Hotsoss

Johnnyblaze: I never driven a C63, but will agree the throttle response for the automatic V is not as responsive as I would like, but from what I hear a tune really wakes these car up. I also agree with the exhaust sound. Any 63 sounds better than a stock V, but again a cutback exhaust makes a world of difference making the car sound like a ZO6 vette.

Hotsoss

The C63 is a sweet ride and has a glorius exhaust note. The V does not feel as nimble as a C63 due to weight and the throttle response of the automatic transmission is kind of lazy in stock guise as compared to an E55 let alone the ultra responsive naturally aspirated 6.2 amg. However, the from what I was told from tuners is that the throttle response is drastically improved when the car is tuned. A catback exhaust on the V2 makes the car sound like a LS3 vette with exhaust. With that being said the only american exhaust sound in my opionion that can match the C63 is the V8 mustangs.

Hotsoss

Oh I only driven the C300 4matic and that car felt nimble and light, so I assume the C63 is obviously better.

dflamer

Naw, SRT Hemi with Corsa exhaust is awesome. It and the C63 are very close.

My wife and I have been doing some pulls and while each is distinctive, the SRT is very distinctively American. Our C63 is the closest thing to a German muscle car I have driven in a long time.

viren.89

No one ever talks about Jaguar XF-R ? or the Supercharged XF
I think they have outdone themselves

Hotsoss

Yeah, those Hemi engines do sound good. I forgot about those. I am not that familiar with the Jags. They have great interior and exterior designs and the engines sound throaty. I think the biggest thing holding Jag back is there aftermarket support. From what I can see there is not nearly as many options for pulley swaps and tunes as they are for the German makes. I never hear about any companies offering performance packages for these cars. I'm sure there are, but they are far few and between and will likely cost a fortune to modify. They do look good though.

emoving

I have a friend that has had 2 engines in one he bought brand new. No mods and not a racer. Jags are JUNK. Period.

emoving

Had them done the ZR1 Blue. I will get pics today.

D2FORGED

Well guys if anyone is up to some mods, we wrapped a CTS-V a few weeks ago. But this is an excellent car to say the least. And yeah, most people talking smack have never owned/driven/sat in one. Period.

emoving

Looks good bro!.............................But not as good as mine!

Hotrod-Realtor

A similar question was asked a few months ago. Below is my response to that thread but I will give this update. I have been beating the crap out of this car and seems to like it. I was so freaking paranoid driving my MBs' hard, constantly worried about breaking them or having to visit the dealer to get a light off on the dash.

I owned and sold two E55s' plus an S55. They are great cars. Power delivery is smoother with a little more bottom end grunt with the MB. Top end of the Cadillac is more aggressive.
I just bought a 2011 CTS V 2 months ago. It is a manual transmission car with Recarro seats, back up camera, PDC and no sunroof. I took it to the 1/8 mile and ran a slightly faster time than my MB. The cars are pretty similar stock.
The reasons I think the Cadillac is better, revolve around dependabillity. The car, like most, have some common issues but the Cadillac's issues are minimal and easy to overcome. Rattling supercharger is fixed with 1 hour labor and $75. The squeeking seats are something everyone complains about but mine are fine. Clicking wheels are the other common problem but that is cured by cleaning and lubing the contact surface between the wheel and rotor and torqueing the updated lugnuts down (my car doesn't do this).
So you can get a car that is just as fast / faster, newer styling, newer electronics, handles way better, made in America and can be bought new for $65,000 and used starting around $37,000-$40,000.
The really cool part of this car is the ease of modding. $240 Cold air intake, $100 pulley for the supercharger, bigger Idler pulley (optional) to wrap the belt more on the pulley $100, tune $400, HP Tuner (optional) $650, labor around $500 (easy DIY).
With these basic mods, many are seeing 550 whp with the manual trans.
I took my car with this setup to the 1/8 mile track and ran 7.5x at 97 mph.
Lot's of them are running 10's in the quarter with a few more basic mods.
Heads, cam, valve springs, blower port, lower pulley, heat exchanger, ice box will get you near 700 hp.
Nitrous is an option too.
Take it a few steps farther with a whipple and it gets better. Here is a video of the fastest one I know of.
Bottom line is the interior isn't quite as nice but it's close with the Recarro seats. The drivetrain is very reliable. It's cheaper to maintain and WAY cheper to mod. I agree that it's a little tighter than the E55 but just as comfy. I'm 6'1'' and 190 lbs, there is plenty of room.

D2FORGED

Oh really? Had our media guy sort out some snaps the other day, some well known CLS with MB1's popped out of nowhere.

dflamer

I believe the V-Spec cars, SRT's and AMGs do fall in the same family: Sophisticated machines that can be heavily modified. Each has pro's and cons.

The comments about reliability are spot on. There have been plenty of comments about well-built AMG's and some not so. I have buddies that have heavly modded CTS-V's and they just don't break. I've put a combined 165,000 miles on our SRT's, and they have been totally bulletproof.

Our C63 is an awesome performing car. It looks great and is really solid. How it holds together going forward will be very interesting. I suppose it's part of a great experiment to see if these AMG cars is a direction I want to take.

In the end, there is a lot of great machinery out there. The gaps between them all is getting closer.

pearlpower

If not for the fact that I do not believe in debt and appreciate deep liquid reserves I would buy a Coupe tomorrow. Interior may not be Tier 1 level which is important to me as 99% of the time I am not WOT, but the interior is not that bad and livable.

Best bang for the buck in this class IMO, until the newer AMGs drop in price.

Hotsoss

I had no idea the supercharged Jags had those kinds of issues. I also agree with everything Hotrod-Realtor said above. That is spot on. In the end you we have a plethora performance machines to choose from all different makes. I would love to own the new 2014 E63 S line AMG or even the current CLS/E63s, but the cost to own these bad boys doesn’t align with my current and short term financial goals. As a result, my best option was the V2. It is nearly as fast stock and can be made just as fast as tune and down pipe only bi-turbo for about $3000.00 +/- $500.00 depending on the performance packages you choose. To me that spells winner, because let’s face it cars are just getting faster and faster with each iteration. The next generation CTS-V will probably have 600 horses with a version of the new LSX LT-1 fitted with a blower.

My goal was simple. Buy the fastest and nicest car I could afford that could be tweaked without spending a fortune just to keep up with the competition.

kompressede

This is interesting to read from people that have or currently own both the AMG, and the V's.
The last few years the American cars have been making some nice improvements, I don't know how they'll hold up over a few years, but I do like the idea about not having to pay an import tax when your modding.

Hotsoss

It's a nice alternative to the foreign missiles. Now if Ford puts the 2013 GT500 engine in a Lincoln Sedan it would be game over for everyone! Dream on I will dream on lol.

viren.89

Okay from my perspective why I chose the E55.

The leather that supports you, the AMG badges that you see before entering in the car, The V8 Kompressor screaming come at me bro, the quad exhaust saying you want a piece of me? The roar letting everyone know that the quiet kid in the class is a thug, the Star symbol that reminds you that you are in a Benz, the raising of car and the lowering of car with a button and the look on your face when you realize that you are doing triple digits speed and the look on your face when you get impounded for doing 50 over the posted limit well that sucks.

Until the day I get that feeling from other cars I don't think I'd be able to get it. Also there is a reason why German cars are called Luxury so is Cadillac but I do not consider american cars luxury.

Also I've never sat in a Cadillac V only in Escalades and I liked those but they definitely have an established market.

That's just me.

Exotic-metal55

No doubt the caddy can make huge power at a low cost but I never could realate to the looks that well or the Elvis sticker that became associated with the ride. why not get a c7 for your fast ride?

Hotsoss

Cool Viren. There is certainly a certain level of panache that comes with driving a Benz, no matter wether the car is an AMG or just a entry level C300 that you won't get when driving a Cadillac. I also agree with you that the AMG Kompressor badges and even the bi-turbo badges are intimidating and looks the business. The E55 is what started it all with big time power in a sedan. There probably would be no CTS-V if Benz did not lay the blueprint with how to build a killer car. The E55 was my favorite car growing up. I remember seeing it at the Philly and NYC auto shows back in 2004 with a chain dropped around it and the red eyes peeking out from under the good during their it's a beast under there advertisements. It was a car that was ahead of it times with 493hp and 516tq. I was rocking a LS1 WS6 back then with only 320 underrated HP. The top vet only had 405hp. It is now 2013 and the competition has finally caught up. Even though the completion has finally caught up it still kicks the butt of all stock SRTs (sans viper), all new mustangs without a blower from factory and it can still keep up with the best modern German cars. Pullied tune it's faster than most of those cars. I have much respect for the Original sedan king, I'm just happy to own the best American sedan made to date!

emoving

Amen!!!!!!! Loved my AMGs but really love the V. The bulletproof factor has me driving it daily without fear!

bstudey01

Emoving, your car has the split Recaros correct? I believe this car has the split standard seats, heres the link again
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cadil...item43b85fe902,
Also I don't see the colored stitching either. How comfortable are the Recaros? I'd assume they are firmer than the standard seats? What do you think of the price on it? I'm sure you researched them alot, if I could get it for 40K would that be a good deal?

bstudey01

Could never talk the wife into a vette!! Gotta look like a sedan to get her approval. She had no idea what the 55 was just by looking at it, and actually that's what I like most about the super-car sedans!!! Most people have no idea what they really are, MONSTERS!!

Hotsoss

I'm with you on bullet proof factor. These LSX motors are world class despite only having 16 valves. The E55 was solid as well. However, once it's modified it's like playing Russian Roulette. Now granted that can be said for any engine, but it seems from the knowledge I've gained and experience with previous iteration of these engines is that they rarely break and are easy to safely tune and modify.

Hotsoss

Bstudey01: I'm with you man. Although I am not married, I prefer super sedans. It's something about having a four door vehicle that could go toe-toe-toe with 95% of the sports cars on the road in a straight line, but still fit four adults and fly under the radar of most cops and non-performance car enthusiast. I had my day with the loud bad *** red muscle car with nostrils. That was the right car for me then, now I like to be stealth and just smack people in the mouth who mistakingly confuse this car for a regular CTS sedan lol.