RS6 C7 vs CLS63

[Pumpkinate]

Hi everyone,

sadly I've written off my beloved 2010 RS6 and I'm in the market for another car. I'm looking at getting a new or used C7 RS6. I've also noticed that here in Australia the CLS63 S AMGs depreciate a lot in the first couple of years which makes them good value as a newish second hand buy. Particularly the wagon which I guess must be less popular. I can get a 1 year old CLS63 S wagon a fair bit cheaper than the same age RS6.

Has anyone had experience of both the C7 RS6 and the recent model CLS63 S? How did they compare? I did see the Chris Harris review comparing the two and he concluded that the RS6 was objectively the better car but he also liked the CLS a lot too.

Cheers,

Steve

[bam_bam]

Live in Oz - it'd be the Shootingbrake.
Live in the UK - is it'd be '6.

What's the perception of Merc's in Australia? Over here they've still got a whiff of Oldspice but it's getting better. Audi has a younger demo.

[Pumpkinate]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, the AMGs have a slightly older fashioned image here too (except the C63 which is bought by people in the younger age brackets).

I like to tune a car after a year or so of ownership and both the RS6 and the CLS are quite tunable, although increasing the CLS's power may not directly translate to increased acceleration as we only get the RWD variant here.

Cars are really expensive in Australia, a new RS6 is around AU$250k.

I'll have to have a look at both of them!

Cheers,

Steve

[Chesterfield]

We only get the RWD AMG here too. That's because they don't do the 4WD in right hand drive. Too expensive to set up the tooling for the return they could expect apparently.

[W8PMC]

Although i do like the CLS63, i'd edge to the C7 RS6 if looking for the perfect all round package.

What i don't see is where in OZ you are as that may have some bearing. If Perth with the almost all year sunshine & dry weather then the CLS would look more attractive for driving pleasure, however if more like the not so wonderful UK climate then the RS6 may appeal more.

[Pumpkinate]

Thanks guys.

I live near Byron Bay on the east coast, we get over twice London's annual rainfall. I prefer the RS6, but the value proposition of the second hand CLS63's here is hard to overlook. I can get an 18 month old CLS63 S with less than 5000 km for 175k, that's over 100k off the new price! The cheapest second hand C7 RS6 I've seen was 200k.

I'll let you know which way I go.

Thanks everyone,

Steve

[bam_bam]

Byron is beautiful. I did my schoolies week there and have been back many times. Are you an ex-Sydneysider? There are so many that have quit Sydney's madness for Byron.
I grew up in Tuncurry/Forster... now I'm here.

[W8PMC]

Thanks guys.

I live near Byron Bay on the east coast, we get over twice London's annual rainfall. I prefer the RS6, but the value proposition of the second hand CLS63's here is hard to overlook. I can get an 18 month old CLS63 S with less than 5000 km for 175k, that's over 100k off the new price! The cheapest second hand C7 RS6 I've seen was 200k.

I'll let you know which way I go.

Thanks everyone,

Steve

Both great cars so it'll be tough to make a bad choice:)

Bloody hell, twice the rainfall of London. Probably the RS6 me thinks then:)

[aljenod]

Hi, last motor was CLS 63 Shooting Brake (2013 Model) but not the S version, UK edition at the time was ~ 550 BHP standard on the shooting brakes, so a bit down on the current S version.
Cabin: CLS was more of a luxury ambiance than a sporting one you get with the RS6. After a year the CLS generated a few squeaks from the dashboard in the cold weather. Driving in comfort mode the CLS is significantly more comfortable, but this could be due to the comfort/massage seats that were specced in the CLS. Difference from Comfort to AMG (or Sport) is a lot more defined in the CLS and switching to Sport AMG mode was single press of a button which was nice, but then 3 buttons to get back into comfort (pain). Damper settings in CLS were very firm when travelling unladen but made heavy load driving (I used to carry 400 kg of weights) quite composed and comfortable. Dynamically the CLS felt lighter than the RS6, especially on turn in, but RS6 recovers and is much more neutral throughout fast bends, CLS always needed the throttle feathering on power thorough and out of corner, even in the dry. Gearbox was the CLS fall down, absolutely crap; lazy, slow, it felt like you were waiting for the torque converter to catch up. Exhaust and noise, CLS wins hands down, especially on aggressive kickdowns, with true misfire bangs and pops, not like the RS6 which seems to be more of an audio implementation, and only on lift off. Fuel consumption, I'd say the RS6 will be winner here, as I'm already matching CLS figures for my regular commute, with only 2000 on the clock. Rear space, RS6 wins, as CLS was such a steep rake on the rear. Adaptive cruise better in the RS6 as it lets you stay a little closer then the CLS did, CLS left such a gap that people were forever jumping into the gap. Adaptive high beam a lot brighter and covered further distance in the CLS, but was more of an on/off, where as the Matrix seems to be more variable, which I do like. Overall I'm not 100% into RS6 yet, as I've not been out in the wet and not had enough A and B road driving, but I'd be happy going back to a CLS 63, if they would change the gearbox and longer term offer RHD users 4WD. But at the moment I'm loving the RS6

[Pumpkinate]

Byron is beautiful. I did my schoolies week there and have been back many times. Are you an ex-Sydneysider? There are so many that have quit Sydney's madness for Byron.
I grew up in Tuncurry/Forster... now I'm here.

Yes, I'm originally from Sydney, got sick of the congestion etc. Now live on 70 acres.

[Pumpkinate]

Both great cars so it'll be tough to make a bad choice:)

Bloody hell, twice the rainfall of London. Probably the RS6 me thinks then:)[/quote]


Both cars are great..... Hmmmm..... The RS6 certainly would handle the moist climate here better. Its a real shame that Mercedes won't do the 4-matic AMGs in the right hand drive world. Particularly if you tune a RWD AMG only to find that the same tune in the US would have got you a substantially quicker 0-100 time.

[Pumpkinate]

Hi, last motor was CLS 63 Shooting Brake (2013 Model) but not the S version, UK edition at the time was ~ 550 BHP standard on the shooting brakes, so a bit down on the current S version.
Cabin: CLS was more of a luxury ambiance than a sporting one you get with the RS6. After a year the CLS generated a few squeaks from the dashboard in the cold weather. Driving in comfort mode the CLS is significantly more comfortable, but this could be due to the comfort/massage seats that were specced in the CLS. Difference from Comfort to AMG (or Sport) is a lot more defined in the CLS and switching to Sport AMG mode was single press of a button which was nice, but then 3 buttons to get back into comfort (pain). Damper settings in CLS were very firm when travelling unladen but made heavy load driving (I used to carry 400 kg of weights) quite composed and comfortable. Dynamically the CLS felt lighter than the RS6, especially on turn in, but RS6 recovers and is much more neutral throughout fast bends, CLS always needed the throttle feathering on power thorough and out of corner, even in the dry. Gearbox was the CLS fall down, absolutely crap; lazy, slow, it felt like you were waiting for the torque converter to catch up. Exhaust and noise, CLS wins hands down, especially on aggressive kickdowns, with true misfire bangs and pops, not like the RS6 which seems to be more of an audio implementation, and only on lift off. Fuel consumption, I'd say the RS6 will be winner here, as I'm already matching CLS figures for my regular commute, with only 2000 on the clock. Rear space, RS6 wins, as CLS was such a steep rake on the rear. Adaptive cruise better in the RS6 as it lets you stay a little closer then the CLS did, CLS left such a gap that people were forever jumping into the gap. Adaptive high beam a lot brighter and covered further distance in the CLS, but was more of an on/off, where as the Matrix seems to be more variable, which I do like. Overall I'm not 100% into RS6 yet, as I've not been out in the wet and not had enough A and B road driving, but I'd be happy going back to a CLS 63, if they would change the gearbox and longer term offer RHD users 4WD. But at the moment I'm loving the RS6

Thanks for the detailed reply, I was hoping to find someone who'd had both cars. It's interesting what you said about the sluggish transmission, I test drove a C63 maybe 6 years ago and thought the delay between a paddle shift and the actual gear change really long. Exhaust note... yes, my previous C6 RS6 I thought could have been louder, the AMGs seem to be king of the exhausts.

Thanks again for your experience,

Steve

[koruki]

I think the RS6 grew on Chris a lot after the initial review, he ended up having one for a few months and posted the sad day Audi came to take it away.

https://grrc.goodwood.com/road/drives-a ... ZSilsr4.97

[Pumpkinate]

Well,

I ended up buying a CLS. It wasn't that I particularly preferred the CLS but the RS6 seems to be holding its value which meant it would be a new car buy whereas I got a 2014 CLS63S with 3400km around 80k cheaper than a new RS6. It's early days but these are how it compares to my old C6 RS6:

Sounds better
Nicer cabin
Way more electronic gadgetry (but then my RS6 was from 2010)
More aggressive steering
Somehow more personality
Slow gearbox
Laggy disconnected feeling throttle response

The last point is the most irritating, particularly off the line where the car seems to pause before picking up revs. Once rolling though its acceleration is the same as my old tuned RS6. I can compare PerformanceBox figures:

CLS63S Shooting Brake/C6 RS6 (tuned)
0-100/4.1/3.8
30-50/0.7/0.7
50-70/0.8/0.8

The RS6 was way more repeatable, doing 3.8 basically every time while the CLS is more variable and flukes 4.1 occasionally.

I'll likely run it for 2 or 3 years then possibly switch back to the RS6 (C8 by then?) or there might be a 4matic CLS coming to Australia.