Mercedes-AMG has gone completely off the reservation with the CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung, a brutally focused V8-powered coupe that pushes the limits of Affalterbach’s abilities to charge a monstrous amount for something that would have previously been labelled a “Black Series” and would have been more in the reach of us normal folk.
Anyway, the CLE 646 started life as an engineering team’s secret prototype before AMG decided it was sufficiently unhinged to turn into a production car. As previously mentioned, just 30 will be built, all by hand at AMG’s Affalterbach headquarters, and they were apparently already sold out before the car’s world premiere.
This isn’t simply a CLE 53 with a few performance options bolted on, either. AMG has effectively rebuilt the car around one goal: making it as entertaining and capable as possible on a winding road or race circuit.
AMG has taken its 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 and squeezed 646hp from it, along with 850Nm of torque. There’s a flat-plane crankshaft to reduce rotating mass and sharpen throttle response, while a bespoke titanium exhaust system developed with Akrapovič gives the V8 an appropriately antisocial soundtrack. Maybe not quite as guttural as the V8s of yesteryear, but close.
It is also a particularly old-school choice of drivetrain. The standard CLE 53’s all-wheel-drive system has been ripped out and replaced with a pure rear-wheel drive set-up. Power is sent through AMG’s nine-speed TCT automatic transmission to an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. It will hit 62mph in 3.9 seconds, reach 124mph in 11.4 seconds and continue on to a 193mph top speed.
“AMG has taken its 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 and squeezed 646hp from it”
The CLE 646 is around 170kg lighter than its donor car, despite gaining a considerably larger V8.
The diet includes carbon-fibre front wings, bonnet, roof, side skirts, rear apron, diffuser and boot lid, along with polycarbonate glazing and a lighter 12-volt battery. The rear seats and much of the sound insulation have disappeared, while the standard front chairs have been replaced by lightweight racing buckets.
Mercedes’ tuning firm has also binned a number of comfort and driver-assistance systems, including ParkTronic, because apparently the ability to ace a parallel is less important when you’re building a 646bhp rear-drive monster with 335-section rear tyres.
“There’s no word on price, but rumours suggest it could easily tickle the £600,000 mark”
The result is a 1,895kg car, with AMG claiming that 170kg has been removed from the donor vehicle.
Wide boy
The CLE’s body has been extensively modified and reinforced, with the front and rear tracks widened enough to increase the overall width by 60mm.
That allows AMG to fit enormous 20-inch forged wheels wrapped in 305/30 tyres at the front and truly ridiculous 335/30 rubber at the rear. The tyres themselves use technology originally developed for the Mercedes-AMG One.
There is also an integrated roll-over bar, extra structural reinforcement and a much more serious approach to keeping the body rigid under load.
AMG and KW Automotive have developed a bespoke steel coil-over system with four-way adjustable dampers. The low- and high-speed compression and rebound settings can all be independently adjusted, allowing owners to tune the car for everything from fast road driving to circuit work.
And then there are the brakes: enormous 420mm carbon-ceramic front discs with six-piston calipers, backed by 360mm ceramic discs at the rear.
This is the second vehicle to wear Mercedes’ ultra-exclusive Mythos badge, following the open-cockpit PureSpeed, which was a take on the SL with the windscreen removed for open-air theatrics.
There’s no word on price, but rumours suggest it could easily tickle the £600,000 mark. Too much for a CLE? Well, the AMG diehard certainly don’t think so.
