Tiff Needell and Jason Plato are back on the “small screen” in the returned Fifth Gear, and as tradition dictates, they didn't waste time confronting each other on the circuit. This time at the wheel of two of the best vitamin saloons of the moment, the Mercedes-AMG C 63S it's the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.
But the presenters didn't want to find out which one is the fastest on the track, but which of the two RWD (rear wheel drive) hatchbacks is the best for… drift!
Italian “pure blood” V6 to face V8 made in Affalterbach
Power is an argument that is not lacking for both of them to achieve it. On the Italian side, a 2.9 l twin-turbo V6, “by” Ferrari, with 510 hp of power and 600 Nm of torque. On the German side, also 510 hp, but the 1100 cm3 and two more cylinders of the C 63S — the only V8 in the class — guarantee more torque, about an extra 100 Nm (700 Nm).
binary versus lightness
In the transmission chapter, the technical tie is again the watchword, with both proposals benefiting from automatic transmission (eight-speed in Italian, nine in German), but in weight, Giulia takes advantage, when announcing, minus 60 kg than the C 63S (1755 kg).Thanks to this reality, an acceleration capacity from 0 to 100 km/h, for the Italian model, in 3.9s, in other words, just 0.1s less than the German sports car. But the performances are of little interest here, when it comes to knowing the best machine to melt drift tires.
And the king of drift is…
The C 63S is known for its tail with a mind of its own, but will it be manageable enough to guarantee the best drifts? Or will the lighter Giulia Quadrifoglio have better acrobatic arguments? All responses in the video…