Comparison: 2007 BMW Alpina B7 vs 2008 Mercedes CLK63 Black Video

MotorTrend

Lets say youre in the fortunate position of having $120

Transcript

00:00 Hi, I'm John Keywitz with Motor Trend Magazine.

00:07 Let's say you have, oh, say a spare $120,000 rolling around in your pocket and you want

00:12 to buy a new car, something exclusive but it must be German.

00:15 On two ends of the performance spectrum you have the brand new BMW from Alpina and you

00:19 have the AMG 63.

00:21 On the performance end of the spectrum you can pick the all new Mercedes-Benz CLK 63

00:25 AMG Black Series.

00:26 It's an ultra-rare car inspired by the Formula One safety car, packing 500 horsepower from

00:31 its AMG V8.

00:32 It has bulging DTM-like fenders and race car-like minimalist interior.

00:38 Or if you prefer a bit of luxury with your sport, you could go for the all new Alpina

00:42 B7 Super Sedan, a hopped up BMW 7 Series with 500 horsepower coming from a supercharged

00:48 V8.

00:50 Both of these two German rockets are extremely satisfying but each represents the opposite

00:54 end of the performance luxury spectrum.

00:56 The Mercedes is low, wide, loud and mean, a race car for the streets.

01:00 While the Alpina is powerful yet luxurious, smooth and full of features to keep you comfortable

01:05 and entertained.

01:06 So what will it be?

01:07 Beauty or the Beast?

01:08 Today we have two luxury cars, the BMW 7 Series from Alpina and the CLK 63.

01:37 This is a specially tuned out AMG version that is called the Black Series.

01:42 We're out on the figure eight, we're going to see how both of them handle.

01:45 I would expect this one to handle a lot better but let's see how it does.

01:49 Alright so we're just entering the course now.

01:51 Fairly neutral, a little bit of understeer there but if you give it a little bit of throttle,

01:58 there we go, comes right around.

02:02 This car has tremendous brakes.

02:05 Huge rotors and calipers.

02:06 Very predictable.

02:07 A little bit of oversteer coming out of the corners.

02:14 Surprisingly for how low and stiffly sprung this car is, it actually rides quite nice.

02:20 AMG has done their homework with this car but no matter how smooth this rides, I'm sure

02:27 the 7 Series from Alpina is going to be a magic carpet by comparison.

02:33 I will have to say I've driven a lot of different Mercedes-Benz over the years and this one

02:40 is by far the best handling, most responsive, most predictable Mercedes-Benz I've ever driven.

02:47 I just wish I could be out on the Nürburgring today instead of at a racetrack in Fontana.

02:59 We just went for a performance ride in the Hellspawn AMG 63.

03:03 This is the Black Series car.

03:04 The thing was awesome.

03:05 It was out of control.

03:06 Power everywhere.

03:07 Drifting, sliding, it was wonderful.

03:08 Now we're in the Alpina 7 Series.

03:11 With this 7 Series, Alpina has done a nice warm-up.

03:14 Power improvements by way of a supercharger under here.

03:16 This is a centrifugal supercharger which is essentially a belt-driven turbocharger.

03:21 The thing makes big boosts, pushes the tires into a smoky slide.

03:25 It's great.

03:26 But they've also done some suspension changes and also some wheel and tire upgrades.

03:30 Let's see how it does out on our figure 8 test.

03:33 Tires are howling a little bit there.

03:34 A little bit of understeer.

03:35 Boy, there you go.

03:37 When you hit it, this thing really goes.

03:39 Once you get on supercharger boost, the engine comes alive.

03:45 It's relatively predictable but as expected, the threshold of this is much lower than the

03:50 AMG.

03:51 But then again, this car isn't made to be a canyon carver like that is.

03:55 This is supposed to haul four or five people of your family going to the opera in style

03:59 but yet have a nice amount of performance.

04:04 You know, for a big car, this thing still handles pretty darn well.

04:07 The nice thing is, it's right behind us.

04:10 There's a lot of space for family, luggage, whereas the AMG has no seats at all.

04:16 There's absolutely nothing back.

04:17 It's been all stripped out.

04:18 It's a lot noisier, a lot hotter, a lot louder.

04:21 This car gets the job done with all the luxury you'd expect from a supercar like this.

04:38 We decided to give the Alpina a chance to redeem itself at the drag strip where its

04:41 506 pounds-feet of torque was sure to even the score.

04:51 Follow that supercharged power on tap, the Alpina did an admirable job of hanging with

04:56 the cans.

04:57 Off the line, the Alpina got the jump on the CLK 63.

05:01 But once the AMG got traction, it pulled away from the Alpina effortlessly.

05:17 Next up, we compared braking from 60 mph to zero.

05:22 Once again, the Mercedes reveals its supercar DNA by outstopping the Alpina in braking competition

05:27 thanks to its low, tight suspension and huge race-spec brakes.

05:32 Not surprisingly, the Mercedes-Benz ends up being the better performing car of the two.

05:36 However, what's most surprising is how close the Alpina is.

05:39 For a 4,700-pound luxury sedan filled to the brim with leather, suede, television, a navigation

05:44 system and a whole lot of other comfort and entertainment toys, it's incredibly fast.

05:49 Sure you'll lose to the purpose-built CLK 63 around a racetrack, but you and your four

05:53 passengers will be ridiculously comfortable in doing so.

05:57 But in the end, which do you pick?

05:59 The race-car-like Mercedes CLK 63 Black Series or the luxurious Alpina B7?

06:05 Beauty or the Beast?

06:06 Well, why not one of each?

06:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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