NEW BREED.(News)

Byline: Greg Kable

Who needs this car, really? Premium unleaded is still hovering around $3 a gallon, so a hulking, six-seat luxury MPV running a 6.2-liter, 510-hp V8 engine, capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in less than five seconds, and returning fuel consumption of around 14 mpg doesn't seem to stack up. Not at a cool $88,000, in any case.

Yet clearly Mercedes-Benz thinks there is demand, however small, for such a beast. And despite recent overblown pump prices that may not let up over the long term, Mercedes will offer the R63 AMG in North America starting in October.

Up until now, performance MPVs have not exactly been hot property on these shores. Such a vehicle by its very nature is compromised by its tall stature and, from experience, is no match dynamically for a well-sorted SUV. But with go-fast all-wheel-drive sales outstripping expectations of late, it appears this could be the next niche to go mainstream.

That may well be, but at the end of the day the R63 doesn't cut it as a performance car worthy of the AMG badge.

No doubt it's quick. The R63 will stay with a Porsche 911 Carrera up to 60 mph with no trouble at all, and it is almost two seconds quicker to the standing-start benchmark than the previous range- topping R500, which continues to run Mercedes' 5.0-liter 306-hp V8 instead of the company's more refined and economical 5.5-liter 388-hp V8, as fitted to models such as the new S-Class.

The R63 is also superbly refined, with the sort of mechanical isolation and ride quality not normally associated with AMG offerings. High-speed stability is another R63 attribute, thanks to its long wheelbase and wide-track stance. In this respect, the vehicle is just about perfect for long freeway slogs.