Mercedes ML63 AMG : MUD AND THUNDER

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If You Want A 4x4 With The Power To Spare, Look No Further Than The Mercedes ML63 AMG. Andy Enright Reports

If you drive a big 4x4, chances are you may have received some negative feedback from some sanctimonious road users on your choice of car. You can either ignore them, buy something a little less obtrusive or alternatively, earn so much money that you move into a class where normal rules do not apply. If thats the case, you may well need a Mercedes ML63 AMG.

A key priority amongst buyers of very high end houses these days is the ability to drive into a vast garage and not be able to be seen from the road. This way celebrities and high profile business people can always retain a certain amount of privacy. This is the world inhabited by ML63 AMG owners. Its not your normal kind of luxury 4x4.

510bhp sees to that. So does the £75,000 price tag. Yes, you did read that last figure right. Whats more, that power output is achieved without recourse to anything as simple as turbocharging, Mercedes claiming that at the time of launch, this was the most powerful normally aspirated V8 engine in any production car.

The ML63 wears its superlatives comfortably. It outguns the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and the BMW X5 4.8iS in terms of sheer power and due to the fact that its chassis is comfortably lighter, its crushingly quicker as well. The fact that this engine reaches its peak power output at a heady 6,800rpm should speak volumes.

This is no lugger. Under the bonnet of this M-Class beats the heart of a supercar; a hand built 6.3-litre engine that thrives on revs. Even the peak torque figure of 465lb/ft is reached at a lofty 5,200rpm.

If your driving style is to expect huge expanses of low-end grunt, this Mercedes isnt for you. A Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI will probably be more the ticket. If, on the other hand, youd like to experience the somewhat unlikely scenario of a full-sized 4x4 that thinks its a hot hatch, the Mercedes will paint a huge grin on your face. Like many series production Mercedes models, the top speed of the ML63 AMG is limited to 155mph.

This means that in theory you wont storm the autobahns any quicker than the driver of a humble C350 but this sort of money buys the ability to have the technical bods at Affalterbach slyly noble a couple of lines of the ECUs coding. Despite the MLs huge frontal area, youll then be looking at a top end thats on nodding acquaintance with 180mph. Of possibly a little more relevance to many will be the cars ability to step off the line cleanly. Paparazzi will need handy motorbikes to stay with the ML 63 AMGs sprint to 60mph of just 5.

0 seconds. If theyre trying to keep pace in a Porsche 911 Carrera, theyll be treated to the sight of the Mercedes quad tail pipes pulling away from them.

"The ML63 AMG offers an unlikely brand of instant-on shocking acceleration"

Whats more, whereas youll need a fair degree of skill to extract a five second sprint to 60mph from a 911, in the ML63 AMG it genuinely is press and play. The sophisticated all-wheel drive system will achieve traction in inclement road conditions and the AMG Speedshift and G-Tronic seven-speed automatic gearbox will just slur seamlessly through the gears with no apparent let up in that tidal wave of power. If youre feeling playful, its possible to zip up and down the box using wheel-mounted shift buttons, but the systems software is so smart, youll probably be tempted to slot it into either Comfort or Sport mode and let it do the thinking. The old ML55 AMG was a piece of work but the 63 generates 46 per cent more power and 23 per cent more torque.

Thats serious. Its tempting to think that a vehicle with this bulk and power would lose the plot when it was shown a corner, but drive even the humblest M-Class and youll realise that this isnt the case. AMG, Mercedes tuning arm, have pulled out all the stops with this model, fitting it with a sportier version of the AIRMATIC air suspension system. AMG-specific dampers and a specially configured adaptive damping system (ADS) that keeps the ML63 AMG firmly planted to the road also feature.

Body roll has been reduced, while squat and dive have been markedly quelled and a suspension height control system automatically drops the car a few millimetres at high speeds for improved aerodynamic performance. The standard fit wheels are high-sheen 19-inch AMG five-spoke alloys and the ride and handling have been optimised for the 295/45 R19 tyres these wheels wear. That said, its easy to see plenty of customers instead plumping for the optional 20-inch rims shod with 40 series tyres. Whichever size you choose, youve got a very big tyre footprint through which the huge AMG high-performance brakes can translate their retarding power to the tarmac.

Thankfully Mercedes have resisted the temptation to bling the ML63 AMG to kingdom come. The styling changes over the ML500 are actually rather subtle, the biggest giveaway probably being the rear apron and exhausts. The wings are slightly flared as well and theres an AMG radiator grille. Stainless steel running boards ruin any vestigial pretence of off-road ability and dark tinted rear lights are also fitted.

The interior features AMG sports seats trimmed in Nappa leather and Alcantara. There are also AMG-specific door sills, steering wheel and instrument cluster. Stainless steel sports pedals with rubber grips and a 200mph calibrated speedometer will have school kids drooling. It would be easy to get all Guardianista and give the Mercedes ML63 AMG a pasting for its sheer profligacy and, some might say, pointlessness.

If youre not a target customer, thats a relatively simple task. If you were in the enviable position of being able to run an ML63 AMG without it significantly denting your bottom line, it would take a lot of restraint not to indulge. Excuse me while I check my email. Some chap in Lagos has just shown me a way to make a potful

FACTS AT A GLANCE

CAR: Mercedes ML63 AMG
PRICE: £75,147 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 392g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 5.0s / Max Speed 155mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 11.7mpg / (extra urban) 23.1mpg / (combined) 17.1mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS / ESP
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height mm 4780/1911/1795