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For much of the day, the quiet Taunus mountains in Germany -- rolling green hills, prosperous farmland, dark Hansel and Gretel pine forests, Volkswagens driven slowly by well-groomed women on narrow smooth roads -- sound like Darlington raceway. From sleepy hollow to days of thunder.

You just don't hear sounds like this in Europe. Cars here have four-cylinder engines, coarsened by diesel rattle. Even performance cars, short of the big-ticket Ferraris, have turbocharged four- or six-cylinder motors. In this neck of the woods, V-8s-and only V-8s can make this kind of sound-are as rare as Ford pickups and Dunkin' Donuts.

But the brand-new Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and the more mature Audi RS4, especially in thunderous sport-exhaust mode (yes, a switch dials up the Darlington on the Audi!), sound like Jeff Gordon's DuPont Chevy coming pedal-to-the-metal around turn four-big revs, big bellowing exhaust, big power, big American noise.

All three sedans have V-8 power. All three, then, are Yankee-inspired, for while America didn't invent the V-8, Detroit (and Henry Ford) certainly popularized it. They made it American shorthand for musclecar.

Originally BMW's M3 used a far more typical European formula for big speed-a high-revving silky sweet Formula 1-based four-cylinder engine. Since then, in the need for speed, four cylinders became six. Now, with the newest M3, six turns into eight.

Audi's fast-car history also is peppered with small four-, five-, and six-cylinder engines, usually turbocharged, invariably quattro four-wheel drive. Yet with the RS4, which first went on sale in the U.S. in August 2006, Audi dumped all that dainty, less-is-more Euro sophistication stuff and shoehorned the biggest possible V-8-of 4.2 liters-into the engine bay. The result was an M3-beater, the first time anyone has been able to say that about a small fast Audi.

So to beat the RS4, BMW followed suit. It's got to be a V-8. And don't spare the horses.

Mercedes has known about the advantages of big V-8 muscle-think outgoing C55-for some time. Maybe it was the Chrysler link that taught it the lesson. The new C63, with 6.2 liters of lung power, has the most Detroit-like spec of any small European sporting sedan. These are Detroit-size lungs. This latest fastest C-Class is as German, in fast-car philosophy, as a bowl of grits and a glass of Southern sweet iced tea.

On this glorious fall day in Germany, on winding roads that snake up and down the sides of mountains, all three cars assemble...........


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M

GTA8.5

My big question to Audi is why do thay introduce the RS models at the end of the model life cycle. Are thay going to change this scheme with the newer models.

Btw, the interior of the RS4 is extremely dated and boring compared to the other models.

bmer

They already have. The new RS6 came long before the usual schedule.

I disagree with you on the interior. RS4 easily has the most special interior in this class. Real CF panels instead of a bit boring aluminum ones, a steering wheel with aluminum parts that looks much more unique than the all black wheels the competitors have and a special gear shifter and start button as a finishing touch.

Sunny

CF is optional on RS4, it is optional on M3 also (and I am not talking bout that leather CF look alike trim). I don't know bout C63.

The Artist

damn hot pics..especially the first one

Mockenrue

As I was scrolling down through those pictures, I was thinking the exact opposite! They're all good in their own way but the RS still has the edge in my opinion.

bmer

Really, I didn't know that. Do you have any pictures of M3 with the (real) CF panels?

Tycoon

+1

Sunny

No, I don't. I just remember reading the translation of the German M3 order guide/option list.

Tycoon

I need this pic in at least 800x600 res...