2010 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG (photos)

One of our favorite sports cars, the C63 AMG is a Mercedes-Benz C-class car that has gone through the company's AMG tuning division. The result: a taut car with a big engine that handles extremely well, but gets horrible gas mileage.

The standard C-class is a small sedan with a distinctly Mercedes-Benz look. The AMG division makes some body changes for the C63 AMG, swapping out the front air dam and hood, and adding a rear diffuser. The new hood has bulges which Mercedes-Benz calls Power Domes.

Mercedes-Benz uses a 6.2-liter V-8 producing 451 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque in the C63 AMG, which gets the car to 60 mph in less than 4.5 seconds.

The C63 AMG seats five in comfort, although the back seat is a little tight.

The standard C-class handles fairly well, so the AMG division did not need to change too many components. But tuning keeps the car flat in the turns, while traction control programming lets the rear end come out a bit in hard cornering, contributing to rotation.

The C63 AMG has four exhaust tips imprinted with the AMG logo. The sound from the exhaust when the engine revs is exquisite.

Our car came with a leather package that added sport seats. These seats have prominent side bolsters which are power adjustable.

The C63 AMG gets a flat bottom steering wheel, emphasizing its sporting nature. It also has steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters.

AMG makes one of the best automatic transmissions in the business. This seven-speed transmission locks in the gears to eliminate torque converter slush, making shifts feel solid.

The speedometer holds a monochrome display used for showing a variety of information, such as trip, audio, phone, and even route guidance, when navigation is present.

The AMG display in the speedometer shows oil temperature, and there is also a lap timer.

Our test car didn't have the multimedia package that would have added a navigation system and a better stereo. In this configuration, the center hatch hides a small LCD.

A Bluetooth phone system comes standard with the car, and uses the LCD to let you select numbers. You can also push contacts to the car from a phone.

Satellite radio comes standard in the C63 AMG.

The center display works well for browsing MP3 CDs, letting you scroll through folders.

The standard audio system uses eight speakers. It is a little better than in an average car, but the sound quality is hollow.