C63 AMG Edition 507: Not Quite A Black Series, Hence It's Grey

Pictured: 1521 horsepower.

Tyres beware. There's a new AMG out. Three of them, actually, although they're all the same when you disregard their bodies. It's called the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Edition 507, and by reading its full name you've just read how much horsepower it has. Yup, that's right, it has 63 horsepower. Not.

The POWERRRRRRRR comes from the usual "6.3 AMG" engine - famous for actually being a 6.2 - but it makes 20bhp more than the version of the AMG version of the C-Class that in turn makes 30bhp more than the AMG version of the C-Class, called the C63 AMG AMG Performance Package. Got that? Nope? I'll stop being fatuous and spell it out then: First the C63 AMG makes 457bhp. Then adding the AMG Performance Package adds 30bhp to make 487. Now there's this, which makes 507 and replaces the Perf' Pack.

Where did they find another 20 horses? In the Secret Shed, that's where. You see, if you want a Very-AMG version then you have to wait patiently with a cheque for Really A Lot Of Money while the Black Series team - a performance division of Mercedes-Benz's performance division - takes an AMG and make it literally mental. They did this a year ago with this very car to make the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupé Black Series, a car with a mouthful of a name and gobs of power to spew all over the rear tyres until they either pulled themselves from the rims in protest or embraced the sweet release of death. Fitting that it looked like a monster from a children's book, really, because to drive it was literally mental. However, the thing about a Black Series car is that they only unleash a small-ish number of them on the world, and all 800 of them have been sold to unsuspecting victims. So what if you can't find one but want a 507bhp version of that awesome V8? Enter the Edition 507, with its Black Series engine in the normal AMG body. Well, normal aside from the bonnet nostrils required to keep that beast alive for longer, no matter how angry it gets.

With its forged pistons, SLS crankshaft and improved conrods, the growling V8 also makes 450lb/ft of torque and is a whopping three kilograms lighter than before. As a tribute to its black origins, you get more black than a black hole's shadow, with the grille surrounds, door mirror casings, wheels (aside from the rims), front spoiler, boot spoiler, "designo" leather and alcantara all painted black, as well as the optional (black) carbon fibre or Piano Black interior trim, and a black AMG side stripe that's black. Even the headlights are black! But not when they're on, obviously...

Speaking of optional extras, a locking differential - essential in a car like this and standard on the full-on Black Series - is something you have to pay extra for, along with improved suspension to cope with the extra, er, 20 horsepower. Sounds like some sneaky business dreamt up by the accountants to me. Or perhaps it's to keep a slight gap between this regular version and the Black Series, which to be fair is also distanced from the Edition 507 by the absence of rear seats, presence of bucket front seats, weight loss and a rollcage, along with that mad bodykit. Perhaps this is meant as a Black Series that's less of a cartoonish pretend track weapon and more of a road-biased car for people who aren't Jeremy Clarkson. Actually, that's an ironic name choice, because an equally-powerful C63 that rides properly is something he would really like. In fact that sounds like something many people would like, especially as it's also available as a four-door saloon or even an estate, which is just plain awesome. You could put orange lights on it and be an F1 Medical Car! Or use it to feed your unbridled hatred of tyres and let the 6.2-litre V8 loose on those two 19" black rear wheels. Because to an AMG engine, tyres are the enemy. Tyres are the great censors of fury. They try to harness and control the engine. Tyres are EVIL and THEY MUST DIE.

Of course, if you don't want to die as well, there's always the traction control systems to play with. Tyres are an old enemy the engine knows well, but computers? It can only do so much. They're next...

Interested in one of the great German muscle cars of our time? We will probably learn of the prices at the Geneva Motor Show in March, where it will be officially unveiled by Germans going "here is ze new C63 AMG with 20 more horsepower, some black paint and a side stripe. It's yours for €10,000 more zhan ze normal price." You should also know that the Designo Magno Platinum paint finish - or satin silver to humans - is an optional extra as well.

But what else is it? The last new model to use this almighty engine that sounds like a NASCAR in a thunderstorm? Well, technically it was announced after the literally mental SLS Black Series and all new AMG models are now getting the downsized 5.5-litre BiTurbo engine instead, so it might just be. So consider it a celebration of a time when it was socially acceptable to shoehorn a huge naturally-aspirated V8 into an executive car and give it flared wheel arches and four exhaust pipes. Perhaps it's also nice that the final year of V8 Formula 1 cars coincides with it (or depending on your outlook, sad that the word 'final' applies to either of these things), and speaking of which, this is a nice little distraction from the fact that we won't see the F1 W04 until Monday the 4th. This has been your break from reading F1 posts on SBV8.

Why call a 6208cc engine a 6.3? In reference to the very first AMG car, the legendary "Red Sow".

Technical Specnicals:

Layout: Front-Engined, Rear-Wheel-Drive

Engine: 6208cc V8, Naturally Aspirated, 7-speed automatic gearbox with paddles

Power/Torque/CO2: 507bhp / 450lb/ft / 319g/km

Weight: 1727kg / 1777kg / 1792kg (Coupé / Saloon / Estate)

Acceleration: 0-62mph in 4.2s (Coupé and Saloon, 4.3s for Estate)

Top Speed: 174mph (280km/h) - Limited

Price: TBC

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Force India Reveals Daring One-Driver Plan

The entire Force India driver line-up, plus one of two cars he'll have to drive at each Grand Prix.

Oh dear. It seems Paul di Resta will seriously have his work cut out this year at Force India F1. It seems at this point that the Scottish driver and former DTM champion will have to drive both VJM06s for the Indian team, as no other drivers have been announced. With Nico Hülkenberg defecting to rival team Sauber - whose car will appear tomorrow - and whoever their test driver was apparently gone as well, he may not have a choice in the matter unless the team formerly known as Jordan get their act together and announce in the next four days who else will pilot the new car, which becomes the third to add the Vanity Panel and make Lotus GP look a little foolish for not having one. At the moment it might be returning club brawler Adrian Sutil or last year's apparently AWOL test driver Jules Bianchi, but it probably won't be Kamui Kobayashi, despite the fan favourite raising over a million pounds (in Yen, of course) in supporter's donations. He has said that he will have to look at returning in 2014 instead...

Last year was mixed for Force India, as they ultimately came 7th in the Constructor's Championship (a drop of one place from 2011). They did still get some high finishes, such as a 4th place at both Belgium and Singapore, and Hülkenberg getting damn close to winning the closing round at Brazil, before losing the back end under braking in greasy conditions and clattering into race leader Lewis Hamilton, while trying to avoid the Caterham they were both lapping. He seems to be good at that track, having also put a Williams on Pole Position there in 2010 against all odds, so watch out for a rouge Sauber at the sharp end of the Interlagos grid this November.

Anyway, Force India's steady rise throughout 2012 was impressive given that the seemingly effective upgrade packages stopped coming about halfway through the season, at which point they'd decided to focus on the car you see here instead. With that much time lavished on it and at least one driver who knows what it'll be like, they could be a dark horse this season. When Honda put that kind of development into a car, and that car ended up having a Mercedes-Benz engine squeezed inside it, we had the dominant 2009 Brawn GP001. Can the Merc-powered Force India emulate that to some extent and score podiums? That's certainly their aim, and they tend to have a good all-rounder of a car, which helps them at all-rounder tracks like Spa, where they got their only ever Pole Position and podium finish in 2009, coming second to Kimi Räikkonen's Ferrari F60 in the race.

Until the first test session starts next week, keep an ear out for any driver announcements. Paul di Resta certainly is, otherwise he'll be demanding that they double his salary......

BIG PICTURE. Carbon fibre mullet present and partying out back.

Seeing as they're based at Silverstone, why not use up the allocated promotional filming time while everybody's watching?

The nervous smile of a man who may have to drive two cars this year...

Black-painted "chin" under the nose is a long-standing Force India feature to improve air flow under the car.

I think that the whole driving two cars thing will be fine for Practice and Qualifying, but in the race he'll either have to switch cars and lose all his progress, or get a lookalike to drive the other one while lying about having a time machine. It's a risky strategy, we'll just have to see whether Force India go with after all or not...

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Ferrari F138 Forsakes Fugly Front For Fans

2013 Ferrari F138

Finally finding favour with Ferrari fans (man I love alliteration), the evolved version of the F2012 becomes the second Formula 1 car to use the new Vanity Panel, covering up that unsightly step in the nose. Well hey, if any car company is vein, it's Ferrari. While their reliability has been in question almost constantly, something perhaps equally consistent is their beauty, often defining a decade with cars like the Testarossa, 250 GTO and 458. So an ugly Ferrari just won't do, and while I along with most people largely got used to the idea of stepped noses, the Ferrari's unceremonious ramp just didn't work for me, especially as they even highlighted it by putting the white race number on it, having a similar effect to adding a headlight in some ways. From the front it somehow also made the front tyres look like big floppy dog ears...

But enough whining of a car we'll barely ever see again. This is the 2013 F138. Why not call it the F2013? Because thirteen is unlucky, that's why. Also, as it's the last year of the V8 engine, mentioning it with an 8 simultaneously sorts out the Triskaidekaphobia and commemorates the closing of an era. The smooth nose joins onto yet another evolutionary design, while the revised livery features a white stripe dividing Rosso Scuderia and black highlights the shape of the car a little, and looks good. That said, the front wing struts jutting out to meet the tip of the nose can make it look a little blunt from some angles in my opinion.

Pictured: one of "some angles"

Aside from the new nose, exterior changes once again boil down to revised wings (the rear featuring slots all the way up the back of the endplates, which is unusual) and improved Coandă exhaust. The Coandă effect can be demonstrated with a straw and a hanging teaspoon, and can be more visually demonstrated with tap water, although with water the effect is actually Surface Tension, which is very similar (here's a video of those things with a slightly inaccurate description). The diffuser is a mystery, seeing as it was covered up at the official presentation. Interesting........

Open wide! Rear-facing camera almost looks like tonsils from this angle...

Internally, the KERS has been lightened and improved, while the all-pullrod suspension has been improved at the front and completely revised at the back to make it better in the corners. The exhaust system has also been completely revised.

The driver lineup this year is the same as it was last year, despite a poor showing in the first half of the season from professional second fiddle Felipe Massa. Why did he stay on for another year? Partly because Ferrari don't like newbies and would struggle to find another top driver willing to be Fernando Alonso's number two, but also because in the second half of last season, Massa was the fourth highest-scoring driver, compared to being the fourteenth best in the first half of 2012. His comeback saved his bacon. With his confidence well and truly returned to pre-Hungary-2009-accident levels, perhaps this pairing will be more Button and Hamilton than Batman and Robin. Personally I'd love to see Massa have some success this year. He got so much stick last year and I hate to see someone just as driven as anyone else become the big famous team's whipping boy. I mean come on, this guy was temporarily the 2008 world champion! Give him a chance to be a permanent world champion, even if Alonso generally out-qualifies him and made a truly heroic effort last year to outperform the dodgy car and come second in the championship against much better-sorted opposition.

We'll see how the F138 gets on against the opposition relatively soon, but for now here are some more pictures of it, starting with a comparison with the five previous Scuderia Ferrari machines:

Compare it with last year's car and tell me it's not an improvement.

"I don't sell cars; I sell engines. The cars I throw in for free since something has to hold the engines in." - Enzo Ferrari

The phrase "this is all you'll ever see of it" probably doesn't apply to this image.

Blocked-off diffuser is hiding secrets. Photographers of Jerez, take note! Also you can see the slots in the rear wing here.

Front wing has more layers than an emotionally complex soufflé. FIA Road Safety logo at the centre of the front wing.

Ferrari's current road cars look over the unveiling of their king. Fernando and Felipe avoid holding hands at the last minute.

More pics here, as always.

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McLaren MP4-28 Continues Smooth-Nosed Sexiness

2013 McLaren MP4-28

So you've all seen the Lotus E21 with its stepped nose and daring red sidepods. Well, the second 2013 F1 car has been unveiled this morning, and it features only one of the above things. McLaren have continued their avoidance of the "platypus nose" while improving air flow under the car by raising the front end to the same height as everyone else, thanks to the new allowance of a non-structural "vanity panel" to arch over the step. McLaren don't do ugly, you see. The new car will of course be piloted by Jenson Button - now the most experienced driver in the sport after the departure of Michael Schumacher - and Sergio Perez, who's only about to start his third season and has already impressed enough to ascend to a top team for 2013.

Like Lotus, McLaren have gone for a lower "Coandă Effect" exhaust exit. The Coandă Effect is when a jet of air is attracted towards a nearby surface, meaning that clever shaping of the exhaust area and the rear end of the bodywork can bend the airflow out of the exhausts towards the diffuser, recouping some of the effect lost by the banning of 2011's directly exhaust-blown diffusers. This little trick was introduced by McLaren last year, and many teams now use a developed version, including the Surrey organisation. There are also other detail changes to the sidepods (including a lump on the tip of the side air intakes like the 2011 Ferrari) and the wings.

The Vanity Plate is extremely well-integrated, with no noticeable join lines.

Jenson Button assured people that while it looks very much the same, underneath it's very different. One major change to the MP4-28 is the change from pushrod to pullrod front suspension, something Ferrari tried last year. Pullrod suspension - already used by all teams for the rear wheels - is effectively a pushrod system that's upside-down, lowering the Centre of Gravity. It's thought that the MP4-27 of last year didn't go for a high nose because of the improved CoG of a lower one, so perhaps they compensated for the more aerodynamically-efficient high nose with the lower pullrod front suspension, wherein the rods seen in the picture that go downwards from the wheels pull on a hinge when the wheel moves up, which in turn compresses the spring (diagram here, pullrods in yellow). This is why you can't see springs sticking out of the cars, which would make a lot of drag and be dangerous in a collision. We'll have to see if it pays off for them as it's not a common setup (before the Ferrari F2012 it had been 11 years since a car had used it, and it was a lowly Arrows car), and Ferrari got off to a slow start with it last season. Although to be fair, they had other problems with it too.

There's not a great deal else to say at this point, so, er... here are some more pictures.

A quick comparison I threw together. They might not quite be to scale.

Oh look, another energy drink sponsor.

Y'know, I'm not even sure there is an actual Vanity Panel on here. It looks like they've just not put a step in the nose...

I'm pretty sure that's a camera pointing rearwards. Speaking of cameras, there are more photos here.

Considering their love of smooth surfaces, that's a pretty ugly sidepod intake...

There was talk of a special 50th Anniversary livery or logo, but no such things are to be found. A bit of a shame really...

The two drivers in McLaren's 50th year: Checo and... Butto? No I don't think that nickname would work...

How will these two guys get along? How will they do in the championship? Will all McLaren's pit stops go well this year? The Australian Grand Prix weekend is still 42 days away, so until then look out for other F1 reveals over the coming week!

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Rich Arabs Get Tired of Waiting For New Hypercars, Build Their Own

W Motors Lykan Hypersport

If there's one place that buys a lot of hypercars, it's the Middle East (or the bits of it that aren't on fire, anyway). Places like Qatar and Dubai soak up the Agera Rs and Veyron Supersport's of the world and simply show off how expensive they are to their peers, not really bothered by what the car itself is actually like beyond how spangly the interior and how loud the engine is. I disagree with this mentality, but that's irrelevant because I don't have £1Squillion to put where my mouth is. Anyway, it seems that this region of the world is fed up of waiting for its next shopping spree, i.e. the releases of the McLaren P1, Ferrari F70, Porsche 918 Spyder and probably another Veyron LE, so they've started their own car company in Beirut, Lebanon, called W Motors. Here is their car, unveiled at the Qatar Motor Show.

It's called the Lykan Hypersport, because "Supersport" is so common and this way it sounds even better more expensive and exclusive. Well, I say "sounds" - this car will cost the richer locals a staggering $3.4million USD, or £2,154,490, and only 7 of them will be made. Does that even count as a production run?

So what do you get for your month's shopping budget? Well, lots of things not made by W Motors, such as a RUF-supplied Twin-Turbo flat-6 making 750bhp and 737lb/ft that's sent from behind the lavish cockpit to the rear wheels, enabling a 0-60 time of 2.8 seconds and a Koenigsegg-bothering top speed of 245mph. Well, that would've bothered Koenigsegg nine years ago when they were going that speed. In fact the whole car isn't made by W Motors, as "production" is expected to be done by Magna-Steyr in Austria, who make cars for the established prestige names. One thing they did do was the design. Company chairman Ralph Debbas studied Automotive Design at Coventry, and his being a former design student explains the huge amount of styling on every surface, and the fact that it conjures up memories of cool concept cars from a few years ago, like the GTbyCITROEN concept that had almost exactly the same overlapping rear wheel arches as this, or the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, which had equally angular intakes and vents on it, as well as satin black "snowflake" wheels. There's even a touch of the Danish start-up hypercar, the Zenvo ST1, about it. But hey, I've said before that we shouldn't just look for other cars in a design, so looking at it in isolation, well, it's certainly striking, isn't it? Like a flashy third-year render brought to life with all the aggressive surfacing and slashes and flicks. As movie adverts would say, "If you like Lamborghinis, you're going to love this!".

But still, 3.4 million dollars for a block of styling and a modified Porsche engine? Well, you do also get diamond-coated LED headlights and real gold stitching for the leather seats, as well as a complimentary Cyrus Klepcys watch that's "worth" over $200,000 or £130,000. I'd rather spend that much on a Porsche 911 GT2 RS than a watch, but whatever. The car has, to be fair, had six years of development time, with the likes of RUF Automobile (famous Porsche tuners), Viotti (either a dead classical composer of a dead Italian coachbuilder...), Studiotorino (Italian design house), Magna Steyr Italia and ID4MOTION being involved in making this potentially worth at least half the money being asked for it. The latter name makes custom digital dials and W Motors says it has made them an "Interactive Dashboard" that's supposedly lightyears ahead of what everyone else has, although they haven't said a single thing about what it actually does.

It's probably on sale now, although with only 7 orders to fill, it will probably be sold out in the next month even at that price, so it doesn't really matter if it is. W Motors are likely to follow this up with a lesser Lykan Supersport to probably sell for "only" $2m and have a detuned engine. They'll probably make more than 7 of them as well, assuming they're still around by then.

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Peugeot 208 Type R5: Peppy Le Peu

"YEAHHHH, LET'S WIN!!"

Unless you're a rally buff, you probably don't know that both sides of the PSA Peugeot-Citroën alliance have a rally programme. The Loeb-powered DS3 dominance in the World Rally Championship stops Citroën's Pug sisters from competing against them directly, but with the 207 they have been competing very successfully in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge - a version of the WRC for upcoming amateur drivers - and national championships that use the "Super 2000" rules it was designed for. With the 207 road car now being replaced by the 208, the rally cars needed updating as well, so here it is. My immediate thought is that all 208s should be sold with empty grilles like this test car has, because it gives it an expression like one of those spunky cartoon sidekicks like Scrappy Doo. Deliberately misspelt for mild punnery, it's Peppy Le Peu!!

Spurring on this happy chappy is a 1.6 turbo engine throwing 280bhp and 295lb/ft at all four wheels via a five-speed sequential gearbox. Lots of clever engineering has been done to reduce costs, not least the FIA-enforced maximum purchase price of €180,000. It's also cheaper to run than the 207 was, and its longer wheelbase combined with its shorter body will make it more stable and more agile, so says Peugeot. It also benefits from the 208's body being 40kg lighter than the 207's. That said there is a minimum weight in the new Group R's R5 category of 1200kg, reflecting that of WRC cars.

Giving you performance figures is pointless, partly because I don't think they've released any yet and also because it depends on the set up and surface. Racing cars come with adjustable gear ratios, of course, so it could be 2.5 seconds or it could be 5 seconds, although realistically I would think it's hovering around 3 to 3.5 seconds. The 208 R5 underwent shakedown testing recently at the hands of upcoming amateur driver and Irishman Craig Breen, who praised it for its brakes and gearbox, adding that the punchy torque delivery was "incredible". If that's enough to make you want to race one, you can get your chequebook in March.

Until then, enjoy this short teaser from Peugeot. Look how happy it is!! Listen to all those squirrelly noises when it's braking and the cheeky BRAAAAP when it's accelerating! Suits the looks perfectly:

If only the driver could see it while driving. That peppy, raring-to-go facial expression might spur them on to victory! You can see the 208 braaaaping and popping and squirrelling through rally stages in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, European Rally Championship and various national series as well. That's the joy of a customer racing car. You aren't limited to one series. You can race where you want (that allows it in the regs)! That's the Peppy Le Peu way!

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Leave The Buttons Alone, I Know What They Do

You can scroll down for the rest of the 2013 Lotus E21, but the show car they unveiled today came with this little memento to their meme-tacular driver, Kimi Räikkönen, incorporating every entertaining characteristic about him in joke-button format. Enjoy!

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