Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Test Drive Review

Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG – Move over Mr M3!

If you live in the playground of the rich, there is now another luxury high performance sedan that can dance with the BMW M3, and it is the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. Just as the M3 is based on the BMW 3 Series sedan, the C63 is built on the Mercedes-Benz C Class sedan by AMG. If you have lamented the disappearance of the V8 from the M3, you can rejoice, because with the C63, you can still enjoy the reverberating sound that is sweet music to many.

Nevertheless, the C63 AMG’s V8 engine capacity has also been downsized to a 4.0 litre, with twin turbos to offset the power loss, providing 476 horsepower and 650 Nm of torque on call from as low as 1,700 rpm. An optional ‘S’ package brings it up to 510 horsepower and 700 Nm of torque. That is an awesome amount of power!

The Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG has the qualities to make it a ‘sleeper’ car – very quiet exterior but is really a tiger waiting to be unleashed. Although it is one of the most powerful cars around, you will not look ‘flashy’ in one – it looks, at first glance anyway, very much like an ordinary C Class except for a few exterior items.

Interior is mainly based on the C Class, with carbon fibre inserts tastefully added.

C63 Driver’s cockpit. Note the brown upholstery.

The first giveaway would be the extra wide tires, a slightly wider and lower stance (that might easily pass unnoticed), a different front mask that has larger under-bumper intakes, a differently designed front fender (made of aluminum but you wouldn’t know that if I didn’t point it out to you) and a rear diffuser. The dead giveaway would be the AMG and C63 badges on the rear boot lid and the side badge that says ‘V8 BITURBO’.

I took a unit from Mercedes-Benz Malaysia on, of all days, April Fool’s Day, for a test and no, it wasn’t an April Fool’s Day joke – the lovely MBM person was waiting there with the keys when I arrived.

If I could ever afford one, I would take off all the badges and just put on a C250 or a C300 badge on it and turn this car into a sleeper. Even with all the standard badges on, I have been subjected to numerous challenges from Golf GTi’s and some BMW 328i’s. Not that they posed any problem, because once you accelerate away from them, the sound of the V8 and the speed at which you become smaller as you pull away will be enough to tell them this is the real thing.

There is no magic really, in building a super car. You need a powerful engine – in this case a 4.0 litre V8, which is basically putting two 2.0 litre engines together in the shape of a V, and fitting a turbocharger onto each of the two banks. Whilst it does sound simplistic, the fact of the matter is that each of these AMG engines are put together by one highly skilled technician, under AMG’s ‘One Man, One Engine’ philosophy. Each engine is carefully hand-built by one man who then puts it to the test under very stringent conditions, as opposed to mass-production engines put together on an assembly line. Each engine carries the name of the person who put it together. In the case of my test car, the name of the technician who built the engine is Philipp Becker.

Twin turbos, mounted in the centre of the V, note the name plate of the engineer who built this engine.

Next, you need a strong and robust transmission – in this case, you get an AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission, which is an automatic, complete with paddle shifters. Although not as fun as a manual, the AMG auto transmission does take away the hassle of having to use the clutch in traffic jams. Now there is no need for any fancy footwork – believe me, you will enjoy it just as much. Apart from the first gear which is low to allow easy take-off, second to seventh gear are close-ratio. Fifth gear is 1.00:1 while sixth and seventh gears have over-drive ratios.

Then of course, you need to make it stick to the road, so the AMG specialists put in 19-inch wheels with 265/35 ZR 19 Michelin Super Sport tires. These are super soft compound tires that really stick to the road. In fact, after a hard run to and from Bukit Tinggi, I found the rubber soft and tacky – they are really good for road grip but tire life is likely to be short. But then, if you can afford this car, it is worth it for the grip. Besides the tires, AMG also developed a suspension system to match the engine performance and fitted humongous brakes to make it stop.

6-pot calipers for the front

Rear tires are wider than the front.

There is some attempt to reduce overall weight by using aluminum wings (front fenders), an aluminum bonnet and aluminum suspension arms; however, the C63 weighs in at 1,715 kg (kerb weight), most of which comes from the V8 engine. Not to worry though, there is plenty of power. 0-100 km/h is done in 4.1 seconds with a top speed of 290 km/h. Top speed is electronically controlled at 250 km/h but with the optional AMG Driver’s package, it is extended to 290 km/h.

Finally, to increase the appeal, you put in extras that make the car better – carbon fibre inserts here and there, luxury items like hand-stitched natural leather seats, an IWC clock, electric seats, a high-end stereo system, connectivity, GPS, keyless entry, push-button start, electronic aids to help keep the driver on the road, etc, etc, The C63 has it all, including a panoramic sunroof.

Having driver a few really fast cars over the last few weeks, all of them of German origin, I have generally come to the conclusion that all the high performance cars have great handling and all of them are built just great; the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG is no exception. At high speeds, the C63 is rock steady – there are a few options that can be selected by the driver in terms of suspension and engine performance. By means of a little roller toggle, you can select anything from Comfort to Sport to Sport Plus, or Race. There is an Individual mode which you can use to set up the car’s behavior and save it for instant recall at any time. The Sport, Sport Plus and Race settings modify the damping forces but even in Comfort mode, it is already quite firm to start with; perhaps a way to ‘idiot-proof’ the system.

Choose your driving mode.

However, in Sport and Sport Plus modes, the handling improves and in Race mode, everything tightens up. On the Bukit Tinggi run, I used Sport mode, as this still allows for some measure of comfort. The average driver is hardly likely to exceed the limits of the C63 because from what I can see, its limits are beyond what one is used to – if anything untoward were to happen when driving the C63, it is probably because the driver panicked. Even then, if you leave the electronic aids on, the systems would most likely be able to get you out of trouble.

With the automatic transmission, there is no necessity for the fancy footwork of ‘heel and toe’ and double declutching – this allows even a moderately good driver to go fast. Although I did miss the footwork action, I found the C63 a really nice car to drive. I did appreciate the auto though, in the suburban areas where I had to drive slowly on account of traffic.

The 476 horsepower is really awesome. All you have to do is step on the gas pedal and you will leave everyone else behind. A couple of weeks earlier, I was with a colleague in another C63 on the way back from Penang. We met a Maserati Ghibli (V6, 3.0 turbo) somewhere near Ipoh and we had a ‘mini’ on-the-go drag; it lasted about 10 seconds. But although the Ghibli was accelerating with the pedal flat on the floor (on an overtaking move), we could easily zoom past, and left it behind by about 200 metres in the short time. Being good citizens, we pulled over to let it pass us after that. I am sure the owner would be looking at the C63 AMG as a replacement not too long in the future. The additional 1.0 litre in the C63 makes quite a difference.

The speed build-up is extremely quick and in no time you would be breaching the 200 km/h mark. A word of warning to drivers is necessary here – the C63 is a very stable car so you should constantly monitor your speed – which can be conveniently done via head-up display on the windscreen. At 200 km/h, it actually feels like you are doing 130 km/h; at 140 km/h, it feels like 90 km/h. Besides, with the enormous power, your engine revolutions are relatively low at high speeds (because the gears are overdrive in 6th and 7th) and this can lull you into thinking you are going at a slower speed than you are.

Having said that, the C63 is not a monster car. You can drive it at gentle speeds through traffic or your mother can take it to the market on a weekend without any problem. What I love about this car is the gentle gurgle of the V8 when going slow; it’s unobtrusive but it’s there alright. If anything, I would love it to be louder when I open her up (the car, I mean), but I suppose there are some noise regulations that the AMG people have to take into consideration. I tried looking for a button that would open up the exhaust like what we can find in the Porsche Cayman GT4 but sorry, there isn’t one. The soundproofing works, but I think those outside the car would be hearing a little more than what I can inside the car.

C63 bucket sports seats look good, but I prefer black or red

Rear Passenger compartment.

Fuel consumption on the C63 AMG is not your best friend here. Taking a peek at the on-board memory, I noted that for the past 4,227 kilometres since the Average Fuel Consumption was reset, the consumption was 25 litres per 100 kilometres, or 4 kilometres per litre. Noting of course that this is a media and customer test car, I would expect that this is because all the media and customers who have test driven this car, for the most part, really pushed it hence the high fuel consumption. I don’t know how much you would get if you drove it sedately because for the most part during my test drive, except for the times in heavy traffic, I also did not go easy on the engine. But then, if you can own this car, why would you want to drive it sedately? There is a price to pay for power, as we all know. Just for the record, I got 20.8 litres per 100 kilometres.

Would I buy one? Yes, if I had the money. Do I like it? Yes, tremendously! And here, I would like to confess that I am one of those who prefer rear-wheel drive cars, like the C63 AMG!