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What does a niche-market manufacturer do when the niche it has carved becomes surprisingly full of eager customers? Carve another one, of course, and raise the ante.

Mercedes-Benzs performance arm, AMGwith about 45 percent of its 20,000-unit annual production destined for the U.S.is cleverly diversifying its range into various categories and levels of performance and trim.

Hence, AMGs Black Series version of its CLK63 hot-rod coupe. Patterned, its said, on the CLK63 used as a safety car at Formula 1 races, the Black Series is immediately identifiable by its aggressive air-scoop-rich front end and muscular wheel arches. The carbon-fiber ducts you see on the front fascia sides are the real thing from a material and functional standpoint as is the tail spoiler.

Download the spec sheet or test sheet.

Critics have described the standard CLK coupe, with its soft, generic look, as a bit of a girls car. Not the CLK63 Black Series. Theres more than a hint of the companys DTM (German Touring Car Championship) CLK race car in this vehicles appearance, what with its prominent front apron and rear diffuser, 19-inch forged alloys, and extroverted dual-exhaust tailpipes. The beast fairly screams high performance from every angle.

Not to mention the rumble that emanates from the pipes when you bring the big 6.2-liter V-8 to life. It starts with a deep snarl and quickly settles to a basso profundo grumble. Theres a whole boatload of torque available (peaking at 465 pound-feet at 5250 rpm, but offering nearly 370 at just 2000 rpm), so the CLK will move off easily on a whiff of throttle and a lazy burble from the exhausts.Stand on it, and the picture changes dramatically. The exhaust note hardens to an urgent, staccato beat, and the car launches with determination. If you ve tapped the ESP button to its off position, you may well expect some wheelspin. In this case, from both rear wheels, since theres a taut and occasionally clunky limited-slip diff back there to keep the husky engine from vaporizing an inside rear tire in corners.

If you can get the tires hooked up, youll be at 60 mph four seconds later. Stay on it for 23.1 seconds after launch, and youre at 150 mph and heading at a fairly determined rate for the 186-mph governed top speed. As you ve probably heard a thousand times, theres no replacement for displacement. (Apparently, theres no replacement for clich�s, either.)

But this car drives home the axiom. It warbles along merrily on the freeway at 80 mph (at 2200 rpm), barely breaking a sweat in the highest of its seven automatic gear ratios. Punch it at that speed, and the transmission drops a few gears to get the big V-8 on the boil (with a soundtrack youll remember forever), and the CLK checks out with alacrity.

Examine the top-gear acceleration numbers in the specs. The Black Series surges from 30 to 50 mph in 2.0 seconds and from 50 to 70 mph in 2.7 seconds. But the real measure of its output is its ability to accelerate from 60 to 150 mph in less than 20 seconds. You have to love 500 horsepower, dont you?

But thats just a part of the Black Series story. After all, its only slightly more powerful 25 horsepower than the Cnormal  CLK63 AMG. The rest of the engineering focus is on the chassis and body structure. Much of the suspension is all-new, with shocks that feature adjustable rebound and compression damping and springs that allow ride-height adjustments.

In typical racing manner, front-axle camber is adjustable, whereas the rear axle has adjustable toe only. Compared with the standard CLK63, the Black Series car has a rear track 2.6 inches wider and a front track almost three inches wider. Extensive bracing at the front strut towers, in the cars front section, and in the trunk area lends additional stiffness, and some weight, to the Black Series compared with its tamer sibling. There had been some talk of a carbon-fiber roof to reduce weight, but instead, that material was used on some of the body add-ons such as the rear diffuser.

Lighter is better, for sure, but the big V-8 shoves this 3920-pound car around as if it were a comparative lightweight, and the huge cast-iron-disc, composite-hub brake rotors and monoblock calipers haul it down from speed with astonishing intensity. There is much of the race car in this Black Series, and AMG chose to showcase it at the Streets of Willow circuit at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, with a few of its racing drivers in attendance to show us the way around.

Among them was three-time DTM champion and three-time Le Mans winner Klaus Ludwig, who exploited the power and track virtuosity of the CLK in no uncertain terms. With the transmission in manual mode, which locks in ratios unless otherwise commanded by paddles on the wheel, one could readily appreciate the benefits of an engine that pulls hard from low on the tach yet revs eagerly to more than 7000 rpm.Wed initially thought the steering it has respectable low-speed heft to be a touch isolated for a car of this nature, but a stint on the track convinced us of its outstanding accuracy and satisfactory feedback levels. With seismic acceleration, 0.96 g of grip, and crushing brake performance, this car demands good seats. The European market gets terrifically sporty shell buckets that are not legal in the U.S. Instead, we get extremely supportive leather-clad sport seats equipped with a strange combination of manual fore-and-aft adjustment and power recline, lumbar-support, and torso-bolster functions.
Its a fair swap. When you re sitting snugly in the wraparound seat, clutching the flat-bottomed wheel while squeezing the throttle and stabbing the brake, theres not much wrong with the picture. The Black Series blasts down the straights on an exhilarating tide of torque and then digs in hard under braking, turns in with considerable tenacity, rotates willingly on the throttle, and rockets out of the corner. All courtesy of the latest generation of �Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, which do a lot to make transitions progressive and readable without premature tire squeal.

Which is pretty much what youd expect from an AMG-developed Mercedes coupe with 6.2 liters in its pocket and $138,000 or so on its sticker. That may not sound like much bang for the buck, but the charm of AMGs big-bang V-8 is not to be underrated. Especially not in the Black Series.

   

   

   

   

   

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2007 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Mercedes-Benz, Road Test. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.