Outrageous Mercs To Target Oz Market
Illawarra Mercury
Friday April 14, 2000
MERCEDES-BENZ is extremely serious about pulling away from its previous image of building sensible cars for the middle-aged driver.
While it still does that, and always will, these days it's heavily involved in Formula One racing, winning the drivers' championship for the last two years.
Now it has dramatically increased its range of AMG high performance machines and is starting a major push into the Australian market.
In case you haven't heard of it before, AMG is to Mercedes what HSV is to Holden, only even more so. The prestigious German maker, which has had full control of AMG since early 1999, turns out some astonishing cars. Everything from huge 7.3-litre V12 engines to totally over the top paint jobs and big-budget interior revamps to tastes that may not suit everyone
The Middle East is AMG's big area of operation as oil rich millionaires compete with one another in outrageous Mercs, but now Australia is very much in AMG's sights.
Well-heeled Aussie car enthusiasts can now choose from the full range of Mercedes-Benz AMG models. Prices range from $156,1000 for the C43 AMG to $196,100 for the E55 AMG, plus the cost of any additional specific customising.
That money buys you a hand-finished car engineered to an extremely high standard. Naturally there's plenty of straight line performance, you wouldn't expect anything else from a car with a seriously reworked big engine crammed into a small space, but there's more to it than simply bulk acceleration.
Every car is comprehensively revised in the all-important areas of steering, handling, and braking. Ride height is generally lowered, though not to too great an extent, and larger wheels and performance tyres are installed. The result is a car that's guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of any driving enthusiast.
We have just spent a full day at the Phillip Island racing circuit in Victoria testing - and enjoying - many variants on the AMG theme. In particular those with the worked 5.5-litre V8 that's likely to form the backbone of the sales chart.
With 265kW (360bhp) and over 500Nm of torque, the big high-tech emits an excellent exhaust note at the same time as it propels the car towards the horizon at a great rate.
Everything is kept very much under control by Mercedes' complex Electronic Stability Program (with the endearing acronym of ESP) that takes over if you push the car too hard and brings it safely back into line. Provided, that is, you are not doing something really silly.
If you want to see a Mercedes-Benz AMG in action, but the model is totally out of your reach, you can view one leading the field at any Formula One Grand Prix - AMG supplies the safety car. Based on a CLK55 it can reach 280km/h but best of all its stunning styling hasn't been overwhelmed by crazy paintwork, it still looks like the real thing.
© 2000 Illawarra Mercury
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