Thoughts: C63 vs CTS-V

[Razorecko]

Get what will make you happy. Period. Brand loyalty is an excuse for being stubborn. Did you consider ride comfort also ? With the MR ride on the V it will be more of a comfortable ride than the c63. There is a large aftermarket brewing for the V and there are barely any out yet. I was actually looking at both vehicles and decided to put a deposit down for a 6spd V w/ the recaro seats. Did the one you drive have the recaro seats ? We already have a ml63 in the family and the quality is equal if not lesser to the interior of the V. Another consideration you should think about is that the V12 amg's are practically dirt cheap. Do you want to pull up to a red light in a c-class and get beaten by a 3yr old cls65 driven by a 21yr old ?? The amount of e55's i've seen lately driven around by teenagers who have a hard on has turned me off the mercs. Atleast with the V you can have it for a good year or two before all the "kiddies" have it....oh and I wanted a stickshift =)

To remove this ad, register today or login if you already are registered!

[ericpd]

Originally Posted by SebringSilver

That's an old episode.

In any case, it sounds like you're leaning towards getting the Cadillac.

Good luck with your purchase and happy motoring.

Ahhh,... leaning? Yes! Decided,... NO! (Sounded like that Super Market Manager in the Fibre One Commercials,... didn't I?) It's gonna take a lot to lure me away from the AMG badge. Especially away from the C63. Price is good on the V, power is good, interior is good, not giving up the majestic whine of a SuperCharger is good, not having to pay extra for Battle Ship wide Micky Pilot Sports on chrome truly stagered wheels (width & height) is good, not having to pay extra for remote start and a heads-up display is good. But this is just surface stuff,... and I'm giving myself two more days to check stuff out and eyeball these two some more before I decide. Ironically, I'm finding this and 2 other boards more helpful than the corp sites and lit.

I thought the episode I pulled up on line with the '08 CTS-V http://www.topgear.com/us/videos/more/v-for-victory being chased by the Audi was the old one, and this one http://www.topgear.com/us/videos/mor...in-muscle-cars with the Challenger, ZR1 and the '09 CTS-V was the new one. It's the one where they ended up on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The ZR1 topped out at 170mph by the way. Not bad for salt,... the CTS-V trapped the running mile at 160. And who cares what the Dodge did?

[soldier2304]

ummm... C63 vs CTS-V... To me is all about who can make the loudest, most annoying symphony and who would turn more heads... I could put money the caddy, even with its "556" hp cant beat the C63 at that.

My 2 cents

[c32used]

C63FTW

[GBlansten]

I just love the looks of the C63 and it's smaller size is a plus for me compared to the CTS-V.

[YellowJacket]

I looked at both heavily, but i'm leading towards the CTS-V.

Both fast, so thats a mute point.
But, all the interior sexiness of the CTS-V really wins me over. The interior of the C63 looks too stripped and bare in comparison.

And all the options in the CTS-V, but missing on the C63 like:
ventilated seats
panoramic roof
Recaro seats
back up sensors
touch-screen navigation designed by Alpine
xm traffic
xm weather
keyless go
remote start from keypad
19" wheels standard
hand stitched dash

[norb]

Either way you come out a winner because they are both great cars!

[Strafe1]

For me it would come down to these differences:
1) Vehicle size. If you want the next size up, the V is a good choice. I personally love the C-class size, for less weight, more maneuverability.
2) Auto or manual. This alone can make the decision for you.
3) Aural satisfaction. This AMG blows the pipes off the V.
4) Brand recognition. Let's face it, we all know this plays a role. As nice as the V is, there is an age associated stigma with the Caddy.

Similar power/weight ratios, similar drag and track times. Bottom line, what a great problem to have, and I don't think you can make a wrong choice!

[ericpd]

Originally Posted by soldier2304

ummm... C63 vs CTS-V... To me is all about who can make the loudest, most annoying symphony and who would turn more heads... I could put money the caddy, even with its "556" hp cant beat the C63 at that.

My 2 cents

Well here it is 8:45 in the morning (Monday), and we here in Baltimore, MD are getting pounded with this snow crap. Good thing is all the area Colleges and Universities are closed so I don't have to go in this morning. Bad thing is, I had planned on stopping at the dealership sometime today to do some more eyeballin', and maybe get behind the their respective wheels again. After reading some stuff from this and other threads, I wanted drive them again and focus on some stuff I hadn't thought of first time out. Even if I could make it to the dealership, I think all I'd find would be a sea of areal antennas sticking up through the snow,... nah, it ain't quite that bad here, but test driving is definitely out!

Oh BTW, I wanna thank everyone for their replies and advice! The more I hear/read,... the more I learn.

========

Nice lookin' C Soldier. Damn you,... every time one-a you guys post pics of your rockers, I get the envy greenies! And you know what? I don't get the same push when I see some of the personal pics over in the Caddy group,... uhmmm, wonder what that means. Still man, I'm tryin' to be partial and objective here, and you guys are screwin' that effort up for me. How much did you drop with those springs? Any clearance problems? Had a friend who dropped a C55, and it introduced some problems for him, especially after he installed his new wheels. But that could have been an offset problem as well I guess. I remember him talking about how MFG's will tell their wheels will fit, but it's best to go by the offset in the end.

[soldier2304]

Lol i feel ya, springs was 400 installed and it doesnt scrape/rub anywhere. I understand that your trying to be objective and doing your research for your next purchase but let me remind you. I WOULD PUT MONEY THOSE 556 HP DONT provide the same satisfaction as in the benz. Plus, dude you can always go with the ECU later on, and get the same power or more as the caddy...

[Lew L]

You can get 550hp on a C63 for about $5,000-5,500.

[chubbs032]

Originally Posted by Lew L

You can get 550hp on a C63 for about $5,000-5,500.

You can probably get 650hp out of the Caddy for $1-2,000

[TA-9FF]

I've never been a fan of Caddy's.

I agree that a few of their current products are indeed better, but they've come 50 years too late.

IMO, the CTS is a confusing vehicle to begin with. I always thought it was to be a contender against the 3 and C, but many auto journalists state that it's really a contender for the E and 5. Futhermore, I still agree with Clarkson. It seems like the designers at Caddy are only allowed to use a ruler to design the bodywork.

Lastly........it's a Cadillac. I'm not a 60 year old retired guy making plans to renew my membership at the local golf resort. And even if I become one, I'd just cruise in an S-Class instead. No matter how GM tries to force feed the fountain-of-youth image into new buyers, I'll never be able to see Caddy's that way.

Better off buying a C6 Z06 and call it a day.

[ericpd]

Got calls around dinner time from both salesmen. I actually think they're competing against each other,... each saying the numbers could possibly be sweetened if I trudged through the snow and paid them a visit tonight. Amazing! The Caddy salesperson even said he would double my $1,000 hold check in service credits. Now that's disctinctly American,... ploy that is! My C32 has been experiencing a clicking sound coming from the center dash. It's the heater controller. it cycles through sending air through all the vents when I first start the car and after a while, will stop cycling through the vents and settle on one set of vents to send heated air through. It's already been diagnosed, I just didn't have the time to leave it with them at the time. So over the phone we arranged for me to leave the C32 for repair in the morning and they're gonna have the C63 ready for me to take to work and return when I pick up the 32. Gonna love this,... might even call in sick! Kinda hoping I don't run into the Caddy salesman, their showrooms are less than a half football field from each other and their respective lots kiss like the American and European continental plates. To be honest, kinda wish it was the other way around,... the Caddy is the one that's really foreign to me and needs a lot of questions answered.

Oh,... about the ECU comment. It seems as thought there's more to the 6.2L than just a electronic detune on the Benz side. Some other stuff is in the mix as well. I asked about. Now on the GM side, their detune consists of electronics and blower ratio ONLY! Asked about that too! So a ECU flash and a pully kit and you got a ZR1 power plant. I would imagine exhaust manifold is in there somewhere also. The manifold on the V is a restrictive log, very much UNLIKE the factory headers on the ZR1.

[liquiddi]

There is just something special about driving a Mercedes let alone an AMG Mercedes. Cadillac will never that have no matter how much HP they add.

[peet]

Hmmm.. let's see, major discount, 0%... versus list or near list price plus full-on retail loan pricing?

I'd say the market voted and Caddy lost.

[ericpd]

Originally Posted by peet

Hmmm.. let's see, major discount, 0%... versus list or near list price plus full-on retail loan pricing?

I'd say the market voted and Caddy lost.

Merc is doing some discounting also. Their money is being sold at 1.9% last I looked. But it sorta seems like Mercedes gets a thrill out of making you ask for it though.

[Merc63]

Originally Posted by liquiddi

There is just something special about driving a Mercedes let alone an AMG Mercedes. Cadillac will never that have no matter how much HP they add.

Correct. That't what it came down to for me too. I have a Cadillac Escalade for the winter, which I love. But the Benz is where its at.

[ericpd]

Originally Posted by liquiddi

There is just something special about driving a Mercedes let alone an AMG Mercedes. Cadillac will never that have no matter how much HP they add.

Yeah,... I agree with you on that one,... totally. I remember my first Merc, a hand-me-down from my dad. Hell, I remember his first,... selling the burnt orange BMW 2002 to get it. Man that thing ran like a tank, but to me, it always felt like it needed new dampers. He even had one or two of those ga-zillion mile badges stuck to his grill by the time we got rid of it, but I never saw him worship that thing like he did that 2002. My first exposure to AMG ownership was my C32,... now I know exactly how my dad felt way back then. So your first sentence is dead on correct. Your second sentence I wanna believe is still up for debate.

Well I'm on my way to drop off my C32 for service (still under warranty) and pick up the C63 for a day. I'll post my impressions later on today. This will be my first time behind the wheel without a pre-determined test drive route. I'm gonna finally get a chance to really look this thing over.

Wish me luck!!!

[PeteyV]

Originally Posted by ericpd

Amazing,... your post reminds me of a video I found when I googled this topic (shortly after starting this thread in fact). It was from a show out of England call Top Gear. In the video they did a pretty good review of the new CTS-V and gave it pretty much a thumbs up. In the video, they had a professional race driver in an Audi S5 chase a CTS-V around a track,... it was unable to catch or pass the Caddy. If you haven't heard of this show, check out their site, these guys are hilarious,... had me cracking up. Wish our Motorweek was as entertaining and informative. PBS, which is where I watch Motorweek is never entertaining,... well almost never. They also had a nice video on their site of an episode pitting the C63 against the 4.0 liter M3 and the Audi S4. That outcome was pretty much as I suspected,... the C63 was superior in straight line performance and the show-off factor, the M3 was untouchable on the track and engineering, and the Audi bested both when it came to refinement, road stability and driver comfort.

Yeah,... during my searching around the net, I found a lot of info on tuning the C63,... lotta promise there. Even on this board I ran across a lot of guys opening up their AMG's. Then there's the performance package,... well the comes with the all the stuff included in AMG's PP like the Electronic LS diff. Pride of ownership is important,... it's the thing that keeps it fresh after your 12th payment. I understand that quite well. And quickly back to warranty, I forgot to mention that GM offers a extended warranty that's Corvette and Caddy specific,... sorta like our Mercedes Star package. So it's conceivable I could end up with 10 tens of coverage with very little loss of coverage after 5 years. Luckily, my C32 came with the Mercedes Star extended warranty,... I've had to use it serveral times and it works like a charm. So I wouldn't walk away with a C63 without one.

As far as Mustangs accelerating faster than Mercs,... well all I can say is that I've eaten many Mustangs over the years. Yeah, I've ventured across these kids with their pretty little birthday and graduation presents at a light or two. I remember the last,... one of those ugly green Steve McQueen things. The C32 never broke a sweat,... shortly after it shifted into 3rd (the C32's blue collar gear) he was no longer in view when I glanced to the right.

That's something else that's in the V's plus column,... it's Super Charged. I've sorta gotten used to that. that kick in the pants after-burner type sensation. Well, more google searches, and chatting. I plan on spending Monday and Tuesday doing a lot of this. Thanks for the replies and chat guys.

Eric

If you have the BBC channel Top Gear plays on Mondays at 8 pm. I always try to watch it, and if I can't I watch it OnDemand. Anyways, there was a newer episode where they tested out the new CTS-V the episode you are talking about is the previous CTS-V. Let me see if I can find it..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8_g9dn13YY
There it is, watch through all the videos if you'd like, its a really good episode.

[dlbello]

Originally Posted by ericpd

Yeah,... I agree with you on that one,... totally. I remember my first Merc, a hand-me-down from my dad. Hell, I remember his first,... selling the burnt orange BMW 2002 to get it. Man that thing ran like a tank, but to me, it always felt like it needed new dampers. He even had one or two of those ga-zillion mile badges stuck to his grill by the time we got rid of it, but I never saw him worship that thing like he did that 2002. My first exposure to AMG ownership was my C32,... now I know exactly how my dad felt way back then. So your first sentence is dead on correct. Your second sentence I wanna believe is still up for debate.





Well I'm on my way to drop off my C32 for service (still under warranty) and pick up the C63 for a day. I'll post my impressions later on today. This will be my first time behind the wheel without a pre-determined test drive route. I'm gonna finally get a chance to really look this thing over.

Wish me luck!!!

Don't kill yourself now Oh and Good Luck!!!

[SeattleBum]

Originally Posted by C230\PV

If you have the BBC channel Top Gear plays on Mondays at 8 pm. I always try to watch it, and if I can't I watch it OnDemand. Anyways, there was a newer episode where they tested out the new CTS-V the episode you are talking about is the previous CTS-V. Let me see if I can find it..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8_g9dn13YY
There it is, watch through all the videos if you'd like, its a really good episode.

I was gonna post this too. The OLD CTS-V beat the B7 S4 around their test track.

[SeattleBum]

Originally Posted by TA-9FF

I've never been a fan of Caddy's.

IMO, the CTS is a confusing vehicle to begin with. I always thought it was to be a contender against the 3 and C, but many auto journalists state that it's really a contender for the E and 5. Futhermore, I still agree with Clarkson. It seems like the designers at Caddy are only allowed to use a ruler to design the bodywork.

Lastly........it's a Cadillac. I'm not a 60 year old retired guy making plans to renew my membership at the local golf resort. And even if I become one, I'd just cruise in an S-Class instead. No matter how GM tries to force feed the fountain-of-youth image into new buyers, I'll never be able to see Caddy's that way.

Better off buying a C6 Z06 and call it a day.

I guess I was just secure enough in my manhood to be able to look past what others perceived of me in my Caddy...in my early 30's. The funny thing is, until I started looking at the C63, my wife always forbid me to even look at MB since THEY were old man cars.

[TA-9FF]

Originally Posted by SeattleBum

I guess I was just secure enough in my manhood to be able to look past what others perceived of me in my Caddy...in my early 30's.

I guess I'm secure enough of my manhood not to buy American.

Zing!

[SeattleBum]

Originally Posted by TA-9FF

Lastly........it's a Cadillac. I'm not a 60 year old retired guy making plans to renew my membership at the local golf resort.

The reason for my comment was your ignorant statement which insinuated that I, a previous Cadillac owner, was analogous to a Viagra-munchin old guy (who probably would kick your arse on the said golf course). Most of the guys in the 'V' sections of the Caddy forums are between 25 and 40 years of age...which is typically a bit younger than the average MB owner (albeit not the C-class owners). Aside from the trust-fund babies and the youngins living beyond their means, I would assume these average ages are income related.

Just take it as a friendly poke, not as a calling-you-out statement. I'm a nice guy, I really am.