Through Ian's Lens: 2009 Mercedes-Benz C63

Picture this: Smoke floats effortlessly across the screen, a soft voice tells you about horsepower, and then, out of nowhere, comes the rear end of a car drifting sideways into the frame with tires blazing. You realize that the effortlessly floating smoke is being created by one of the biggest burnouts you’ve ever seen. This is not a NASCAR dream; this is a commercial for the new 2009 Mercedes-Benz C63. Ah ... the imagery.

Ever since I saw this commercial six months ago, I knew I would love this car. Visually, I have enjoyed the redesigned Mercedes-Benz C-Class. With a different hood and some serious fender work, the C63 takes that elegant design and turns it on its head. The front end of the C63 looks like it might bite you with its wide grille, big air intakes in front of the tires, and furrowed hood. Harsh lines from the front fender travel all the way back through the spoiler, infusing this car with style and performance. And who knew that Mercedes would release a car in candy-apple red? I could gush about the C63 for weeks, but I’ll let the photos do the talking for me. Please leave your remarks in the comments section; a full set of photos is below. Feel free to use the “Full Screen” mode on the photo browser. This car is meant to be seen up close.

Comments

I drove a c220 in germany & a BMW 318i. I would take the Bimmer any day over the Merc. The Bimmer wuz tighter feeling & just a nicer drive IMHO. The side marker reflector that Merc put on the US spec cars is down right tacky!!

The front side marker is fine, the flared fenders are tacky.

Flickr? You can't be serious! Is Cars.com run out of someone's basement?

Although the engine is outstanding, I think interior space and materials quality will be an issue.

Please provide more shots of the C-Class interior.

there is nothing wrong with flickr, i esp. like the full screen option. I drove a c220 in Germany & it didn't have leather, only partial power seats, & no xenon. It did have the navi which is cool the way it pops out, better than BMW's "Hump" navi in the 3 series.

i agree, the side markers r tacky mainly because they r higher on this model due to the flares. They could've put em in the headlamp assembly! Are there any reflective areas in the headlamps for the Euro specs? The interior looks a bit on the cheapo side, IMHO. The dash has a low rent quality to it!

Torr,
did you click on the full size expansion? Flickr is actually a really useful tool but yes, we use a different system for Cars.com proper.

300 horsepower is fast, 400 will take your breath away, that's why we gave it 451. (Just to make sure we DO suffocate you.)

Still laughing like crazy for that stupid commercial line.

The C63 is a bit ridiculous - who needs all that power? Combined with the "arrest me red" color it's a ticket factory. For the same price you could have an S class. Mercedes might be immune from many trends, but selling raw horsepower seems out of step with the times, and J is right - the ad writer went a little too far when the horsepower speaks for itself.

It's really not that ridiculous when you look a the competition. The M3 is at 414, the S4 will most likely play around in the 400hp arena, and the Cadillac CTS-V is at a whopping 556hp!

There is a market for big horsepower and only a few lucky folks who get to experience this for themselves. It's easy to sit back and question the "need" but for those with the money (Definitely not me :) ) it's all about the "want".

I just bought the c63 2days ago here in the U.S stop comparing the c220 to the c63, its a totally different car from the sheetmetal to the ball bearings, this is by far the best C MB has built and blows the RS4, M3 AND EVEN M5, and the IS-F into regular cars, drive one, expierence then talk, they would ask 75K for a cheap car, especially if they knew no1 would buy it.