Counter Of Beans
Hockenheim
- Joined
- 10 May 2018
- Messages
- 654
I'm now three months into owning a 2013 C63 estate; it's a "facelift" car, one of the later ones with the 6.2 litre naturally aspirated V8. They replaced it with a 5.5 litre biturbo and I think the latest ones are 4 litre turbos.
So what's it like? How does it compare to a 911?
Good bits:
The engine; the stand out feature of the car and oh my word, it is a masterpiece. Don't get me wrong, the Porsche flat six is iconic and a wonderful engine too, but this one (6.2 litre, V8, hand built by AMG) is just incredible. Masses of torque, very easy to drive around town, but floor it and you get 457 hp with a fantastic sound. A £400 remap takes you to 500+ hp (Merc restricted the engine so it didn't match the E63's one) if the standard power isn't enough.
The exhaust sound; woofly at low speeds rising to a lovely V8 growl about 3-4000 revs. Utterly addicitve and to my ears, much nicer than a Porsche six - I love how V8's sound and this one delivers. I also love TVR and Mustang V8's and it's in that league.
Practicality; well, it's a C class estate, isn't it? You could use it as a taxi I suppose! Seriously, it's a perfectly sensible daily, but can be a hooligan if you wish. Jekyll and Hyde, if you will.
Steering; surprisingly good - not as sharp as my 997 but closer than I expected.
Build quality/paintwork/fit and finish; all very good and no rattles or squeaks which some of these are cursed with.
Ride quality; mine is on 18 inch wheels and it rides sooooo much better than my Porsche did. Then again, it's not a sports car.
Not so good bits:
Fuel; it likes a drink! So far averaging 20 mpg in mixed driving. But hey, I knew that when I bought it. It's part of the V8 experience and cars like this won't be around for much longer, arguably.
Traction; if you are not careful it'll spin the rear tyres (which are quite narrow 255's) and the traction control kicks in. They didn't come with a LSD as standard, bizarrely, so I'm getting a Quaife diff fitted which will solve any traction issues.
Other owners; you can get one of these for well under £20k so it does attract some clowns. Such "yoof" seem attracted to the saloon and coupe versions, but the estate appeals to old gits like me and so far hasn't been a problem.
Will I go back to Porsche? Yes, but only when I live somewhere rural with decent roads. In urban areas I think this car is better for my needs. But hey, how lucky am I to sample all these brilliant cars?
Best wishes, Mike.
So what's it like? How does it compare to a 911?
Good bits:
The engine; the stand out feature of the car and oh my word, it is a masterpiece. Don't get me wrong, the Porsche flat six is iconic and a wonderful engine too, but this one (6.2 litre, V8, hand built by AMG) is just incredible. Masses of torque, very easy to drive around town, but floor it and you get 457 hp with a fantastic sound. A £400 remap takes you to 500+ hp (Merc restricted the engine so it didn't match the E63's one) if the standard power isn't enough.
The exhaust sound; woofly at low speeds rising to a lovely V8 growl about 3-4000 revs. Utterly addicitve and to my ears, much nicer than a Porsche six - I love how V8's sound and this one delivers. I also love TVR and Mustang V8's and it's in that league.
Practicality; well, it's a C class estate, isn't it? You could use it as a taxi I suppose! Seriously, it's a perfectly sensible daily, but can be a hooligan if you wish. Jekyll and Hyde, if you will.
Steering; surprisingly good - not as sharp as my 997 but closer than I expected.
Build quality/paintwork/fit and finish; all very good and no rattles or squeaks which some of these are cursed with.
Ride quality; mine is on 18 inch wheels and it rides sooooo much better than my Porsche did. Then again, it's not a sports car.
Not so good bits:
Fuel; it likes a drink! So far averaging 20 mpg in mixed driving. But hey, I knew that when I bought it. It's part of the V8 experience and cars like this won't be around for much longer, arguably.
Traction; if you are not careful it'll spin the rear tyres (which are quite narrow 255's) and the traction control kicks in. They didn't come with a LSD as standard, bizarrely, so I'm getting a Quaife diff fitted which will solve any traction issues.
Other owners; you can get one of these for well under £20k so it does attract some clowns. Such "yoof" seem attracted to the saloon and coupe versions, but the estate appeals to old gits like me and so far hasn't been a problem.
Will I go back to Porsche? Yes, but only when I live somewhere rural with decent roads. In urban areas I think this car is better for my needs. But hey, how lucky am I to sample all these brilliant cars?
Best wishes, Mike.
