B7 RS4 to C63 AMG First Impressions

[Pie]

my only comment is that in the OP's picture the rear wheel arch looks... well.. normal. esp compared to the massive front ones.

Yeah, for some reason the rear arch looks to be fairly normal compared to the bulbous monstrosity attached to the front.

[edge]

<beep> that does look nice! I quite like the colour and the black trim etc floating about it.

More pics please!

[sakimano]

Love the C63. It's an excellent car, and pushing it to 507 hp from the factory is fantastic.

With that being said I will counter your review and say I think the RS4 looks better outside, sounds better inside and out, and is quicker in the real world. The C63 would be great from a roll but from a stop, I have never had trouble beating one (other than a modified one that had $10,000 into it and was making 560 hp). It's just a different formula for putting the power down in these RWD cars and frankly it's tiresome and frustrating not getting what you paid for.

Once you get over 300 hp, RWD to me seems silly. 500? I will take AWD. It's a shame that the new C63 is not going to be AWD. Mercedes have finally seen the light and are offering the E63 and S63 as well as the CLS etc. in AWD AMG models. As a result they're far more enjoyable cars. But the new 4.0T C63 (rumoured) is going to be RWD only.

Some will say that it's more fun being RWD and having the ability to light up the rear tires, but that's usually said by people who:

a) don't actually own a high hp RWD car...it's people who drive 1.8 diesels and think 'OOOH...I WOULD BE DOING BURNOUTS DAILY IF I HAD ONE OF THOSE!'
b) if they do own one, they've owned it for less than a week, because after a week destroying tires gets old
c) are under 20 (thus likely don't own any of these cars)
d) are Chris Harris and are making STUPID films doing powerslides to make hoodie wearing, fartcan-adorned Honda yobs like him

[adsgreen]

T'is true what saks says.
But...
IMO RWD can be more fun "in the right conditions"... unfortunately on our crowded, shitty and often wet roads that doesn't leave much scope.

However on track then there is something that gives a real buzz to have a nice RWD car "just so" where you can tweak the attitude with just small inputs on the throttle.
Not so much the massive drifts (which granted, can be a bloody good laugh if you aint paying for it) but just minor line adjustment to eek out a bit here and a bit there. It's something that really isn't what AWD is about so it not better or worse just "different" (I do like pitching the car in and just letting the 4wd slip... slip... slip and then really dig in and grip on the exit).

But yes... for a road car that you actually use it's hard to knock a decent 4wd system when you get to big power. Esp when you have a big engine up front and feck all rear traction.

[sakimano]

T'is true what saks says.
But...
IMO RWD can be more fun "in the right conditions"... unfortunately on our crowded, shitty and often wet roads that doesn't leave much scope.

However on track then there is something that gives a real buzz to have a nice RWD car "just so" where you can tweak the attitude with just small inputs on the throttle.
Not so much the massive drifts (which granted, can be a bloody good laugh if you aint paying for it) but just minor line adjustment to eek out a bit here and a bit there. It's something that really isn't what AWD is about so it not better or worse just "different" (I do like pitching the car in and just letting the 4wd slip... slip... slip and then really dig in and grip on the exit).

But yes... for a road car that you actually use it's hard to knock a decent 4wd system when you get to big power. Esp when you have a big engine up front and feck all rear traction.

yes, rwd does feel excellent on a track. I find it horribly annoying in real life (that's why I said 'in the real world'. I also live in Canada, so while we have beautiful summers (25-30 celsius from June to September and modest levels of rain), our winters bring snow and ice. This inflates my disdain for RWD high powered cars (and I consider high power 300+ hp for the purpose of discussing traction).

[jaysrs4]

How weird, until you pointed it out I hadn't noticed the arches but now I see it, it looks so wrong!!

Maybe it's the light in the shot? Massive improvement from the phase one though.

[22B]

Nice motor Pie, still not keen on the silver though.As some have said, it does look a wee bit out of proportion with the big front arches and flush rears. Check out the rears on this bad boy;

[PCMAC]

Nice car, like the vents, hope you have a cracking time owning it, I think Merc as a whole are heading in the direction with their range and direction. I have always liked the C63 and have had a drive in one before having a go in a B8, so I understand the appeal. Noise is immense as is dry weather drive, but....for me anyway, B7 still ticks all my boxes happy driving

[Covkiller]

I went from RS4 B7 to C63 and back to RS4 B7. The Mercedes was a fabulous car but I could not get used to it and missed the RS4 so much. I lost virtually no money when I sold the Mercedes. Whilst I had it I deleted the secondary cats, this made the car sound unbelievable, everyone wanted to hear it even French customs, the rasp was something else, no drone whatsoever. I had it tuned at MRC up to 520ps and got just over 200mph on the Autobahn. But in the wet you need nerves of steel if you want to go fast as when the back breaks its instance and the adrenaline rush is like a cattle prod to the bollock5. Lowered it too on KW's,