chilledbenz

Anyone catch the tv show Top Gear on BBC America tonight? It was a rerun but they tested the C63, M3 Coupe, and RS4 up against each other. The Audi took the first test of having the best looking exterior of the bunch, the M3 losing for its use of grills and air inlets and the C63 losing because it had too many cheap aero bits and the over use of plastic chrome. The C63 won in a straight up drag race besting the Audi by a good distance and narrowly beating the M3. Then they took them to a track where the M3 won out, the C63 came in second and the Audi last. A funny note at the track was the C63 was called "uncontrollable" by their test driver, they even backed this point up by doing a test where they put an apple at the apex of a corner and attempted to run over it...after six to seven tries they gave up. By the way, the M3 hit the apple on the first try. In the end they called it a drawl as all three were great cars and it really depends on what the customer buying the car is looking for.

aowhaus

I must have watched it twice tonight.
All episodes are great and this one is especially good.
I love the really cool glamour shots they did of each car. Awesome lighting and camera work and the cars looks shiney as hell.

All three cars are fine cars, each with their own unique strengths. The Audi is at a slight disadvantage because if its age and lack of brut power. Give me any one of them and I'll have a huge grin from ear to ear, but my favorite is still the insane C63.

angeloxnet

dito, "axe murderer on wheels" I love the C63
if i could afford one, id get that over any of them.

Derspeed

I haven't seen it in while, but I liked when they were lining for the drag race and the Audi driver said something like, I'll increase my chances if release the parking brake. Then he measured the shift knob and found it to have a larger circumference than the knobs in the other two cars. That show is funny. There is supposed to be an American version coming on NBC soon. I think it's going to be called Gear (I'm not certain).

webada

its been discussed on this forum several times.... do a search for our opinions!

only thing i would add about the control... wasn't the bet between stig and jeremony? jeremony was driving the c63 and stig on m3.... a more proper comparison would have been stig driving both? oh, and the tires are different make too!

KuiDaCroat22

i'd take the m3

chilledbenz

For your information I have over 800 posts here, I know how to use a search function. The only thing that appears under this C class topic is a post about the episode with the diesel version.

ManchesterMerc

The contest was between the 3 presenters, Jeremy Clarkson C63, Richard Hammond M3, James May RS4, then they swapped around. Stig normally takes the cars round the circuit to see how fast they can go round, can't remember how fast C63 was.

ManchesterMerc

Try this link, you might find what you are looking for here

www.bbc.co.uk/topgear

webada

yea, that's normally how the show is done but stig was the one who said c63 was hard to control and jeremy went out to prove him wrong. Stig drove the m3 to crush the apple in one pass.

ManchesterMerc

Correct, that was on the handling control, but the rest of the test was the 3 presenters who said all 3 were good in there own way

webada

haha, sorry, didn't know you were specifically looking for w204 owners opinions on top gear's episode. Its just that this has been beaten to death over at c63 forum.

I'll leave you alone now....

webada

yea, no argument there, the episode still in my DVR. do you remember the "imitation" comment?

mention that in the c63 forum i swear you get your pant shot off....

ManchesterMerc

It's awhile since I watched it now so can't remember it all. We are getting re-runs at the moment so I will be watching it again.

AsianML

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7_bGJpsY4s

oblu

OT, but if you guys ever have the need to "acquire" Top Gear episodes (or Fifth Gear), http://www.finalgear.com ... often times the day after they air ... is your place.

chilledbenz

No problems..I realized it was a rerun and was probably quite old, give away was that they had an M3 coupe and the sedan wasn't available yet.

chilledbenz

They did a great job with those three cars, from a real consumer point of view and not someone getting paid to review them (Car and Driver, Motor Trend) although they are getting paid ha ha. I didn't really notice this till they had all three cars there, but I have to agree with them that the C63 has way too many add on's, like they stopped by a Pep Boys sale on import rice burner parts. I think they would have been better served staying away from all the vents and screens and just went with a lower sleeker C350 setup. Black chrome everything and put some fat rims on it and call it a day, they could have used the extra money they saved on putting some nice details inside the car to make it stand out from the C300/C350.

velvet fog

I saw it for the first time last night and thought it was hilarious. I like the way Jeremey was ribbing Hammond about the image of a typical M3 driver and his powerpoint presentation.

The C63 sounded great.

AsianML

That's what the problem was with previous AMG models, you couldn't tell them apart from the normal models other than exhausts, engine, and brakes from a visual perspective.

chilledbenz

I'm for subtle ques on the outside and then they can go all out with the interior. Racing seats, carbon fiber trim, three point seat belts, maybe a different shifter setup, contrast piping on all seats including the rears. I would rather have a stealth sedan than one that screams look at me, if I wanted people to look at me I'd get a Corvette Z06 that way I would only have to look at all the AMG add on bits from my rear view mirror.

AcesHigh

They said the same thing about the M3, the gills and vents were too much. I don't mind flashiness (the Audi in the group looked positively boring) but there is something about the C63's looks that I don't particularly enjoy.

The TG episode basically was Richard and James trying to find out aspects their cars (the M3 and Audi) were better than Clarkson's, since in terms of power, quality, practicality (passenger space and cargo room) the C63 bested them. I think overall this is pretty accurate, though like I said the C63's looks takes some time to get used to.

oblu

My biggest complaint with the C63 (not that I'd be in the market to buy one anyway) is that because they cheaped out and didn't do anything with the rear fenders, traction is always going to be a major limiting factor. 440+ hp needs more than a 265mm section rear tire to channel energy.

Hell, in my C300 if I turn off ESP and torque brake I get wheel spin on dry pavement. I couldn't imagine how annoying it would be to be stomp the loud pedal expecting to rocket off only to have the TC light blinking at me constantly.

chilledbenz

Lol yeah I'm not in the market to buy one either...I honestly can't see putting over $40k in a C class let alone $60k+ If I had that sort of money to throw around I'd put it into a Corvette Z06..no rear seats..but then lets face it, the C class isn't exactly spacious back there anyways. Then the only time I would have to see all those gawdy AMG bits is when I looked in the review mirror ha ha. But then that wouldn't really be a fair comparison as one is a sedan and the other is an outright sports car.