PerfidiousGTO
06-03-2013, 05:48 PM
New to the board and wanted to share my impressions and reasons for swapping my AMG for the S6 in case anyone was cross shopping or considering a move from the baby AMG:
I bought the C63 Labor Day weekend of '12 when my 2010 E350 lease was ending. Car came equipped with P31 Performance Package (481 HP), LSD, Lighting Package, Multi Media package, and Carbon Fiber interior. I'd considered the S6 at this point, but frankly was in a time crunch due to other priorities at the time and my Benz dealer in San Antonio was suprisingly willing to discount the AMG relatively deeply at the time.
The C63 is an absolute beast in terms of real world "street"performance - a huge amount of torque is readily available throughout the power band, and with the traction control disabled I could hang the rear-end out at will. There is absolutely nothing subtle about the car from the exhaust note, to the go-kart suspension, and the highly bolstered racing seats. I never tracked the car on a road course, but did make a handful of passes down a 1/4 mile strip, with my best time (fully stock) being 12.4 @ 116 MPH with a 2.05 60'. Even using the "launch control", I couldn't muster a decent launch, which was probably due to in part to poor track prep but mainly to the fact that MB puts 255's on the rears - which is ridiculously narrow for a car with that much power. The best way to sum the AMG is that's it's a compact 4-door German Muscle Car - taking into account all the positive AND negative things that description conjures up......
Overall Positives:
- raw power from one of the best V8's ever made (M156),
- beatiful sound at WOT
- brakes with the P31 were amazing
- ........well, that's about it! [>_<]
Overal Negatives:
- Interior: upgraded from the "first gen" C63, but I'd be hard pressed to tell if I was sitting in a C250 or the AMG if I was led to it blindfolded, apart from the AMG badging
- Suspension: extremely firm and wasn't bad at all when I made trips between San Antonio and Houston. But on the worst streets in any major city in the US (Houston), it was a beat down on my daily commute.
- Tires: 255's on the rear are pretty silly. I managed squeeze 7.5K out of them, and I replaced them with 265's, which were better and didnt degrade ride / handling characteristics.
I recently bought a Q7 Prestige S-Line in Daytona Gray Pearl for my wife as her DD, and both she and I love it. Last Saturday, I drove her to the dealer to pick up her car which was in getting it's first scheduled service. 2 hours later, I walked out driving the S6.
First - i was BLOWN AWAY at the torque the 4.0 TT produces. I didn't think that would be possible compared to the AMG. The torque feels / felt just as strong on my "butt dyno", and also seems more linear and smooth if that makes sense.
Secondly - the interior / cabin compared to the AMG is in a different league. The dash layout / appearance, MMI, interior materials are a significant improvement over my "old"car - not to mention that the S is a much bigger vehicle with a lot more room for the rear passengers. I'm not overly tall, 6'1" / 190 lbs, but I'd have to move the drivers seat up a few inches from my normal driving position to accomodate a normal size adult in the rear seat behind me.
Overall - the "fit and finish" of the S6 inside and outside are more my taste. It's understated and handsome exterior lines really appeal to me, while the AMG was a bit more boy racer.
To sum it up - I chalked it up to getting into a much more comfortable, much more refined, bigger, high-performance sedan..... with much better driving dynamics, and better interior and technology for roughly the same price (MSRP to MSRP).
Not sure how I did on the deal, but I got a bit knocked off MSRP with owner loyalty on top of it. The discount wasn't as good as what I got on the Benz, especially since that car was at the beginning of the model year, and the S is near the end - but I feel it was fair.
Either way I LOVE this car and have no regrets on my decision!
Some pics of the AMG, the S, and the wife's Q7:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/S6_Front_zps31e2f34c.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/S6_Front_zps31e2f34c.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/S5_Side_zps4ed61e1a.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/S5_Side_zps4ed61e1a.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/S6_rear_zps7d3e6989.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/S6_rear_zps7d3e6989.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/AMG_Right_zps1a111200.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/AMG_Right_zps1a111200.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/AMG_Left_zps873618c4.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/AMG_Left_zps873618c4.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/Q7_zpsd5b87783.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/Q7_zpsd5b87783.jpg.html)
I bought the C63 Labor Day weekend of '12 when my 2010 E350 lease was ending. Car came equipped with P31 Performance Package (481 HP), LSD, Lighting Package, Multi Media package, and Carbon Fiber interior. I'd considered the S6 at this point, but frankly was in a time crunch due to other priorities at the time and my Benz dealer in San Antonio was suprisingly willing to discount the AMG relatively deeply at the time.
The C63 is an absolute beast in terms of real world "street"performance - a huge amount of torque is readily available throughout the power band, and with the traction control disabled I could hang the rear-end out at will. There is absolutely nothing subtle about the car from the exhaust note, to the go-kart suspension, and the highly bolstered racing seats. I never tracked the car on a road course, but did make a handful of passes down a 1/4 mile strip, with my best time (fully stock) being 12.4 @ 116 MPH with a 2.05 60'. Even using the "launch control", I couldn't muster a decent launch, which was probably due to in part to poor track prep but mainly to the fact that MB puts 255's on the rears - which is ridiculously narrow for a car with that much power. The best way to sum the AMG is that's it's a compact 4-door German Muscle Car - taking into account all the positive AND negative things that description conjures up......
Overall Positives:
- raw power from one of the best V8's ever made (M156),
- beatiful sound at WOT
- brakes with the P31 were amazing
- ........well, that's about it! [>_<]
Overal Negatives:
- Interior: upgraded from the "first gen" C63, but I'd be hard pressed to tell if I was sitting in a C250 or the AMG if I was led to it blindfolded, apart from the AMG badging
- Suspension: extremely firm and wasn't bad at all when I made trips between San Antonio and Houston. But on the worst streets in any major city in the US (Houston), it was a beat down on my daily commute.
- Tires: 255's on the rear are pretty silly. I managed squeeze 7.5K out of them, and I replaced them with 265's, which were better and didnt degrade ride / handling characteristics.
I recently bought a Q7 Prestige S-Line in Daytona Gray Pearl for my wife as her DD, and both she and I love it. Last Saturday, I drove her to the dealer to pick up her car which was in getting it's first scheduled service. 2 hours later, I walked out driving the S6.
First - i was BLOWN AWAY at the torque the 4.0 TT produces. I didn't think that would be possible compared to the AMG. The torque feels / felt just as strong on my "butt dyno", and also seems more linear and smooth if that makes sense.
Secondly - the interior / cabin compared to the AMG is in a different league. The dash layout / appearance, MMI, interior materials are a significant improvement over my "old"car - not to mention that the S is a much bigger vehicle with a lot more room for the rear passengers. I'm not overly tall, 6'1" / 190 lbs, but I'd have to move the drivers seat up a few inches from my normal driving position to accomodate a normal size adult in the rear seat behind me.
Overall - the "fit and finish" of the S6 inside and outside are more my taste. It's understated and handsome exterior lines really appeal to me, while the AMG was a bit more boy racer.
To sum it up - I chalked it up to getting into a much more comfortable, much more refined, bigger, high-performance sedan..... with much better driving dynamics, and better interior and technology for roughly the same price (MSRP to MSRP).
Not sure how I did on the deal, but I got a bit knocked off MSRP with owner loyalty on top of it. The discount wasn't as good as what I got on the Benz, especially since that car was at the beginning of the model year, and the S is near the end - but I feel it was fair.
Either way I LOVE this car and have no regrets on my decision!
Some pics of the AMG, the S, and the wife's Q7:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/S6_Front_zps31e2f34c.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/S6_Front_zps31e2f34c.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/S5_Side_zps4ed61e1a.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/S5_Side_zps4ed61e1a.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/S6_rear_zps7d3e6989.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/S6_rear_zps7d3e6989.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/AMG_Right_zps1a111200.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/AMG_Right_zps1a111200.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/AMG_Left_zps873618c4.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/AMG_Left_zps873618c4.jpg.html)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/stevenbox/Q7_zpsd5b87783.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/stevenbox/media/Q7_zpsd5b87783.jpg.html)