2013 Mercedes E 63 AMG review, test drive

This new E63 AMG also comes with AMG's 7-speed SpeedShift twin-clutch gearbox that's very responsive and mostly obedient to paddleshift inputs, save for one small glitch. We will come to that later. The gearbox has four modes -- comfort, sport, sport+ and manual. The big difference between the modes is that in sport, gearshifts are 25 percent faster than in comfort and in sport+ and manual, they are a further 25 percent quicker. And, in manual, you get full control of the gearbox -- it won't downshift on its own and it won't upshift at the redline either. Still, because the engine is so rev-happy, in manual mode, its easy to run into the redline before you know it. Once this happens, the gearbox takes its time to upshift when you pull the paddle -- its like its protecting itself from the assault of a full bore upshift.

Then there are other modes -- press the ESP off button and the traction control switches to a sport mode that allows a lot more sideways action than with it off. Holding it down for a few seconds turns it off completely for completely uninterrupted oversteer. Then there's two settings for the damper stiffness and an AMG button that dials up Sport+ for the gearbox, sport mode for the traction control and the stiffest damper settings at the press of a button. Continued..