Quick Drive: 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL 63 AMG

2011 Mercedes-Benz CL 63 AMG

What can I say, besides amazing, when talking about the CL 63 AMG. This car is everything you want out of a car including looks, power, technology, exclusivity, and safety. By far, this is one of the most impressive cars we’ve tested in all these categories and it’s hard to say we’ll find something as good.

Let’s start with the looks of this car. The old CL-Class looked good, but the rounded headlights and overall shape of the car was just getting, well, old. The new CL takes more design cues from the new C and I think it look amazing. The stretched hood indicates that lots of mass is able to fit under there and the long coupe profile gives this a true grand touring look. Just looking at the car, you get the sense that it’s fast, yet comfortable, especially in AMG trim.

Power is delivered by a 5.5 liter bi-turbo V8 pushing 563 horsepower and a staggering 664 lb-ft of torque. These massive numbers are controlled by a seven speed automatic transmission and boy does it shift! Driving this car out on the private roads by Texas Motor Speedway in the rain actually did this car justice. While the suspension in other cars was too rough for the broken up pavement, the AMG soaked it all up well while still providing feedback through the steering wheel. Getting the AMG up to speed was no problem; the traction control did its job quite well keeping that 664 lb-ft of torque under control. More impressive than the way this thing goes though, is the way it stops. Moving along at around 80 mph in the wet, the last thing you want to do is slam on the brakes. But during real world testing, we ask “what if?” The answer? You stop, dead strait and all controlled. The brakes and braking system on this car were really just as impressive as its power.

The braking system in this car is just one of a huge slew of features packed into this car. During our entire time pushing this Mercedes in the cold and wet conditions, we were bathed in comfort in the soft leather seats, heated and massaging from the upper back all the way down your legs. What a way to cruise! The navigation screen has a split mode that would display different information depending on whether you sat in the driver seat or passenger seat. The driver could be keeping an eye out on the navigation while the passenger sees only the stereo functions. It was really an impressive function. With a massive bi-turbo engine, fuel consumption comes into mind. Well Mercedes has thought of that too. This CL 63 AMG had what’s called “start/stop” technology where the engine is shut off while at a standstill, and as soon as you lift off the brake it starts back up. When I first read about this, it seemed a bit unnecessary and seemed that it would interfere with the driving experience. Well I’m happy to report that it does no such thing. The way Mercedes implemented it into this car was spot on.

The CL 63 AMG was packed with so many features that are noticeable and so many that hide under the skin, it’s so hard to go through them all, but we were so impressed with this car that we voted for it as Texas’ Most Innovative Car of 2011. Unfortunately, it did not win.

So you want one right? Yeah, so do we, but the reality is this car costs upwards of $160,000. Yes that’s more than my house and car put together, but it also insures that the person who does drop that kind of money will have a certain amount of exclusivity by owning this car, and he can be assured that he’s getting his money’s worth out of this new Mercedes-Benz CL 63 AMG.

Thanks to our friends at Non-Stock Photography for the photos.

Car was driven and reviewed by Adam Moore at the Texas Auto Roundup in conjunction with the .