Test drive Mercedes Benz E-class W212 since 2009 sedan

Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG

In a tuxedo, they behave differently than in jeans: they do not sit on the grass, do not drink beer from the can. Because the costume obliges. Similarly, the car. On the test of the new E 63 AMG sedan near Stuttgart - the holy of saints Mercedes -Benz - this was fully confirmed
It is difficult to convey how elegant and solid such a car looks in the mirror windows of German boutiques and the windows of offices - sitting in it, involuntarily straighten your back, make an indifferent face and quietly look out the reflection of your own portrait there. And the sound of a 525-horsepower engine! This is a song! On the noble roar of the engine, others, as if on command, turn their heads, and my colleague believes that it needs to be recorded on CD and sold to everyone. And the very indicative situation was in the autobahn. An attempt to go slowly to measure the fuel consumption in economical mode, turned into the fact that several drivers of other cars almost twisted a finger at the temple. Still: get into a car that can accelerate to a hundred in just 4.5 s, and weave on the highway in the extreme right row! Yes, such a guy is definitely wrong. Moreover, in life, as a rule, exactly the opposite: people buying any of the AMG models are in perfect order.
Prices and values
AMG hate the word tuning. Any employee of this company will be offended if you say that Mercedes-Benz is tuned in its walls. No, - they will angrily object to you, - in our affallterbach there is real production, where their own models are released! And let one of them be based on this or that Mercedes, the main thing is that between it and the version with AMG nameplate is a very big difference. First of all, in engines, transmissions, brakes, pendants and a price, sometimes exceeding the cost of mass versions several times. For example, among Russian dealers, prices for a new E 63 AMG start from a mark of almost 5 million rubles against a little more than 1.9 million per ordinary E-class.
Of course, there is something of your own in the interior and in appearance. Here is an AMG designer compares the photo E 63 and the new Mercedes-Benz E-class with a sports package. Something like a game find ten differences, since all the salt is in detail. In our case, the emphasis is on the front of the car: a branded spoiler with large air intakes, increased by 17 mm wings with a 6.3 AMG nameplate, daily headlights with LEDs. Two main elements of the stern are the rear bumper with a massive black diffuser and four chrome exhaust systems (there are two of them on the same standard E -class).
The next stage of design solutions is found in the cabin. Here the main message of innovations is sports and luxury. Everywhere the skin (three colors are possible), expensive plastic with decorative inserts, metal. The multifunctional steering wheel is equipped with steering liners for shifting gears in manual mode, below sports pedals from matte stainless steel are visible, on the thresholds of the lining with the same inscription AMG. And also - some incredible number of buttons, from the abundance of which you are lost in the first moment. However, after a few minutes you realize that there should be so many of them, otherwise you simply cannot control the complex, but almost perfect car. By the way, it is also not difficult to understand the logic of the location of devices and their functions.
For example, the settings of the seats are located in two places - on the door (where you can adjust the back of the back and headrest, the height and horizontal arrangement of the pillow, program three memory modes) and at hand on the side, in the tunnel between the seats. Here, the choice of options is even richer: heating and ventilation of the seats, lumbar and spinal underpants, adjusting the level of lateral support and still wonderful two -stage Dyn mode. If you turn it on, then in corners, responding to the steering wheel, the chair will automatically support you from the side where the body is leaving. In a fast and maneuverable sports car, a thing is extremely useful.
The status of a car corresponds to the level of comfort. In any of four places, regardless of growth and complexion, it is convenient and spacious. There are many different drawers, niches and pockets in the cabin, the front and back are cup holders. Great sound insulation, the advantages of which is emphasized by an excellent audio system. For passengers of the second row, a climate control unit is intended, and a transformed module is built in the back of the rear sofa - it can become both a armrest and a folding table. However, in the situation with the new E 63 AMG, it could not be otherwise: this car is positioned on the market not only as a sports car, but also as a comfortable business class sedan suitable for any trips - to work, to the theater, and on a trip for a distant lands.
Choose - I don't want to
When I asked the representative of AMG Matias Schmidt about what the main innovations of this E 63, he without hesitation answered: the suspension and gearbox. It turns out that the owners of the previous version of the model complained that they did not really like the dynamics and how the car passes at speeds.
We decided to add the edemia using the 7-speed sports transmission of SpeedShift MCT, already tested on the SL 63 AMG family. This robotic box is really impressive: in each of the four modes it behaves completely differently. Smoothly, mildly, if the position C (Controlled Efficency is activated - controlled efficiency) is much more energetic in Sport modes and especially Sport+, and in the Mechanics program, this transmission, according to the manufacturer, allows you to switch transmission from the help of steering wheel petals. speed of 100 milliseconds.
I could not measure such a small temporary interval. However, I did not try. Moreover, I will express the idea blasphemous for German engineers that this function in such a gearbox is not needed at all. The transmission works so well under the guidance of electronics that it makes no sense to compete with it in manual mode. For example, she knows how to jump over a few steps very quickly with a reverse switch, which would be impossible without a system of automatic encouraging.
To remove the issue number two - maneuverability and comfort, engineers threw all their efforts on the AMG Ride Control suspension. Here I had to solve several problems. On the one hand, the severity and stiffness for sports driving were required, on the other hand, it was necessary to maintain the highest level of comfort that distinguished all Mercedes -Benz cars. Did this achieve this in the new E 63 AMG? Perhaps yes. Moreover, this is especially noticeable when, from the extreme Sport+ suspension mode, you immediately switch to the first - Comfort. The nature of the movement of the machine changes instantly, which can even feel the uninitiated.
They came to this with the help of various innovations. First of all, the front made a spring suspension, which provides a more sensitive reaction. At the back, they put pneumatics, which not only automatically supports the given size of the road clearance (regardless of car loading), but also reduces the angle of transverse fluctuations in the machine using electronics. By the way, the suspension modes and transmission modes (as well as three ESP positions) can not only be switched in the direction of movement, but also program for yourself. To do this, there is an AMG button, with which it is easy to remember the selected combination of settings, and then activate it with one touch.
Under personal responsibility
It would seem, taking a powerful sports car to the market, the manufacturer must first scream about the motor. But here he was as if pushed back to the background. Perhaps only because the engine in the E 63 AMG is not installed princes, but already well-known, albeit modified. This is an 8-cylinder AMG V8 atmospheric of 6.3 liters. Meanwhile, he was modernized very deeply. The unit received an additional 11 hp, and now its power is 525 hp .. True, the maximum speed is artificially limited at a level of 250 km/h, but at the request of the buyer an electronic collar can weaken up to 300 km/h. At the same time, the designers managed to improve the economy of the motor by 12%. Of course, ”Matias Schmidt agrees with me,“ fuel saving is not the most relevant issue for our customers. But, firstly, this is a pan-European tendency, and secondly, a margin on one tank is important for many.
Nevertheless, during the test, I looked at the consumption of gasoline. For such a machine that was traveling at a very torn pace, it turned out to be very good: 15 liters per hundred mileage at an average speed of about 60 km/h. It consisted of both high -speed sections and from driving around German towns, where sometimes they had to move not faster than pedestrians. Although the manufacturer declares an even lower indicator - 12.6 liters per 100 km in a mixed cycle.
In many ways, this is the merit of Affalterbach motorists. After all, the development and production of engines in AMG is an almost sacred process. They are produced in the building, in cleanliness comparable, say, with a clinic - you will not find a drop of oil on the floor, no dirty rag or a dropped part there. Each engine collects only one master (there are only 64 of them), and then it attaches a plate with his name to the motor. It’s not scary to disgrace: each unit passes hard quality control, the share of marriage is insignificant - defects are detected only on three or four engines out of 10 thousand, that is, in 0.04% of cases. If this happens, the mechanic re -forth the unit (though, and it was not possible to find out at whose expense - the company or the culprit himself).
However, back to the test. As for sled characteristics, the car is good. Very good! The power supply allows you to easily and confidently perform overtaking even when the clearance to the oncoming car is not too large. On the line E 63 accelerates as a shell, but it is just as excellent - reliably and without jerking - it slows down. On a winding highway, this almost 5-meter sedan weighing more than 1.8 tons clearly fits into all turns even without a hint of some kind of discomfort. At the same time, the driver at every moment knows that electronics is ready to help him. Say, just like that - by chance - it is impossible to turn off ESP: the system will persistently ask you to confirm this risky step. Sensors (though optional ones) control the dead areas on the back of the machine, report an unauthorized (without turning on the turn signals) crossing the lane, read and display the signs of speed limiting to the dashboard.
In a word, the Daimler AG concern brought another exemplary car to the market. Perhaps someone will find certain disadvantages in it, and fans of competing brands will not see obvious advantages. But, I think, this can be considered a taste and propaganda of personal addictions. Objective information is simple: the new E 63 AMG is already in the show rooms of Russian dealers of Mercedes-Benz.

Technical characteristics of Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG
Dimensions, mm 4891x1872x1442
Base, mm 2874
Trunk volume, l 540
Equipped mass, kg 1840
Benzine engine type V8
Working volume, cubic meter. cm 6208
Max. Power, L.S./rpm 525/6800
Max. moment, nm/rpm 630/5200
Transmission robotic 7-speed
The rear drive
Max. Speed, km/h 250
Acceleration time 0-100 km, with 4.5
Fuel consumption (average), l/100 km 12.6
Tank volume, l 66

Andrey Bezverkhov
Photo by the author and the manufacturer

 
 
  

Source: Avtopanorama magazine