eugeneC55

After reading so many great reviews and seeing many exciting comments on C63 forum I finally had a chance to test drive the beast.
WOW - what a sound! It is as amazing as everybody claims - deep rumble on hard acceleration is simply out of this world! Car also feels sportier and more planted on the road than my C55. I love the seats and overall interior - it looks classy and sporty. Overall great looking and sounding car.
I am a bit confused about acceleration. Having read all these raving reviews about 465 HP I expected to be blown away, have silly smile on my face and
have uncontrollable urge to start writing a check for a downpayment. I did have a silly smile on my face but it was because of the unbelievable SOUND not neck-snapping acceleration. The car had only few miles and obviously was not broken in. Still it has to be at least 0.5 sec faster than C55 but it just didn't feel that way. Is it possible that 7 speed tranny gives you a faulty feeling regarding acceleration rate and I was probably going faster than it felt I was? I didn't have a chance to push it past 40-45 but by that speed car was starting to pick up faster than C55.
Overall - amaizing car! It feels much sportier than C55 and gives tons of excitment and for someone who is fresh to AMGs driving this car will be one big WOW.
P.S. Man I'm getting old - I expected to fight myself from buying that car but instead I was thinking that C63 is just as small as mine, that amazing sound will become tiresome in a month and for someone who drives 3-4 hrs a day I just can't see it as a DD. Instead I was thinking of something big with ventilated seats and tons of space.

Newzchspy

[QUOTE=eugeneC55;2987284]After reading so many great reviews and seeing many exciting comments on C63 forum I finally had a chance to test drive the beast.
WOW - what a sound! It is as amazing as everybody claims - deep rumble on hard acceleration is simply out of this world! Car also feels sportier and more planted on the road than my C55. I love the seats and overall interior - it looks classy and sporty. Overall great looking and sounding car.
I am a bit confused about acceleration. Having read all these raving reviews about 465 HP I expected to be blown away, have silly smile on my face and
have uncontrollable urge to start writing a check for a downpayment. I did have a silly smile on my face but it was because of the unbelievable SOUND not neck-snapping acceleration. The car had only few miles and obviously was not broken in. Still it has to be at least 0.5 sec faster than C55 but it just didn't feel that way. Is it possible that 7 speed tranny gives you a faulty feeling regarding acceleration rate and I was probably going faster than it felt I was? I didn't have a chance to push it past 40-45 but by that speed car was starting to pick up faster than C55.
Overall - amaizing car! It feels much sportier than C55 and gives tons of excitment and for someone who is fresh to AMGs driving this car will be one big WOW.
P.S. Man I'm getting old - I expected to fight myself from buying that car but instead I was thinking that C63 is just as small as mine, that amazing sound will become tiresome in a month and for someone who drives 3-4 hrs a day I just can't see it as a DD. Instead I was thinking of something big with ventilated seats and tons of space. [/QUOTE]

Basically its a 4 door Corvette if you will. Not a DD. I agree. The seats are very tight and the engine is high strung. I drove one at the AMG Challenge and it was boucoup fast, just not a DD for me. Its very high strung. I may snag one when the prices drop on the 08s since the 09s have the PP (09) package.

Code3 Performance

Awesome review! I can't wait to get my butt in one -- hopefully soon.

-AS

power-fade

Realistically, when you are used to driving an over 350 ft-lb torque vehicle anything marginally more than that will not be a big deal...you will have to be over 500 ft-lb to feel a big difference.

jturkel

i think the front seats in the C63 are overly bolstered and bigger (broader) people would have difficulty sitting comfortably in it. fortunately, that isnt the case for me.

c32used

Its an amazing car to look at but its best to wait and buy a used one instead. I have my sites on a 06 CLS55 but I have a feeling the C63 will drop below the fortys befoe the CLS55 does....either way whichever reaches there first I may buy.

kindafast

E63

crazeazn

CL65

c32used

We go from $70k fully loaded C63 to $90-$110k E63 to a $200k CL65!

He will be broke listening to you all...

eugeneC55

I considered E63 several times but feel that S63/S550 would meet my needs as a DD better - more space and comfort. At the same time my 2005 C55 just passed 96,000 miles so do I want to put 30,000 per year on S63 or even S550? (or for that matter E63) Even though my C55 served me great I just can't see myself running another AMG to the ground in 3 years.

P.S. I might commit a sin and get 2009 LS460 AWD as a DD and keep C55 for my wife.

Tump43

I test drove the 09 C63 with the performance package on Friday. It felt more planted and turned with less body roll than my C55 but the acceleration and engine did not seem much better than my tweaked C55 (granted that C63 had only 12 miles on it and I was not allowed to let loose). It had every option and, to my surprise, I liked the interior and electronic gizmos (voice controlled Comand, bluetooth, ipod, navigation). The seats were particularly good for my body type -- short and stocky. However, before I pick one of these up I will have to wait until after the AMG challange at Pocono Raceway this September 15 or so.

There seems to be a problem with the performance package on the early delivery 09's. My dealer showed me an MB letter stating that due to a production error, the early pp 09's came with only 2 of the 5 performance package options. Thus, the one I drove came with the LSD and the speed delimiter but did not have the race suspension, composite front rotors or alcantra steering wheel.

Stock C63 suspension is on par with the C55, perhaps a little tighter, but not less comfortable. At $70,150.00 (minus $1,499 for the missing AMG goodies) plus tax, I think I will wait to get one of these with under 20k miles in a year or so.
Definately do not buy one of these without option 381, the $2,980 premium AMG leather and seat memory package. I drove the w204 C300 as a loaner and the interior sucked big time. Reminded me of Toyota Corolla.

Regards,

DarkXerox

I think this is relevant to the topic but does anyone notice the difference in our C32/C55 forum vs the C63 forum? Seems like the intelligence level here is much higher, whereas over there it's like Bimmerforums haha. I guess the C63 is attracting a different crowd than our cars did.

kindafast

Might as well if you plan to put so much mileage on it

JToups386

I have a good friend w/ a C63 who has let me drive it a couple of times. It put down 381 rwhp on his dyno w/ less than 200 miles on it. (My C55 only made 307 rwhp w/ K&N's). The 74 rwhp difference between the two cars is very noticeable, accompanied by the fantastic sound and rev-matching feature between the transmission and engine on decelleration.

There are some things I like better about my C55, but there are also many things that are far superior on the C63. The sound system in the C63 is a huge improvement! It also has a much friendlier NAV system as well as many other modernized options that have evolved. The interior is a bit "plastic" in its overall appearance, but the seats feel absolutely great! They literally hug you!
It truly is a 4-door race car, and even if it only turns 12.50's in the 1/4 mile, it gives you a very viceral feeling of being quite fast per the sound, quick response, and overall effects of the drivetrain.

I agree the interior is not as "classy" as the C55, and I would've liked to see AMG keep more in line w/ blending a combination of sportiness and elegance into the package. However, it is clear that the C63 has a different target audience and they're leaving the "elegance" side of things for the E63 or other platforms. The C63 is a grown man's hot rod that simply allows you to race and manuever while carrying passengers in the back. My plan is to upgrade to one in about 3 years when they start getting traded in and have taken the usual MB first-owner depreciation. Always buy MB used! (unless you're just filthy rich...)

MercedesFTW

eugeneC55, where did you test drive yours? Just curious.

I loved the exhaust noises...starting it up, rev-matched downshifts, etc. I feel it was as quiet as the C55 during idle driving?

The gadgets and gizmos are way better than the C55's, though that's to be expected. I didn't really like the interior. Where's the trim? All I see is plastic. However, seats were great, fit me perfectly.

And I thought it was quite a bit faster than my C55...though I was driving through slogging traffic right before I test drove the C63.

TemjinX2

nice review...i plan on keeping the c32 for awhile then maybe upgrade to a e63 down the road.