OK, for starters Mercedes' AMG Black Series cars don't have to be black, as shown by the CLK in the pictures. They're called that because, well, let's just say they're more in touch with Mercedes' dark side.
This Black Series we told you about a year ago is a street-legal version of last year's Formula 1 pace car. Only 500 have been built but 39 of them have been sold in South Africa - our media demo unit is number 40.
The R1.33-million car is a product of Merc's AMG Performance Studio where extra-special AMG cars are developed in limited numbers, offered as the Signature Series, Black series and Editions for people who believe a standard AMG is just too ordinary.
The "blackened" CLK C63 AMG we drove for a few days is lower than the standard car, has a wider track, sharper steering, revamped sports suspension and uprated composite brakes but has shed a lot of weight.
The load-shedding came in the form of items such as plastic front fenders and numerous carbon-fibre body bits; non-essentials such as the rear seats have been ditched and the comfy power-operated leather front seats have been replaced with lighter racing seats that adjust manually - fore and aft is easy, moving the backrest requires a spanner.
Thanks to an extra 19kW, the CLK 63 AMG Black Series achieves 500hp, which is 373kW in modern-speak. That gives this ballistic Benz the ability to blast to 100km/h in a claimed 4.3sec at sea level (we achieved 5.3 up in Gauteng), which is 0.3sec quicker than the standard 354kW model.
The electronic speed governor has been adjusted to cut in at 300km instead of at the "gentlemen's agreement" 250km/h - and, yes, Mercedes reckons it will go even faster without the electronic nanny.
Mercedes-AMG engineers achieved the increase in power by completely overhauling the intake and exhaust systems. The high-revving, non-turbo, 6208cc AMG engine is fed fresh air through larger intake ducts and the AMG sports exhaust has full-length twin pipes with new silencers and a lower exhaust back pressure. And boy, does it sound good - a rip-snortin' V8 soundtrack just begging for accompanying drums and electric guitar.
I'll admit to being a little worried when Mercedes SA called to offer us a drive in the CLK 63 AMG Black Series, thinking a bit more styling bling and a few extra kW wouldn't necessarily transform the car, leaving us little extra to write about.
Wrong.
For starters, it looks the business with its arches flared like a DTM racer, its carbon-fibre diffuser fins and its shiny Miami-spec 19" alloy rims wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber as wide as conveyor belts (285 rear, 265 front). As I wedged myself into the bucket seat - the high lip preventing me from doing it gracefully - the race theme continued in the cabin with its all-over carbon-fibre treatment and flat-bottomed racing steering wheel.
Very direct steering
I fired it up and the deal was settled after only a few hundred metres: this ain't no common-or-garden AMG - here you have a Benz that doesn't have the words "aloof" or "disconnected" in its vocabulary. It's responsive and alive with sensation, just what the doctor ordered for painting a smile on your dial when the road turns twisty.
The throttle response is quicker than the standard car's to go with the very direct steering. The Black Series has 75mm more front and 65mm more rear track width as well to give it a road-hugging stance. Extra rigidity to handle increased lateral dynamics is provided by strut braces in the engine compartment and boot as well as diagonal braces in the front section. A rear limited-slip differential ensures optimum traction and comes with its own cooler.
In a nutshell, the car's had some grand tourer beaten out of it and replaced with a more lithe and agile athlete begging for a racetrack. We obliged and took it for a blast around Kyalami.
I revelled in the sound of the large-displacement V8 with its mega low-rev grunt for sling-shotting out of corners (there's 500Nm on tap at only 2000rpm) and high-revving pace for scorching along the straights. And ever present was that heavy-metal thunder, even when muffled by a helmet.
Fading brakes
Power is fired to the back wheels through an AMG Speedshift 7G-Tronic auto gearbox, which isn't as slick as the newer Speedshift MCT auto recently launched in the SL63 AMG roadster but is responsive enough so that I could leave it in auto and not worry about the F1 paddle shifters.
The composite brakes really bite to bring this monster to a brisk stop, although they started fading after a few hard laps - perhaps some extra cooling is needed.
The electronic stability system has been recalibrated to match the more dynamic handling but it still proved to be a fun-sapper on-track so I switched it off. The thought of having 500 unbridled horses underfoot was a tad daunting but I soon realised this isn't a snap-oversteer kinda car and the power slides tend to be of the enduring and controllable kind (sorry about the tyres, Mercedes).
Such hooligan driving takes place with minimal body sway; the car feels pressed to the road by virtue of its stiffened and lowered AMG sports suspension and the springs and shocks have adjustable coil springs for personalised suspension settings.
Low, loud and lusty
Not only is the ride height adjustable but also the compression and rebound of the shock-absorbers, the front-axle track and camber and the rear-axle track. Track ready, this car.
It's low, loud and lusty, a Merc in touch with its playful and extravagant side.
The fact that the SA-allocated units were snapped up so quickly tells us there are Merc fans who want this sort of thing so, what other goodies might the AMG Performance Studio have to offer, I wonder?