2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series

Mention Laguna Seca Raceway and the conversation invariably zeroes in on the famous Corkscrew, also known as Turns 8 and 8A. Problem is, there's more to this 2.2-mile circuit than one signature corner.

Right now, the Corkscrew is eight turns ahead, as our hot lap in the 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series has only just begun. It thunders up the front straightaway toward the start-finish line with 510 horsepower beating under its ventilated hood. It's the single most powerful C-Class ever made, including the 2008 CLK63 AMG Black Series, the former F1 pace car. This is a high-performance coupe of the highest order and we have one of the best racetracks in the world to see how it performs.

What Makes It a Black Series Anyway?
The C63 AMG Black Series engine builds on the same 6.2-liter 90-degree V8 that has powered every garden-variety C63 AMG sedan and coupe since 2008. In its standard state of tune it develops 451 hp and some seriously intoxicating noises.

From there, the path to 510 horses and 457 pound-feet of torque involves a stop at the SLS AMG parts bin, where forged pistons, forged rods and a lighter forged crank amount to a 9-pound loss of reciprocating engine mass. There's also a unique engine ECU map that's generally more aggressive on the way to this engine's redline of 7,200. The standard C63 engine only spins up to 6,800 rpm.

Additionally, the Black Series engine block omits the base C63's internal sump vents between adjacent crankshaft bearings. This transforms the bottom end into a series of isolated V2 compartments meant to capture the pressure buildup beneath each plummeting piston to help push it up again for additional torque. The trade-off is a lumpier idle, but we're OK with that.

AMG predicts a 0-62-mph time of 4.2 seconds for the Black Series, which is about 0.2 second better than the standard C63 coupe. But we recently timed a C63 AMG coupe to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, so we're expecting more like a 4.0-second sprint to 60 mph. The Black Series also enjoys a 186-mph top speed compared to the 155-mph limiter on the standard C63.

Putting the Black to the Test
But this is no drag racer. The 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black is a circuit-ready car built to deliver the goods lap after flying lap — a good thing to know as we flash under the starter's stand at full whack, flicking the upshift paddle connected to the familiar seven-speed MCT transmission.

Turn 1 is a slight kink shielded from view by a looming crest, an annoying combination that unweights the car on approach to the braking area for the real first turn, otherwise known as Turn 2 or the Andretti hairpin. Braking must wait until the car settles into a straight path on the other side; wait too long and it's hello, gravel trap.

This is the most track-ready C-Class ever made.

Six-piston front calipers and four-piston rears do the work. But here they bite into two-piece 15.4-inch ventilated, slotted and cross-drilled front rotors and similarly holey 14.2-inch one-piece rear rotors. Both are 1.2 inches bigger than those on a regular C63 AMG. In heavy track use they're damn impressive without the need for superhuman pedal pressure.

Wider high-performance tires deserve partial credit. Compared to a standard C63, the 255/35R19 Black Series fronts and 285/30R19 rears are 20mm and 30mm wider, respectively. Our test car goes a step further with its optional AMG Track package, which upgrades said rubber to R-compound Dunlop Sport Maxx Race MO units of the same size.

Turn In, Turn On
The sticky tires continue to bite hard as we slow enough to dial in some lock, and when we do there isn't a whiff of understeer. A change in front wheel offset spreads those fatter contact patches 1.6 inches farther apart, and covering the tires takes 1.1 inches more fender flare per side than a C63 AMG coupe, a car that already sports a front track that's 1.4 inches wider than the C350 coupe.

The tire/pavement interface is regulated by an adjustable coil-over suspension comprised of threaded-body KW dampers with separate manual "clickers" for rebound and compression. We'd have to jack the car and possibly remove tires to make such tweaks, but Tobias Moers, AMG's head of vehicle development, is pretty confident in the factory setting. We cannot argue with him.

With the corner exit coming into view it's time to lay into the throttle. We go easy at first, but the rear end hooks up securely through the standard carbon-plate limited-slip differential. And like the front, the massive rear tires have an easier time of it because the rear track is fully 3.1 inches wider compared to the C63 AMG through the combined-use wheel offset and E-Class rear suspension knuckles. Boxy DTM-style fender flares measuring 1.7 inches per side contain the mayhem but not the tire smoke.

Through the next series of infield corners we drive deeper into braking zones and boot the throttle sooner on exits. Each time the fortified coupe goes where we point it, never pushing, never feeling as if the rear end will snap around. This is a very neutrally balanced car.

And even though we're skimming every curb, the Black Series remains unperturbed, never skittish. It makes us think that this has a fighting chance of riding tolerably on the open road, a hypothesis we are sadly unable to test on this day.

The Corkscrew and Beyond
Turn 6 may be the most important because this fast bend leads onto the long uphill straightaway that dumps into the Corkscrew. Get it right and you'll be in a good position to divebomb your rival at the top. Get it wrong and you could end up backward in the tire wall before the climb starts.

A faint brush of brakes helps set the car before we go back to throttle, turn in and swallow the apex curbing whole. The Black Series does this with easy precision at a high rate of knots, yet there's still more speed in the car at this point than we're willing to exploit in deference to our lack of roll cage and fire suit.

We charge up the hill toward the largely theoretical Turn 7, another mere kink intended to make the Corkscrew braking zone more of a challenge. The Black Series brakes modulate here with clairvoyant ease, after which the Corkscrew itself is a quick left-right flick with a cliff in between. It's not as daunting as it looks from outside, but the drop-off renders the second apex invisible.

"Aim for the tree," they say. Trouble is, there are several.

Next is the deceptively difficult Rainey curve, where good grip and patience with the throttle are key. The Black Series has plenty of the former, yet enough motor to italicize and underline the need for the latter. Another fast-banked right-hander shoots us into the braking zone for turn 11, the final tight bend that aims us toward the flag and invites us to stand on the gas and do it all over again.

The Pits
It's not necessarily over when we wheel the 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series into the pits, as it comes with a new feature dubbed AMG Performance Media. It partners with the standard navigation and COMAND system to map race circuits and record driver performance. Files extracted via USB stick can be analyzed on companion PC software. Cool stuff, but unfortunately it's absent from the U.S. options list.

We're also mixed on the MCT seven-speed automatic transmission. Sure it's got four shift modes and launch control, but on the track the S+ automatic mode downshifts sooner into corners than Manual mode, which often ignores requests. It's a great transmission in most respects, but it is an automatic at heart.

Certain lightweight goods that are Black Series staples aren't for U.S. sale, such as the grippy one-piece lightweight race-inspired bucket seats. Instead we'll get the same multiway power sport seats found in any other C63 AMG. The rear-seat delete that's standard in Europe will be an option here, an option we figure no dealer will order. And our alleged love affair with the sunroof means every U.S. C63 AMG Black Series coupe will carry the weight of one.

A 6-Figure C-Class?
Not that any of this will dampen sales because fewer than 100 of the total worldwide run of 500-600 C63 AMG Black Series coupes are destined for these shores. Pricing won't be released until mid-December, after which cars will begin hitting showrooms in the first quarter of 2012. At that miniscule volume we figure they'll sell every one of them in short order, even if they go for the $98,500 starting price we're expecting.

If the 2008 CLK 63 AMG Black Series is any judge, it'll be worth it from a retained value perspective down the road. But screw resale value. The case for the 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series rests solely on its performance. This is the most track-ready C-Class ever made. It devoured the Corkscrew and the rest of Laguna Seca and will likely do the same to any of your favorite back roads.

Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.