In fact it’s utterly, wonderfully, intoxicatingly, barking mad. It pulls from nowhere to infinity with a savagery that is totally at odds with its conventional appearance, attacks corners with enthusiasm and menace in equal measure, and simply demands t

It’s only a guess, but I think this might be one of the last pages you’ve read in this issue of evo. I can understand why. Yep, it’s another madly fast Mercedes. The E63 AMG is, of course, by any measurement, a mighty, mighty car. Everything about it is defiantly un-PC, from the way its big V8 cuts through the air like a demented jackhammer, to the way it eats up other traffic like a road-going basking shark. You should love this car. But, and this is another guess, you’re not really that bothered, because Mercedes has done the implausible: made 500bhp normal, run-of-the-mill, predictable.

Taken in isolation, though, the stats are drool- inducing. The new, bespoke, normally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 (which replaces the supercharged 5.5-litre V8 of the E55) produces a mammoth 507bhp and backs it up with enough torque to fill the air with thick white smoke almost at will. The 1840kg E63 warps to 62mph in just 4.5sec, and were it not for the usual 155mph limiter I’m sure it would comfortably knock on the door of 200mph.

No great surprise, right? Maybe not, but just re-read that last sentence again: 200mph, easy sub-5 to sixty… Believe me, when you’re in the hot seat, the E63 AMG is anything but boring.

In fact it’s utterly, wonderfully, intoxicatingly, barking mad. It pulls from nowhere to infinity with a savagery that is totally at odds with its conventional appearance, attacks corners with enthusiasm and menace in equal measure, and simply demands that you get involved with channelling its 500bhp through relatively modest 265/35 R18 rear rubber. Of course, there’s ESP acting as a silent and almost undetectable guardian angel – isn’t there always in 2006? – but it has an off switch. And although it’ll still cut-in should it think you’ve run out of talent, by then there’s a good chance you’ll have just punted two-tons of Benz through a hedge. Backwards.

Let’s get back to that engine, the heart and soul of the E63 AMG. Mercedes, or more accurately AMG, has turned its back on supercharging and instead looked to displacement and revs to unleash the sort of big numbers that have come to define Benz’s in-house tuning arm. Peak power is produced at 6800rpm (the old supercharged V8’s 476bhp was achieved at 6100rpm), and the torque figure is both lower (507lb ft versus 516lb ft) and produced higher up the rev range (5200rpm versus just 2650rpm). Ultimately, the E63 is still a torque-fest, but the engine delivery is very different to the fearsome old supercharged V8.

In one sense it’s less exciting. The new engine simply can’t match the angry, instant torque of the outgoing one, and as a result the E63 feels slightly slower when you give the throttle a prod. The traction control is much less busy too, giving the impression that the engine isn’t such a struggle to contain. But the pay-off is much crisper and more accurate throttle response, a chassis that can exploit what’s on offer rather than simply try to stave-off the engine’s excesses, and a wonderful charge up to the 7200rpm red line. It may not have quite the reach of the M5’s V10, but it’s still an eye-widening, buttock-clenching experience at full charge. And when the BMW is just beginning to climb its torque curve, the E63 is already thumping you forcefully in the chest.

New to the E63 are proper gearshift paddles (the E55 had buttons mounted behind the steering-wheel spokes). The seven-speed Speedshift ’box punches upshifts through with an almost DSG-like quality; downshifts are a little less successful – the ’box lacks the electronically controlled blip of something like a Jaguar XKR – but you can smooth any shunt with a bit of heel and toeing, something that is actually very satisfying when you learn to judge the shift speed.

Dynamically, the weak link is the steering, which is both too light and too slow to respond to small inputs. It makes the E63 feel a little reluctant to turn-in, and gives the impression that there’s more understeer than there really is. Pushed hard, the E63 does start to drift wide, but in the main it’s very neat and tidy, and surprisingly agile. The brakes are strong, too. However, it’s less composed and less pointy than its suave CLS sibling. The ride is very well judged, though, and I’m sure that on a day-to-day basis it’d be more cosseting than an M5.

Like an M5, the E63 is a great entertainer should you remove the first layer of ESP. In fact, it’s a two-ton hoot, kicking its tail wide with ease and allowing more than enough slip to make you work hard to keep everything pointing straight. It seems that AMG has slackened the electronic reins slightly with the E63, perhaps because the more linear delivery of the normally aspirated motor allows much finer control.

Whatever, it’s reason to celebrate. AMG is obviously very keen that we enjoy its cars to the full, and I can unreservedly say that with the E63 AMG we did just that.