Chris Harris DR 520 Review
Jul 14, 2010 | 09:07 PM
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Chris Harris DR 520 Review
Mercedes-Benz C-class DR 520 AMG review | evo
Mercedes-Benz C-class DR 520 AMG review
Rating:
Chris Harris drives the limited edition Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG sports estate, the mighty DR 520
What is it?
A special run of 20 cars based on the C63 saloon and estate. It will only be sold from Mercedes Benz World at Brooklands and is the first of a few such projects. It costs £62,430 for sedan and £63,680 for the wagon. Which is a bit silly. But then it does have 513bhp.
Technical highlights
As you’d expect, rather dominated by the engine. This is effectively a Brabus engine upgrade slotted into an AMG Performance Pack – in other words the tastiest C-Class imaginable that still retains the full manufacturer warranty.
Lest we should forget, the standard car has 451bhp, the AMG power upgrade is rated at 481bhp, but this is another level altogether: 513bhp and 479lb ft of torque in a C-Class. Internally, there are new pistons, rods and a revised crank.
The chassis is standard AMG Performance Pack, which is great news. It brings larger diameter front discs, red painted calipers, stiffer springs and dampers and an LSD. Inside there’s a lovely alcantara dash covering and some not so lovely DR 520 logos on the re-trimmed seats. The wheel gets a lick of posh-suede too.
What’s it like to drive?
Unsurprisingly, much like a C63 with a heap more urge. I had the estate and drove it to Germany for the weekend. For starters, this car has the best steering of anything in the class: crisp, intuitive and actually involving. The engine was tight with just 1000 miles showing and having driven over 20k miles in the past year on other 6.2-litre AMG V8s, I know how much better they become with age. Still, we managed to help loosen it up.
It sounds a little fruitier than the standard car – if that’s actually possible – and it pulls harder at any engine speed, but the real change is above 4500rpm. Then this becomes a very, very fast car. Merc claims it’s limited to 187mph, but I couldn’t get it past 182mph, where it felt utterly unfazed.
I did a couple of laps of the Nurburgring in it, and for an estate car its pace was crazy. You feel all that weight up front, and the rubber really struggles, but the car’s ultimate balance is great: friendly understeer that can be overcome with a prod of throttle.
How does it compare?
It doesn’t really. The BMW M5 wagon is, I think, dead. The Audi RS6 is way bigger and nothing like as agile. Nope, the main competition comes from the £10k cheaper bread‘n'butter Merc C63 which remains a sublime all-rounder. We’ll drive the DR 520 saloon in a few weeks and report back on how it stacks up against the BMW M3 and Audi RS5.
Anything else I need to know?
It comes with a vinyl wrap: matt white or black. This is an amusing distraction, but probably unbecoming of something this expensive and –potentially – unassuming. I’d strip it away and keep the gunmetal finished alloys. Other than that, it’s another great, fast Mercedes. Is it worth £10k more than a standard car? Possibly not, but they’ll flog all 20 without any trouble.
Monster engine, talented chassis
Dodgy wrap...
Engine:V8, 6208cc
Max power:513bhp
Max torque:479lb ft
0 - 60mph:4.2sec (claimed 0-62mph)
Top speed:187mph
Mercedes-Benz C-class DR 520 AMG review
Rating:
Chris Harris drives the limited edition Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG sports estate, the mighty DR 520
What is it?
A special run of 20 cars based on the C63 saloon and estate. It will only be sold from Mercedes Benz World at Brooklands and is the first of a few such projects. It costs £62,430 for sedan and £63,680 for the wagon. Which is a bit silly. But then it does have 513bhp.
Technical highlights
As you’d expect, rather dominated by the engine. This is effectively a Brabus engine upgrade slotted into an AMG Performance Pack – in other words the tastiest C-Class imaginable that still retains the full manufacturer warranty.
Lest we should forget, the standard car has 451bhp, the AMG power upgrade is rated at 481bhp, but this is another level altogether: 513bhp and 479lb ft of torque in a C-Class. Internally, there are new pistons, rods and a revised crank.
The chassis is standard AMG Performance Pack, which is great news. It brings larger diameter front discs, red painted calipers, stiffer springs and dampers and an LSD. Inside there’s a lovely alcantara dash covering and some not so lovely DR 520 logos on the re-trimmed seats. The wheel gets a lick of posh-suede too.
What’s it like to drive?
Unsurprisingly, much like a C63 with a heap more urge. I had the estate and drove it to Germany for the weekend. For starters, this car has the best steering of anything in the class: crisp, intuitive and actually involving. The engine was tight with just 1000 miles showing and having driven over 20k miles in the past year on other 6.2-litre AMG V8s, I know how much better they become with age. Still, we managed to help loosen it up.
It sounds a little fruitier than the standard car – if that’s actually possible – and it pulls harder at any engine speed, but the real change is above 4500rpm. Then this becomes a very, very fast car. Merc claims it’s limited to 187mph, but I couldn’t get it past 182mph, where it felt utterly unfazed.
I did a couple of laps of the Nurburgring in it, and for an estate car its pace was crazy. You feel all that weight up front, and the rubber really struggles, but the car’s ultimate balance is great: friendly understeer that can be overcome with a prod of throttle.
How does it compare?
It doesn’t really. The BMW M5 wagon is, I think, dead. The Audi RS6 is way bigger and nothing like as agile. Nope, the main competition comes from the £10k cheaper bread‘n'butter Merc C63 which remains a sublime all-rounder. We’ll drive the DR 520 saloon in a few weeks and report back on how it stacks up against the BMW M3 and Audi RS5.
Anything else I need to know?
It comes with a vinyl wrap: matt white or black. This is an amusing distraction, but probably unbecoming of something this expensive and –potentially – unassuming. I’d strip it away and keep the gunmetal finished alloys. Other than that, it’s another great, fast Mercedes. Is it worth £10k more than a standard car? Possibly not, but they’ll flog all 20 without any trouble.
Monster engine, talented chassis Dodgy wrap...Engine:V8, 6208cc
Max power:513bhp
Max torque:479lb ft
0 - 60mph:4.2sec (claimed 0-62mph)
Top speed:187mph
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