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Mercedes CL63 AMG revealed
24 July 2010
Mercedes-Benz has lifted the veil on a new, more powerful CL63 AMG, less than a month after revealing a raft of changes to standard versions of its range topping coupe.
Set to go on sale in the UK later this year, the up-market performance coupe receives a series of mid-life styling tweaks, including larger headlamps, a restyled grille, more heavily contoured bonnet and re-profiled bumpers – all aimed at providing the CL63 AMG with added appeal against stiff competition from the likes of the Bentley Continental GT and the newly refreshed Aston Martin DB9.
See the official pics of the new Mercedes CL63 AMG
It’s under the bonnet, however, where the most significant changes are concentrated. In place of the outgoing CL63 AMG’s naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 is a new twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8 – as previewed at the Geneva motor show earlier this year.
With 536bhp at 5500rpm and 590lb ft at 2000rpm in its standard state of tune, the new engine develops 18bhp and 126lb ft more than its predecessor. As part of a new marketing strategy instigated by Mercedes-Benz, buyers can also specify a performance package that lifts the CL63 AMG’s output to an impressive 563bhp and 633lb ft.
Channeling the new engine’s prodigious reserves to the rear wheels is AMG’s seven speed MCT (multi clutch transmission). Based on the seven-speed automatic used in the superseded CL63 AMG, it replaces the torque converter with an automatically operated clutch for more rapid shifts in both automatic and manual modes.
Read more on the rest of the new Mercedes CL range
Mercedes-Benz claims the new 2060kg CL63 AMG hits 62mph in 4.5sec and a top speed of 155mph – or 4.4sec and 186mph when running the optional performance package.
With new fuel saving features such as automatic stop/start and an improved brake energy regeneration system that serves to automatically decouple the alternator under acceleration, it’s also claimed to return 26.9mpg on the combined cycle for a CO2 rating of 244g/km. By comparison the old CL63 AMG was rated at 19.5mpg and 346g/km.
Planned to go on sale at the same time as the powered up CL63 AMG in the UK is a revised version of the CL65 AMG.
It receives much the same visual changes but retains its existing twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12 engine with 621bhp and 737lb ft – sufficient to endow the big 2170kg coupe with the same 0-62mph time of 4.5sec and limited 155mph top speed as the CL63 AMG, albeit with a combined 19.8mpg and 334g/km.
Greg Kable
See all the latest Mercedes CL reviews, news and video
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