Monday, March 31, 2025

TEST: CLK AMG Black Series is black magic with 507 hp

Italian high-performance summer tires on freezing asphalt are not optimal, but wheelspin at 140 km/h.

In protest of the northern working conditions, the 285mm wide Pirelli P Zero Corsa rear tires let go of the reins for a moment as the accelerator is sent south with the ESC system disengaged. Italian high-performance summer tires on freezing asphalt are not optimal, but wheelspin at 140 km/h? Sitting deep in the Recaro seat with the thick, flat-bottomed steering wheel in your hands, it quickly gains your trust with a good-natured presence and a steady flow of information from the chassis. I don't hesitate to keep my right foot outstretched, while the differential directs the forces most appropriately into the asphalt, writes Bil Magasinet . Ultra-hardcore Black Series Pow! The next moment I have caught up with my colleague Brixen, who is a short distance ahead and waiting in the photo van with the side window rolled down. Who wouldn't enjoy the ton of bass from a V8 chasing a top speed of 300 km/h? So quickly, there is simply too little "traction" in the road to drive today. But there is enough speed to give Brixen a side split. The Mercedes CLK 63 AMG Black Series is a fiery driver's car, made between 2007 and 2009 – and car number two in the ultra-hardcore Black Series legacy. Here, where AMG seriously moves away from the supersonic sedans of the past and instead draws on the motorsport department's know-how to make cars that love to be beaten on a race track. You have no doubts about its intentions when you mother it in reality. We do that at Hartmann Racing's workshop in Herning, where the test car stands side by side with thoroughbred racing cars under a cover with only 7,000 km on the counter. The starting point is the unsurpassed CLK 63 AMG with the fantastic, 100 per cent. AMG-developed M156 V8 naturally aspirated engine with 481 hp. With a new intake system, different software and a new, freer exhaust system, it is pumped up to 507 hp at 6,800 rpm without seeming stressed. The engine is a true masterpiece We've said it before – that engine is a masterpiece and deserves a mausoleum, when we have to run on electricity one day or whatever the crazy politicians come up with. But it is the design and chassis changes that deserve the most attention. The bulging fenders (in light, blood plastic) cover the seven cm wider track width, and they replace the CLK's slightly sun-haired attitude with one so raw that you can use the car to cash in stupid stalls on your smooth face. Add copious amounts of carbon fiber in the redesigned bumpers with larger air intakes, a rear spoiler and rear diffuser in the noble material, and you have a sports coupé tough enough to serve conscription as a safety car in Formula 1. The test car also got a few ticks from the equipment list with an additional carbon fiber splitter at the front and a large DTM rear spoiler, which fits perfectly with the car's wild character. A weight-saving exercise that went wrong The chassis has been redesigned for the CLK Black Series and can be adjusted on several parameters: camber angle, height and the stiffness of the shock absorbers, while stiffeners have been put in the engine compartment and trunk to make the chassis more rigid. Finally, a Limited Slip limited-slip differential grieves with 30 per cent. block so that you can make better use of the V8 out of corners. As in e.g. In the Porsche GT3 RS, things have been lifted out of the cabin to save weight: There are molded Recaro racing seats (the test car, however, is fitted with more comfortable bucket seats), no electric motor to adjust the steering wheel and no navigation. Even the rear seats are sloppy in the hunt for extra kg. So it's a lightweight. Yes, that is, except that it has become even fatter and checks in at 1,760 kg (the C 63 AMG weighs 1,755 kg). The strengthening of the chassis and the stronger, wider rear axle with LSD paradoxically make the car a little heavier. Suffering from a sluggish gearbox Out on the motorway, the CLK Black Series is firmly planted and is classically Mercedes-comfortable with cruise control and the usual 7G-Tronic Speedshift automatic gearbox. But give it one over the neck, and it shoots forward as eagerly as if it had thrown 300 kg – once the gearbox has gathered itself to kick-down. Fortunately, the transmission can be controlled completely manually, so you can keep it in the gears without the electronics interfering. But it lacks response compared to the latest AMG gearboxes. But that's pretty much the only point of complaint I can find, as I let speed and revolutions rush off the car while it bangs and rumbles from the exhausts. Lively rear In case you were in doubt: It's a VERY lively car – and with the ESC on there are no problems. The electronics dose the accelerator without fail, but you are often allowed to hum with a small, entertaining angle on the rear wheels if you turn and feed the engine with high octane. 0-100 km/h in 4.3 seconds. (0.3 sec faster than the basic AMG) is also more than acceptable. A Black Series on a go-kart track But how does it handle? By chance, we pass the local karting track, where we are allowed to frolic at full speed without the risk of someone from Enhedslisten coming running and moaning that we are clearing the rainforest with our asphalt-loving bull bass. The track is big enough for me to build up enough speed for a couple of sharp corners, where the undercarriage of the AMG people can really be felt: the car is completely on its toes when you steer, it's lightning fast on the heavy steering and extremely easy to read when you unlock the power. It is extremely happy to chorus wide and even you, who is definitely no Ken Block, can easily lock the drift angle with a simple counter and from there balance it delicately out of the curve while I open up the floodgates. Despite the big, fat V8 out in the nose, it has oceans of grip in the nose and is exquisitely balanced. So even if the CLK Black Series was extremely expensive from new, it might not be the worst alternative to the newer C 63 AMG Black Series. It looks cool, still has plenty of temperament, can drive fast on the highway and is good to drive sideways. It will be an exotic new classic.

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