S, and ML are already more than 510 HP stock and can be tuned to 540-550 HP, which is a gain of 30-40 HP

I know what I am talking about :-)

CELLryuu

Mine goes in on Monday to get the manifolds installed and the ecu tuned. Ive got dyno time on Monday morning for the before, and then dyno time on tuesday afternoon for the after. Ill post the gains as soon as i get the e copies.