The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a series of compact executive passenger cars produced by the German automaker since 1993 under this designation. Meanwhile, the R35 Nissan GT-R is a veritable grand tourer that has survived trial and tribulation since 2007. Do they really have anything in common?
Well, if you think about any of the regular Mercedes C-Class sedans and the GT-R, not really. However, things start to change when the AMG subsidiary comes into play and works its magic on the C-Class for some classic V8 awesomeness. By the way, that all ended with the current W206 generation, and now even the mighty C 63 gets a turbocharged inline-four and electric aids.
Anyway, during the W205 era, which debuted the then all-new Modular Rear Architecture (MRA) platform, that was not the case, and the lesser C 43 variants had a twin-turbo V6 while the C 63 rocked a twin-turbo V8 under the hood. Luckily, that's probably the case here with this Mercedes-AMG.
The videographer behind the Wheels Plus channel on YouTube is a big fan of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Bandimere Speedway but also loves Mission Raceway Park – an NHRA-sanctioned quarter-mile dragstrip located in British Columbia, Canada, and also known as 'Thunder by the River.'
Hopefully, we are not mistaken, and the AMG featured in the video embedded below is indeed a C 63 S and not something else – it's a bit hard to make out its exact version because the super-sedan is not only wingless during the first confrontation but also quite colorfully wrapped. Anyway, the first skirmish in the feature is between the AMG and a black Nissan GT-R.
Mercedes fans at MRP had better look away because although the executive high-performance sedan starts a little better than its opponent, the Nissan GT-R comes back roaring and overtakes its rival to win the race with a stellar 10s result against an 11.51s ET – and also an incredible trap speed difference: 154 versus 129 mph (248 versus 207 kph). Secondly, the colorful AMG gets a trunk spoiler and dukes it out with a Mercedes-AMG GT – this time around, the setup works like a charm and nails an 11.25s versus 12.16s victory.
Two more German sedans have a confrontation from the 1:36 mark, but the really interesting skirmish happens immediately after that when an Audi RS3 dares to compete with a white Nissan GT-R and initially gaps it beyond belief. However, yet again, someone was extremely surprised at the end of the run when the R35 recouped the distance and won the skirmish. In fact, this time around, it's us who got dumbstruck because this Nissan should have lost – only when checking out the reaction times did we understand the logic behind the track's victory light!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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