Lets say youre in the fortunate position of having $120
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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?
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