Review of the new Mercedes-Benz CL 63 AMG

You can be reasonably sure that the pressing need to improve the environmental performance of our cars has permeated every strata of the automotive industry when people at AMG start acting on it. In the past, the high performance tuning arm of Mercedes-Benz has been about as environmentally-friendly as a sinking supertanker but the talk surrounding the launch of the CL 63 AMG super coupe was all of engine downsizing, high efficiency direct fuel injection and stop-start technology.

At this point, traditional AMG customers might be thinking about taking that long walk in the woods with a revolver but wait. Despite its greener focus, the CL 63 still has 544bhp, 800Nm of torque and would prefer a blue steak to a lentil sandwich.

The CL has long been a rather unique proposition on the motoring stage and in its range-topping AMG guise, it looks all the more unorthodox. It amounts to a two-door coupe version of the S-Class luxury saloon but beneath bodywork that clearly betrays those conservative origins lurks an engine capable of blowing supercars into the weeds.

The CL's strange mix of high performance insanity and luxurious, chairman-of-the-board comfort isn't easy to come by elsewhere but modest sales levels for the CL hint at a possible reason why Mercedes has been riding solo on this bandwagon. In any case, whatever you think of the car, it's hard to turn you nose up at the engineering and technology behind it.

".the AMG engineers managed to achieve efficiency gains that go hand-in-hand with the kind of insane horsepower for which the Mercedes-Benz tuning specialist is renowned."

This CL 63 AMG is a very significant car for AMG. It marks a change in direction that was made to deliver on the company's promise that future improvements in performance would go hand in hand with similar steps forward in efficiency. That's why the old and much loved 6.3-litre V8 has gone, only to be replaced by a 5.5-litre V8 engine that debuts the combination of spray-guided direct injection, twin-turbocharging and stop-start in an AMG product. Like other AMG engines, this one is assembled by hand and signed by the technician.

The engine is teetering on the cutting edge with its aluminium crankcase, variable valve timing and high pressure turbocharging but it still has the old AMG thunder in its belly. The peak power and torque of 544bhp and 800Nm can be increased with the AMG Performance Pack to 571bhp and 900Nm of torque. Even in standard form, this vast coupe can pass 62mph in 4.5s and slam headlong into its 155mph speed limiter a short while later. With the Performance Pack, the sprint is fractionally quicker but a limiter is still required to rein the AMG in at 186mph.

You couldn't call the CL 63 AMG a raw performance car, its driver is assisted by a plethora of electronic systems designed to make the act of going fiendishly fast as effortless as possible. The gearbox is AMG's advanced Speedshift MCT 7-speed system and the ABC Active Body Control adjusts the dampers to the driving conditions while also combining with the stability control systems to stabilise the car in crosswinds. Vast AMG high performance brakes do the all-important stopping duties.

Today's CL might be less visually exuberant than cars with similar performance but it's a far more elegant proposition than the bland CL models of the past. That holds true with the AMG models which add some extra visual impact with an AMG body styling kit along with a revised bonnet, radiator grille and bicolour tail lights. Big triple-spoke light alloy wheels complete the look.

At 5,095mm from stem to stern and 1871mm wide, this is a serious piece of automotive real estate. The tremendous bulk of previous versions hasn't always translated into tremendous cabin space but this CL has been designed as a proper four-seater The additional length built into this car's wheelbase gives it decent rear seat provision for adults. The AMG stylists have been at work in the cabin too, adding a sports steering wheel with aluminium paddle shifters and the imposing "AMG V8 Biturbo" legend that appears on the screen in the instrument cluster when you get in.

There's no doubt that the CL 63 AMG is a seriously expensive car but rivals like the Bentley Continental GT and the Maserati Gran Turismo are hardly out of the bargain basement. Mercedes even offers a more extreme CL for those who find the 63 a little underpowered. The CL 65 AMG has a 12-cylinder engine generating some 630bhp and it squares up to these rivals more closely on price.

The Mercedes badge might not carry the cachet of some in this sector but the CL is a match for any car at any price in terms of the technology it offers. Active Lane Keeping Assist uses a camera to identify lane markings and warns if the CL leaves its lane unintentionally while Active Blind Sport assist warns of vehicles in the CL's blind spots. There's also an Adaptive Brake braking system and Torque Vectoring Brake which can brake individual wheels to help the car maintain the desired line when cornering.

A word of warning. Depreciation used to be a massive issue with the CL and it's unlikely that today's models will have addressed it completely. The CL traditionally drops like a brick in value and it's best to get comfortable with that fact before making a buying decision. Later cars are better in this regard but take it on board.

At least the fuel economy no longer has to be kept like a guilty secret by owners. The current car's 26.9mpg combined cycle economy performance is 38 per cent better than the normally-aspirated model it replaced. It's hardly an environmental poster child but that's real progress on AMG's part and so are the 244g/km CO2 emissions.

Environmentally-friendly might not be something we'd routinely associate with the Mercedes CL 63 AMG but even two-tonne super coupes need to pull their weight these days. Thankfully, the AMG engineers managed to achieve efficiency gains that go hand-in-hand with the kind of insane horsepower for which the Mercedes-Benz tuning specialist is renowned. 544bhp from a twin-turbo V8 should ensure this lunatic CL AMG stays firmly under observation.

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