benyl
09-24-2010, 08:41 PM
But I got to drive the car anyway! haha
(Sorry for the long lead up...)
Yesterday was Revwork's track day. rage2 brought the black out to the track and I was hoping that I would just get a ride to see what all the fuss was about.
I went out on the track with my C63 and did 6 or 8 laps. As I was coming in, I noticed that rage2 went out. I sat on the sidelines and watched. I thought, wow, that car is pretty quick. Looks really fast in the corners!
A lap or two later, rage2 drives past the pit and the car is billowing blue smoke! I thought, "oh shit."
Well you all know the story. He got it towed to Lonestar. I left the track a couple hours later and remembered that I set up my Service A to happen, today, after the track day so that I could get fresh oil in the car after running it hard at the track.
I saw the black on the hoist with the techs trying to figure out where the oil was coming from. Kind of a sad sight.
I left my car there and gave rage2 a ride downtown in my sweet C250 loaner car. (that car has no power...)
I get a call today saying that my car is finished and ready to go. I send rage2 a text and ask him if he wants a ride back to Lonestar and if his car is ready to be picked up. He said that he is stuck in the office late today and that he doesn't have time to pick it up and that he will probably go tomorrow.
I jokingly said, "I can pick it up for you if you like... haha"
He said: "Sure."
So I pick up my wife in the C250. I swear, the C250 takes as much gas as my C63... only because to get anywhere, you have push the peddle to the floor all the time. We get to Lonestar and I see my car outside. Nothing new. But I was looking for the black. I go into service and get all the paperwork sorted and I spot the black, inside. No second class treatment for the black series! haha
I walk up to this:
http://benyl.com/Beyond/CLK63BS/photo-3.JPG
I start the car. It makes sweet music to my ears. I rather enjoy the symphony that the C63 makes. Especially at cold start up. The BS makes the C63 sound like a cricket compared to the roar it has. I get a little giddy inside (no homo) as I am anticipating what rage2 has told me about the car.
I pull out of the service area and onto the street. I mat the throttle to see "what its got" and am rewarded with a blinking traction light, the roar of the exhaust and the tail wagging sideways right before the ESP kicks in. In ESP ON mode, the BS lets you slide the same amount as the C63 in ESP Sport mode. This means you can go hard and get a bit sideways without fear of spinning.
From Heritage, I merge onto Glenmore and find the car is insanely fast. My wife has a heavy foot, but can't keep up at all. The BS should only have 18 more HP than the C63, but the final gear makes things shorter allowing the car to hit triple digits in an instant. The roar the car makes has everyone looking at me and trying to figure out what I am driving.
I keep going on Glenmore and exited at Elbow Dr. I mat it on the on ramp and can't believe the speed I hit before I have to hit the brakes. I had thought the brakes in the C63 were second to none. The brakes on the BS make your eyes come out of the sockets.
What is striking about the BS is not the power. It is not the brakes. It is the handling. The CLK63 Black Series is what the C63 should have been in order to really compete with the BMW M3. Turn in is crisp and direct. You point the wheels in the direction you want to go and the car follows. No hints of under steer anywhere. The car demands a driver with finesse. If you get on the throttle a little too soon, or too hard, the tail comes out instantly. Not a real problem as the ESP nanny will save the day. This car demands respect. I never once thought about turning ESP off. I knew right from when I pulled out of Lonestar that the car is more than I could handle without a lot of track time to understand the limits.
I have driven a number of cars that have been described as a full size "go-carts." The people who made those descriptions have never driven a Black Series. The BS takes AMG to a whole new level. I simply cannot believe the way it handles given how much it weighs.
AMG's motto has always been that "you can't improve a Mercedes Benz, but you can make it different."
I beg to differ.
Haha, when I returned the car to the rightful owner, I must have looked like a kid in the candy store. Shit eating grin and everything.
rage2, thanks for letting me shuttle your car. haha
(Sorry for the shitty pics, but I was too busy driving the car!)
http://benyl.com/Beyond/CLK63BS/photo-2.JPG
It isn't all shits and giggles. One thing the C63 and all the latest AMGs have on the Black Series is the throttle blip (rev matching) down shifting transmission. That is the only drawback (well that and the lack of back seats... haha). It was strange to not have the familiar blip and gurgle of the exhaust when coming to a stop. You have to be careful with mid-corner downshifts as to not upset the car. Given the time of day, I didn't really experiment much in that department.
(Sorry for the long lead up...)
Yesterday was Revwork's track day. rage2 brought the black out to the track and I was hoping that I would just get a ride to see what all the fuss was about.
I went out on the track with my C63 and did 6 or 8 laps. As I was coming in, I noticed that rage2 went out. I sat on the sidelines and watched. I thought, wow, that car is pretty quick. Looks really fast in the corners!
A lap or two later, rage2 drives past the pit and the car is billowing blue smoke! I thought, "oh shit."
Well you all know the story. He got it towed to Lonestar. I left the track a couple hours later and remembered that I set up my Service A to happen, today, after the track day so that I could get fresh oil in the car after running it hard at the track.
I saw the black on the hoist with the techs trying to figure out where the oil was coming from. Kind of a sad sight.
I left my car there and gave rage2 a ride downtown in my sweet C250 loaner car. (that car has no power...)
I get a call today saying that my car is finished and ready to go. I send rage2 a text and ask him if he wants a ride back to Lonestar and if his car is ready to be picked up. He said that he is stuck in the office late today and that he doesn't have time to pick it up and that he will probably go tomorrow.
I jokingly said, "I can pick it up for you if you like... haha"
He said: "Sure."
So I pick up my wife in the C250. I swear, the C250 takes as much gas as my C63... only because to get anywhere, you have push the peddle to the floor all the time. We get to Lonestar and I see my car outside. Nothing new. But I was looking for the black. I go into service and get all the paperwork sorted and I spot the black, inside. No second class treatment for the black series! haha
I walk up to this:
http://benyl.com/Beyond/CLK63BS/photo-3.JPG
I start the car. It makes sweet music to my ears. I rather enjoy the symphony that the C63 makes. Especially at cold start up. The BS makes the C63 sound like a cricket compared to the roar it has. I get a little giddy inside (no homo) as I am anticipating what rage2 has told me about the car.
I pull out of the service area and onto the street. I mat the throttle to see "what its got" and am rewarded with a blinking traction light, the roar of the exhaust and the tail wagging sideways right before the ESP kicks in. In ESP ON mode, the BS lets you slide the same amount as the C63 in ESP Sport mode. This means you can go hard and get a bit sideways without fear of spinning.
From Heritage, I merge onto Glenmore and find the car is insanely fast. My wife has a heavy foot, but can't keep up at all. The BS should only have 18 more HP than the C63, but the final gear makes things shorter allowing the car to hit triple digits in an instant. The roar the car makes has everyone looking at me and trying to figure out what I am driving.
I keep going on Glenmore and exited at Elbow Dr. I mat it on the on ramp and can't believe the speed I hit before I have to hit the brakes. I had thought the brakes in the C63 were second to none. The brakes on the BS make your eyes come out of the sockets.
What is striking about the BS is not the power. It is not the brakes. It is the handling. The CLK63 Black Series is what the C63 should have been in order to really compete with the BMW M3. Turn in is crisp and direct. You point the wheels in the direction you want to go and the car follows. No hints of under steer anywhere. The car demands a driver with finesse. If you get on the throttle a little too soon, or too hard, the tail comes out instantly. Not a real problem as the ESP nanny will save the day. This car demands respect. I never once thought about turning ESP off. I knew right from when I pulled out of Lonestar that the car is more than I could handle without a lot of track time to understand the limits.
I have driven a number of cars that have been described as a full size "go-carts." The people who made those descriptions have never driven a Black Series. The BS takes AMG to a whole new level. I simply cannot believe the way it handles given how much it weighs.
AMG's motto has always been that "you can't improve a Mercedes Benz, but you can make it different."
I beg to differ.
Haha, when I returned the car to the rightful owner, I must have looked like a kid in the candy store. Shit eating grin and everything.
rage2, thanks for letting me shuttle your car. haha
(Sorry for the shitty pics, but I was too busy driving the car!)
http://benyl.com/Beyond/CLK63BS/photo-2.JPG
It isn't all shits and giggles. One thing the C63 and all the latest AMGs have on the Black Series is the throttle blip (rev matching) down shifting transmission. That is the only drawback (well that and the lack of back seats... haha). It was strange to not have the familiar blip and gurgle of the exhaust when coming to a stop. You have to be careful with mid-corner downshifts as to not upset the car. Given the time of day, I didn't really experiment much in that department.