Car Comparison – Audi S7, Mercedes CLS63 AMG
The new 2013 Audi A7 has been considered by some as the most beautiful car being built today. With sleek lines and a front fascia that is bound to intimidate, it strikes the perfect balance between beauty, and aggression. Throw in a newly developed 4.0 Liter Twin Turbo V8 engine that produces 420 Horsepower and you have yourself an extremely desirable car. For a starting price of $79,695 this is without doubt one of the best deals on the market right now.
For some people, very few, 420 HP and 406 lb-ft of torque isn't enough. That is where the CLS63 AMG comes in. With a similar body style to the S7, the AMG seems to have less beauty but comes off much more aggressive. And it should, because the looks match what's under the hood; a 5.5 Liter Twin Turbo V8 that produces 518 Horsepower at 5250 RMP and 516 lb-ft of torque. If that still isn't enough, for about $10,000 you can opt for the AMG Package which will bump the Horsepower to 550 and raise the top speed to 186 mph from and electronically limited speed of 155 mph. The AMG has a base price of $94,900, so that extra power does not come for free.
Performance
0 - 62 MPH:
Audi S7: 4.9 seconds
CLS63 AMG: 4.4 seconds (4.3 with AMG Package)
Top Speed:Audi S7: 155 MPH
CLS63 AMG: 155 MPH (186 MPH with AMG Package)
Braking 60 - 0:
Audi S7: 102 feet
CLS63 AMG: 113 feet
Lateral G Force:
Audi S7: 0.96
CLS63 AMG: 0.92
Weight:
Audi S7: 4,140 lbs
CLS63 AMG: 4,300 lbs
As you can see from the numbers the lighter weight of the S7 helps it does better in many performance categories than the AMG. It also feels more nimble and drives like you might think a TT coupe would.
Interior
As expected, both interiors o these German cars are very refined. You can tell a lot of work was put into the interior by the amount of attention to detail throughout the car. The S7 comes with beautiful sport seating with quilted stitching. Standard in the AMG is the burl walnut trim with upgraded sports seats. Some of the notable differences between the two are Audi's exterior heads up display and Mercedes' interior heads up display, at this point it is all a matter of personal preference. The Mercedes also has a much shorter shifter than the Audis. Both cars have paddle shifters mounted on the steering column for extremely quicks shifts between gears. With these sophisticated interiors, "Don't touch anything" might be words you hear coming from the driver.
Both of these cars have not yet been tested to their full abilities. But when they do, they are sure to beat the conservative estimates given by their respective companies. They are similar, yet so different in many ways. All that matters is that in the end, both of these cars do exactly what they set out to acomplish: To be genuine animalistic sports cars while being luxurious and sophisticated at the same time.