14 May 07
Here are the important numbers: 500bhp at 6,800rpm, 465lb-ft of torque at 5,250rpm, 0-62mph in 4.3 seconds and a top speed that's limited to 186mph. That's 26bhp, 0.3 seconds and 31mph better than the regular CLK63 AMG. And when it goes on sale in the UK with right-hand drive later this year, it's likely to cost something close to £100,000, which is £30,000 more.
And you'd want to spend £100,000 on a CLK why, exactly? Because it's a very good performance car. Does it really feel like a £100,000 car? That's a matter of taste, but it's not an idea to be dismissed out of hand.
We drove it on a big variety of roads in California, from twisty canyon passes obligingly closed off by the Highway Patrol, to long desert straights, to gently flowing freeways, to gridlocked city streets, and it was perfectly happy on them all. We also drove it on the Willow Springs race track, where it was a very pleasant surprise: not a full-on sports car, but far from out of its depth. And it felt like it would last a long, long time.
The Black Series cabin isn't really very special. To an extent you can address that by taking advantage of AMG's willingness to individualise its cars, but it's hard to shrug off the notion that the £24,650 Audi TT's interior offers a more pleasing combination of elegant design, functional layout and rock-solid quality.
We tried two different types of seat, both good. A near-race bucket is highly effective at keeping the driver in the right place: but even more impressive is the deeply padded, multi-adjustable seat that offers plenty of side support but also the luxury you'd want for old-skool AMG autobahn torching. The steering wheel is fantastic, too: chunky and slightly smaller diameter than the usual wheel, with a flattened bottom.
