Staff Photo by Mark Kennedy
The 2018 Mercedes-Benz AMG E63 Sedan has Napa leather upholstery with silver stitching.OK, Santa, for Christmas I would like the title to this week's Mercedes-Benz AMG E63 S test car. After a week of driving the Selenite Grey supercar on the streets of Chattanooga, I've simply never experienced an automobile this magnetic.
A woman stopped me in the parking lot of a downtown bank and asked me for a picture of the car. A group of teen boys cornered me at Camp Jordan park in East Ridge and asked if they could "touch it." An appliance delivery guy at my house muttered, "Somebody here makes some major Benjamins."
Wrong, I will probably never have enough "Benjamins" to own a M-B AMG E63 S, but everybody has a fantasy car, and this is mine. For just $122,060 you can own this matte gray beauty, with its snarling 603-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V-8 and insane 3.3-second zero-to-sixty mph time.
Read that again, in the time it takes to inhale and exhale this souped-up E-Class can go from a standing start to 60 miles per hour. The fast and furious four-door M-B sedan eats up the quarter mile is just over 11 seconds. Even if you can afford the sticker on this car, you'll need a healthy bank account just to keep it in tires.
JUST THE FACTS: The AMG E63 S is the performance version of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. A wolf in sheep's clothing the E63 S can double as a family sedan, or it can bare its teeth and become an absolute road beast. With its striking paint job, black forged cross-spoke wheels and Nappa leather seats, the E63 S has a menacing presence that makes it one of the most head-snapping autos on the road.
DRIVETRAIN: The AMG E63 S features a four-liter V-8 engine equipped with twin turbochargers and mated to a slick, 9-speed transmission. All this is harnessed to a performance all-wheel-drive system that can be deactivated in "drift" mode to send power only to the back wheels. An air suspension and electronic limited-slip differential add to the handling package.
DESIGN/STYLING: The sheet metal of the AMG E63 looks like it was chiseled from a block of granite. A long, sculpted hood flows from a chrome-embellished grille with prominent M-B emblem. Inside, soft leather seat covers combine with piano-black accents to complete the masculine look. A horizontal slab of textured aluminum ties together the dash.
WHERE, AND HOW MUCH: Mercedes-Benz at Long of Chattanooga is our hometown M-B dealer but don't expect to find a selection of AMG E63s on the ground there. This is a special-order vehicle that you'll probably want to custom order to your own tastes. The base price of our test car is $104,400, with about $18,000 in options.
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THINGS WE LOVE: The special $3,950 paint job makes the car. The $1,700 black wheels complete the package.
WE COULD LIVE WITHOUT: The active seat bolsters that alternate squeezing your ribs, left and right, as you zig and zag are a little over-the-top for our mountain roads. We get the idea, but passive restraints are enough.
WHY IT'S GOOD FOR CHATTANOOGA: The AMG E63 is good for anywhere. While an enthusiasts car, this car's animal magnetism is palpable.
ALSO LOOK AT: The Cadillac CTS-V.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com.