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BYGREG KABLE

mmrrmmr,thsw t i m s Has-1-

&de+~enz h a l l y learnedthatpowernloneisnotenough?F a w ow, M-B'scelebratedAMGdivisionbnsbeenturningou t excicingcngwithnutputs mmatch

their breathtaking price tags.Bi& bnld andbrasay,theren o doubting their sheer fire-power. But while they have all boastediwcdible suaight-line peeQ they baveteqdedm lack an intimacy that would setthem apart from the competition.The new C63 sm a t o change a l l that.It has been engineered in a program th at itsdirector of development, Tobias Moers,promiseswill challengeBMW's new M3 oroutright drive.^ appeal. "We haveleft Mstone u n w e d in& o m to p r i d e ow newcar the n m ualities to lift it abovethe competition," he says, addtng that the

C63has more development than nyother carm AMG's &yea b m r y .The wholesalechangem phtlampby ISno better exemplifiedthanby AMGGs&I-sim to equip th e C63wlth an electmnicstabilityprogram (ESP1tha t can he switchedoff completely. Tiwe's no cop.nut hke thesystem employed on the d d C55,whichIntervenes above a predetemun ed thresholdevenwhen lt is suppo4edly hsabled. Holdthe button down for longer than threesec-on& and you dwngage the electmmc safetynet. It contmuea m operate under bra!ungbut dwppxs u n d a Inad, setungth e Bcenefor lund ovasteer aswell as an arcane abh -ty to @t up the reartire8in first, secondand thirdgears."It was the m e dung I really pushed hardto inwqwrate lam th e hefrom the begin.n ~ & "wysM m . "It is essential our cw -toners can choose to use every last hit of

theu cars' pdmnmce"Th e appropriateword here IS&om,because as wellas bemg able m turn off theESP, heren nlsoa spsulepnmode thatsees it conu nue m operate m he back-p u n d but at a newly develnped thresholdthat pemutu you to tease the reat end outmthout prematurely mhbmgpowu fromthe e n p e and applyug the brakes.So the C631s unehackled The quesuonIS,does rt make any diferencel Oh, yeah.W ~ t hlus hecpr, AMGhas acheved a m e n -dous balance between power and porse. AsweU as bemg seriously faat, rt plso respondsmtu~uvelym yourscnons Modlfimtlonsthe thud-generauon C-Class'eanwheel-dnve &IS dehvn the son of oonhdence-msplnng feedback overwdmgmsds thatsoon pmmpts you to make the most oftheswltchable ESP.We can't rememba a moreente- more dynanucally munded

1 0 AWomWC JULY 9,107

7/28/2019 This week in 2007: Driving the 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

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d 902SEw.L tarts,~~dwnya,ith theOutgxs he old 5 .4

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rrdgisaa.rhselbepriags,kndds trueprrdsioa tothe--thewwithshapa~m-inadP=t=*thrny&a AMGmadel.lE e suqmmiaqa h -linkh t ndfiyc-linkmrC C h butusesmwe atu-inummkequnsp~lgwi&t&waIt.Noteto& Keep theeqemive. supports l&inchwheels shodwith245140

~ l tway fromgldraib.1 hontsndnd255/35mrPi@PPZclo~~ ~M I k i c k s o u t 4 5 7 h p a t 6 7 0 0 1 pm tires.It's allclothedinanm v e - I o o k i n go$c tutmmstheWintoadhea&t f u S c O e e . ~ a h ~ Y 4 n a a ,

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m i a t a k e i t f o r a n ~ ~ ? l m # badeeph t umperpuncaundwitham-m w s m o l i n g d u w m a d ~ ~bladeratoehai&mawm&hmotbeoilmler.*car dm ns 1 twh& @e,ti@- bedight hats,a~ l e d d h m d w i t h a a f i r d p m v adomaradwidenedh t with~ w h e e l * . I t b o t s ~ b i um n ~ . A d r k d w a l I t t r i s c n s ~s i d c ~ , a ~ - m c u m t e d

a n d a r o - eFirr the ignition,dac tW&v ia rnc b o tm a i c k v& t h p n a ~ b "mmf y ? a r a d ~ s a n r i v a l R I * - b a h . . . b d

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MER-EDEL BENZ,,,AM,

.,-;~-:- ~-.-aiitodnvc.Itoperlweltbanitsprrde ,h aw i ' a n do;erall dydlh theM3waiting in

22 AUTOWEEK JULY 9 2007