GermanyMercedes-AMG has revealed the CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung, the second car in its Mythos series of hand-built specials. Thirty will be assembled in Affalterbach, and all thirty are already sold.
The engine and drivetrain
The CLE 53 is sold with a 443 hp straight six making 600 Nm. The 646 replaces it with the M177 EVO, a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 fitted with a flat-plane crankshaft, which produces 475 kW and 850 Nm. That is 637 hp, or 646 PS in the metric measure that gives the car its name. A flat-plane crank spaces the firing intervals evenly between the two banks and cuts rotating mass, so the engine picks up revs faster than the cross-plane V8s AMG normally builds; it also gives the car a different exhaust note.
Drive goes to the rear wheels only, with the 4MATIC+ hardware of the donor car removed, through a nine-speed AMG Speedshift TCT. Mercedes quotes 3.9 seconds to 100 km/h, 11.4 seconds to 200 km/h and a top speed of 310 km/h.
Weight and body changes
The body is 60 mm wider at each end to cover the wider tracks, reinforced, and fitted with an integrated roll bar. Carbon-fibre panels, the deletion of the rear seats and reduced sound deadening account for a saving of roughly 170 kg against the car it is based on, bringing kerb weight to 1,895 kg.
Chassis and aerodynamics
Steel coil-overs with four-way adjustable dampers replace the standard suspension, developed with KW automotive, alongside an electronically controlled limited-slip rear differential. Braking is by AMG’s carbon-ceramic system, with 420 mm discs and six-piston calipers at the front and 360 mm discs at the rear.
Aerodynamics are adjustable at both ends: a manually set front diffuser with Street and Race positions, and a rear wing, together generating well over 250 kg of downforce at top speed. The wheels are forged 20-inch items carrying 305/30 tyres at the front and 335/30 at the rear, and the exhaust, developed with Akrapovič, uses titanium components.
The Mercedes-Benz CLE is a two-door coupe and cabriolet that replaced the separate C-Class and E-Class two-door lines in one nameplate. US buyers choose between a 255 hp CLE 300, a 375 hp CLE 450 and a 443 hp AMG CLE 53, all mild-hybrid and all-wheel drive, from $60,900 before destination - plus a sold-out, 637 hp CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung of 30 cars.
