2009 Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance and Motoring Festival

Attended the Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance and Motoring Festival yesterday, and MB had a booth with an SL63 AMG, live, in the flesh and running. The rep was able to fire up the vehicle, and rev it so that you could hear the engine sing at any and all RPM's...

Great, so after enjoying the tantilizing music emitted from the SL63's exhaust, a pair of LCD screens attracted my interest out of the corner of my eye. What was this? It was a chance to test drive an AMG of your choice, either an E63, SL63 or C63. All it took was a scan of your license, an electronic signature signing your life away (liability purposes of course) and a wrist band.

After viewing the fruits of the show, just outside the entrance gate was a small tent and where the AMG Test Drive event was organized. Amazingly there were not a lot of people, within 5-10 minutes, I was behind the wheel of an E63. There was PLENTY of room inside, instantly reminded me of my w210, (for a tall person, over 6', this says a lot). This model was fairly well optioned, dynamic seats, heated/ventilated seats, etc... Initial impression, the quality of the materials was very good. After getting the seating in order, the AMG rep kindly explained most of the important options and features of the car (the ones one would care about, like the various suspension settings, Sport, Sport + and M).

The keyless go feature was cute. Press the brake, press the start/stop button and she comes to life. Pulling off with the car did not feel heavy at all. The steering was nice, kind of like a cross between my '97 E300 and our '99 E300 (that has the parametric steering, which I'm NOT a fan of). Everything on this car is computer controlled, throttle input, suspension, etc... and it feels like it all works together quite well. The suspension was set on "Sport +" mode. The paddling shifting was impressive, easy to use and FUN!!!

Pulling out onto the main road, the throttle is well controlled, but it is clear there is plenty of GO power beneath your toes. Making a right turn and then proceeding down a narrow curvy road leading to the highway on-ramp, was just the perfect pre-cursur to the erotic wrath about to be unleashed. Using the paddle shifters proved to be effortless, and exhilerating as the shifts were really quick, controlled but aggressive. As the trees over-shadowing the curvy road beginned to clear, I upshifted with the paddles, bringing the rev's to around 4,000 RPM, taking a quick moment to let my ears tune in to the erotic exhaust note prior to laying down the hammer, letting the engine sing to just before redline and downshifting to the next gear. What was unexpected, was the perfectly emmitted "rasp" in the exhaust note at redline when the car shifted into the next gear. It was heard, felt and enjoyed inside the cabin, with out being too loud or overwhelming. The first off-ramp came ever too soon, so it was time to perform the same exciting exercise all over again

Unfortuantely, we quickly caught up to the party that had rolled out at least 5 minutes earlier than I, and we were unable to pass, so the "exhilerating" part of the ride was now over. Taking it slow back to the booth, discussing some of the features of the car and it's characteristics now took over as the "exciting" part of the ride.

The Dynamic seats, were just that, dynamic. The side bolsters are fully adjustable and tighten automatically on either side dependent on the direction you are piloting the vehicle. The vehicle overall felt very well composed, controlled with a comfortable but very sporty ride. Communication of the road to the driver was transmitted very well, letting you feel like you were in control of the car, not the other way around.

If you get a chance to drive one of these, I highly recommend it. :thumb:

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'97 E300
'99 E300