@wheelsaustralia 129
The living end
Having spent nearly 3000km in a BMW M4 Coupe a year ago,
the difference in liveability between the M car and the AMG is
quite stark. Despite its manual transmission (which I loved), the
M4 seemed the sweeter of the two in full urban conditions.
Softer seat padding, a slightly less rigid ride and a properly
round steering wheel made up for the greater difficulty
manoeuvring the M4’s longer doors. But the C63’s bad-boy
personality and greater dynamic finesse are hard to beat.006268 WEEK 25
URBAN COUNTRY SPORTS FAMILY MOTORWAY
On a little prayer, the C63 takes us there
THE warnings came like the sky was about
to break: severe weather right down the east
coast, nailing Sydney and its surrounds right
about when I needed to point the C63 north to
attend a mate’s boozy LA homecoming.
Now, the sensible Nathan lurking
somewhere deep inside would have ignored
the Cup-tyred AMG sitting in the backyard
and chosen the soothing suppleness of the
Ford Mondeo Titanium Ecoboost parked
out front. Believe me, I did consider it. But
what kind of test would that be for this
four-door sports car wearing the summeriest
of summer tyres?
Orthopaedic pillow packed and tunes
prepped – Madonna’s Like A Prayer has stood
the test of time better than you’d think – the
C63 casually thundered and threaded its way,
at the sat-nav’s insistence, via the Lane Cove
tunnel and up through Ryde to the Pacific
Hwy and the M1. Nice change, I thought, even
though I have a deep mistrust of sat-nav.
Besides the rejection of Madge’s vocal
stylings by the centre dash speaker, its grille
buzzing to each beat as if being put through
interrogation, the trip to Wamberal was
uneventful. A pleasantly brisk and tuneful
120km/h cruise up the freeway, a duck into
Dan’s in West Gosford for refreshments, a
servo stop for chewy, and an hour and 20
minutes later I was parked. Only the speed
hump I accidentally nailed at 60km/h on Old
Gosford Road invaded the calm.The way home, on the other hand, was a
different story. It began innocently enough,
cruising down Ocean View Drive feeling
slightly dusty, intending to catch a glimpse
of the raging surf, but instead treated to
blankets of salt spray and a wall of white.
Terrigal Drive threw a fallen tree into the mix,
while Erina offered up some flash flooding,
like we were in an AAMI commercial, which
the Benz barged its way through.
Then came the freeway and a pounding
from above. For 30 minutes from Kariong
to Wahroonga, the C63’s wipers never once
cooled off from maximum thrust. I had the
cruise set at 120km/h but the steep climb
from Mooney Mooney Bridge saw rivers of
water washing across the road, making any
level of auto-pilot feel disconcerting, so I
flicked it off, locked my thumbs onto the
wheel spokes and hyper-focused.
Soon 120 became 110, then 85 as the C63
enjoyed moments of aquaplaning and the
occasional drift of the right wheels into the
breakdown lane. Nothing too serious, but
enough for the odd intake of breath.
To maintain our pace on a road relatively
free of traffic, I stuck to the centre lane
through corners just in case 120km/h of
forward momentum added an unwanted
diagonal component to the mix, but the C63
did a top job of keeping its cool and powering
through Mother Nature’s treachery.
NATHAN PONCHARDMonster nature
CUP
WINNERS
When treated with
respect, who knew
Michelin Pilot Sport
Cup 2s could be tyres
for all seasons?MERCEDES-AMG C63 S
Date acquired:December 2015
Price as tested:$165,610
This month: 373km @ 16.5L/100km
Overall: 3755km @ 14.5L/100kmMERCEDES-AMG C63 S