CAR and Driver - March 2017

041

line as well as the others manage. By 30 mph, the M3 is a tenth
behind the Mercedes and two-tenths behind the Cadillac and Alfa
Romeo. The launch rpm is adjustable to between 2800 and 3900
rpm, and we tried every thing in between to lower the time, but its
4 .0 -second run to 60 is the slowest in the group and slower than an
M3 without the Competition package. It did, however, pick up the
fuel-economy prize with 20 mpg.
There’s still plenty to love about the M3. At something closer
to its $64,995 base price it offers excellent
value, but pumping it up with options until it
reaches $88,045 offers diminishing returns.
It does remain a practical choice in the seg-
ment, bringing interior space that’s lacking
in the Cadillac and Mercedes. An upright
greenhouse makes it easy to see out of and
place on the road, and the lightweight seats
from the Competition package fit well and
adjust to the perfect driving position behind
large and clear analog gauges. On the out-
side, the sheetmetal still looks fresh, and
the Competition package’s additional
gloss-black trim is a welcome highlight.
But unless you spend your weekends at
the track and your commute involves the
Stelvio Pass, we’d skip the Competition
package. A base M3 is fun no matter how
you drive it. Making an M3 more extreme
does make it marginally more exciting, but
at the expense of its on-road contentment.

2. MERCEDES-AMG C63 S
   To the test equipment, these cars all look
   alike. But the test equipment can’t appreci-
   ate the sublime nature of A MG’s 503-hp
   V-8. It’s the defining element of the C63 S
   and gives it a major advantage in a group of
   six-cylinders.
   That engine comes with a $73,725 price
   tag, which doesn’t seem too high for a
   luxury sedan that can clip off 60 mph in 3.7
   seconds and hit the quarter-mile in 11.9 sec-
   onds at 123 mph. But that’s just the opening
   bid; our test car came in at an S-class–like
   $94,770. Some of the extras included
   19 -inch wheels ($1250), A MG performance
   seats ($2500), carbon-ceramic front brake
   rotors ($5450), and the Premium 4 package
   ($5700), which adds many of the decadent
   features of the aforementioned S-class—
   right down to the air perfumer.

For all the extravagant extras and the S-class details inside, the

real luxury flows from the V-8. It rips and pops through the $1250

performance exhaust when you want it to, but in normal use it

wafts the Benz without straining or really even trying. Its fuel

economy tied the smaller-displacement Alfa and Cadillac at 18

mpg. Every bit as smooth as it is powerful, the engine alone is worth

the money, but it wasn’t enough to make the Benz our winner.

A thick coat of refinement makes the C63 drive like a baby

2017 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Eight not six, S-class features and

refinement. Pounding tires; almost as agile as the others, almost.

A few dance lessons away from a gold medal.

The C63’s carbon-ceramic front brake rotors cost $5450, but you won’t have to clean brake dust off the intricate wheels. Well, not off the front ones, at least.