Chris Harris commits spare tirecide.

When you equip the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG with the available Performance Package, the car sends some 480 horsepower to the rear wheels. Even when those rear wheels are shod with sticky, 255 millimeter-wide tires, traction is a potential challenge. Leaving the electro-nannies on is a good idea for street driving, and it’s probably in order for less-than-experienced drivers on the track, too.

What if you replaced those rear tires with 125 millimeter temporary spare tires? In fact, what if you replaced all four wheels and tires with temporary spares, then let an experienced motojournalist like Evo’s Chris Harris loose on a racetrack? The combination would either be a recipe for big fun, or a recipe for disaster, depending upon your perspective.

We won’t spoil the outcome, but we’ll tell you that you’ll want to watch the video below. We’ll also tell you that we’re phoning junkyards to stir up three other temporary spares for our own rides.

The 2013 Mercedes-Benz B-Class.

The upcoming Mercedes-Benz B-Class hatchback may be best described as the “VolksBenz.” Not that Volkswagen had anything to do with the car (it didn’t), but the new B-Class is meant to be a “People’s Benz,” a car for the masses. No, it won’t be priced along the same lines as a VW Golf, but as Mercedes’ new “gateway to the brand” vehicle, it will be more affordable than anything else with a three-pointed star. You’ll be able to snap up a B-Class of your own this fall, but we wouldn’t recommend tossing the keys to your parents.

If you think Germans lack a sense of humor, watch the surprisingly racy video ad for the upcoming B-Class below. Sure, you’ll want to wash your brain out with soap afterwards, but let’s be honest here: you really don’t believe that a stork dropped you down the chimney of your parent’s house, do you?

I am always down for good old fashion drag race especially when the contestants include a selection of new exotic cars. The guys at Autocar get their hands on a new Benz SLS AMG, Porsche GT2 RS and a Lamborghini Aventador all at the same time. What do they do with these three beastly cars? They do what many of you reading this would do; take them to an open runway (or drag strip) to find out which one is the fastest. Sure, anyone can look up the stats of these three cars and see what they will do on paper. But what is the fun in that? Hit up the video below to find out which car leads the pack.

Warning: you’re probably not hip, beautiful, thin or rich enough to watch this video. In fact, if you want to own a new Mercedes SL for its performance and handling, and not to flip the single-digit-salute to your BMW Z4-driving neighbors, this video isn’t for you. On the other hand, if you’re currently dressed head to toe in the latest fashion (preferably in black) and think that primer matte paint makes a car more attractive, watch on, mister or misses hipster. This video is made for you and the rest of your one-percenter friends.

On the other hand, we unwashed masses would have loved to crash this video shoot in a Boss 302 Mustang with a trunk full of cheeseburgers. We’d take turns throwing giant rooster tails of dirt over cast, car and crew, while one of our assistants force-fed Ms. Stone burgers until she approached something resembling a normal weight. Alas, the Occupy movement has not yet reached the automotive video world.

Enjoy the video below, if you can. Frankly, it’s not for us.

Mercedes-Benz wants you to know that its upcoming C63 AMG Coupe Black Series can be equipped for both track and street duty, depending upon the buyer’s preferences. If your ultimate goal is a car that will see most of its life on the street, with an occasional track day thrown in, the standard C63 AMG Coupe Black Series probably gives you all you really need. It comes with an adjustable suspension and a 6.3-liter V-8 that produces some 510 horsepower, which is good enough to get the bratwurst-burner from zero to sixty in just over four seconds.

If your ultimate goal is time attack, or even if you just want to be “the fast guy” at your local race track, Mercedes-Benz offers up an aerodynamic package for the new Black Series Coupe that includes a larger front splitter, front winglets and an adjustable carbon-fiber rear wing. The package is a bit much for a street car, if you ask us, but there’s no doubt that it will reduce front-end lift and boost rear downforce on the racetrack.

Mercedes will also offer up a Track Package that includes a rear differential cooler and specially developed Dunlop tires, optimized specifically for the Black Series Coupe. There’s a Carbon Fiber Package, too, which adds a more aggressive body kit than the car already comes with.

Look for the C63 AMG Coupe Black Series to hit dealerships in early 2012. Pricing hasn’t been set, but expect the limited production Black Series Coupe to command a heft premium over the C63 AMG Coupe’s base price of $61,430.

Years ago I rode with a sportbike club, until one ill-fated weekend ride where the group suffered three crashes and a member received a ticked for 100 miles per hour OVER the speed limit. After spending two days running from a certain Western state’s highway patrol, I realized that having a license, and not being dead, were more important than the occasional high-speed hoon weekend. Bad things happen in high speed groups, whether you’re talking about motorcycles or cars.

Take the incident below, which was found on Jalopnik. It seems that an exotic car club was en route from Kyushu to Hiroshima when the driver of a Ferrari lost control while overtaking in a curve. His car hit the median, creating a chain-reaction accident that ultimately totaled 14 cars. Included among the carnage were eight Ferraris, three Mercedes-Benzes, a Lamborghini, a Nissan Skyline and a Toyota Prius (which, if we had to guess, probably wasn’t driven by a club member.

The good news is that no one was seriously injured in the accident, which shut down the stretch of road in Yamaguchi Prefecture for some six hours. Wet roads likely played a part in the accident as well, which is no up to the police and insurance companies to sort out.

The $1.4 million Maybach Landaulet. Image: Mercedes-Benz

In the “we’ve seen this coming for some time” department, Mercedes-Benz has reportedly decided to axe its under-performing Maybach premium brand. Launched to much fanfare in 2002, the brand never produced the 800 unit per year global sales that Mercedes-Benz needed to be profitable. Long-overdue for a refresh, the lack of a pending redesign seemed to be proof that Mercedes was intent on pulling the plug, even before a formal decision was made.

Autoweek cites unnamed but high-ranking sources in Mercedes-Benz, who have confirmed that the brand will be pulled from the market in 2013. To fill the void, Mercedes will expand the S-Class product line to include three wheelbase variations, multiple engine choices and even a range-topping S600 Pullman edition, which should give buyers a similar level of luxury to the Maybach sedans. Given the current state of the global economy, expanding a base product line makes more financial sense to Mercedes than maintaining an ultra-premium product line with declining sales.

Since the new S-Class models won’t hit the market until 2013, you still have a little over a year to buy a Maybach if you can raise the price of admission. The “entry-level” Maybach 57 starts at $372,500, the mid-line Maybach 62 is priced from $423,500 and the range-topping Maybach Landaulet Cabriolet stickers at a mind-numbing $1,380,000, excluding taxes, title and licensing, of course.

The late Steve Jobs was truly a pioneer of our lifetime and in the automotive enthusiast community many of us remember spy shots of his famous silver Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG. Some of us recall that his SL55 AMG never had a license plate. Recently this mystery has resurfaced with an explanation from the folks at iTWire who spoke to Job Callas, the CTO of Entrust who worked with Apple in different security roles. Reportedly, according to Callas, Jobs found a loophole in California laws that would essentially allow him to drive around without a license plate.

Jobs discovered that a new vehicle is able to drive around in California without a license plate for up to six months. We knew Jobs was a clever guy but he took his company motto of ‘Thinking Different’ to his own automobile and simply leased a new silver Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG every 6 months to avoid placing a license plate on the vehicle. Supposedly each SL55 AMG owned by Jobs was nearly identical and only a true enthusiast would be able to point out any differences.

This goes to show that Steve Jobs will leave behind a legacy that continues to keep us guessing for many years to come. It is “just one more thing” that Jobs leaves behind for us to ponder.