Thrashing the Mercedes ML63 AMG in Snow and Ice

BOLD RIDE

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Posted by Sean Evans

 

 

This is the final Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, in case you didn’t know. It’s powerful as hell, but also a grocery getter — meaning that it will destroy probably destroy your groceries on the ride home. Next month at the New York Auto Show, the ML63 will be
replacedreintroduced as the GLE63. That “G” in GLE stands for Geländewagen, which literally translates to “cross-country vehicle.”
That got me thinking: is this 550-horsepower, twin-turbo race car masquerading as a mid-size crossover ready for the promotion? Particularly since the addition of an AMG powerplant means the removal of all off-road package options.

There’s no better proving ground for G-status than in the frozen muck and mire of a brutal Northeast winter. This particular snowmageddon of a season, Mother Nature has thrown down quite the gauntlet. Could the ML63 rise to the challenge? We took one to Lime Rock Park’s Winter Autocross for some snow drifting, then to an ice race.





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