Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Black Series (2008-) Review

Overview

• Next: Reliability and Quality

Mercedes-Benz's performance division, AMG, certainly knows how to celebrate in style. For its 40th birthday it has created a car that is likely to be regarded as one of the finest models it has ever built.

Based on the ageing CLK coupe, the new AMG-badged supercar receives the hardcore Black Series tag to distinguish it from the existing CLK 63 AMG that's already on sale.

Not that you're likely mistake the two. The Black Series is a road-going version of the 2007 Formula 1 pace car - and it looks sensational, featuring the same gorgeous flared wheel arches, gaping wide air intake and an equally huge rear diffuser at the rear.

Meanwhile, under the skin it shares little with the standard car. Its bespoke adjustable sports suspension pushes out the track by 75mm at the front and 66mm at the rear - the reason for those incredible wheel arches. There's also a new steering rack with its own oil cooler and a limited slip differential that sits higher in the body, while huge Black Series composite brake discs and callipers rein in the incredible speed.

Engineers have been very busy under the bonnet. Power - provided by the 6.2-litre V8 - has been raised to 500bhp, while torque swells to a substantial 456Ib-ft thanks to that new air intake, an improved exhaust system and a recalibrated ECU.

Against the clock the CLK delivers, demolishing the 0-62mph sprint in just 4.3 seconds, while charging on to an artificially capped 186mph.

Of course there is a price to pay for all the extra power and the resultant speed: the Black Series costs almost £100,000.

That's an insane amount of money when you consider it's well over three times what the firm charges for the entry-level CLK 200 Kompressor and well over £30,000 more than the regular AMG. However, if you compare the Black Series with the exclusive CLK DTM that celebrated the firm's success in the German race championship in 2004, it costs only half as much and is only fractionally slower.

Either way, the biggest threat to the CLK 63 AMG Black Series is not in-house, but comes from the likes of Audi's R8 and the equally sporting Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The big question is, how will the track-suited Merc cope?