- No V8? That’s a bit of a downer, isn’t it?
- So what is the new AMG hybrid powertrain like?
- How does the new C63 S E Performance feel from the passenger seat?
- Final thoughts?
► New C63 arrives in 2023► Hybrid four replaces turbo V8
► All-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steer
You could spend hours working your way through all the menus and sub-menus on the new Mercedes-Benz C63 S E Performance, one of the most technologically advanced cars ever made. So there’s clearly a limit to how much we can sensibly tell you about how it drives, based on a half-hour passenger ride on the Mercedes test track at Immendingen, 80 miles south of Mercedes’ Stuttgart HQ.
But this much we do know: it’s very fast; it grips the road incredibly well; and there’s no way you’d mistake it for a V8.
No V8? That’s a bit of a downer, isn’t it?
The new C63 raised eyebrows long before anyone saw it, when word got out that the old turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine was being replaced by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder plug-in hybrid.
And then it raised those eyebrows to the ceiling when we got to read the spec sheet and saw the weight: 2111kg for the saloon, 2145kg for the estate. That’s getting on for a tonne more than the Cosworth-tuned Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 that started the lineage in the ’80s.
From the passenger seat of an expertly driven prototype, you can’t really tell that the car is that heavy. What you do feel is the benefit of the technology that’s responsible for the weight.
So what is the new AMG hybrid powertrain like?
The four-cylinder engine itself is lighter than the V8 it replaces. But then it’s joined by a turbocharger with electrical assistance that gets it up to operating speed ultra quickly. And the electric motor on the back axle takes the totals up to 670bhp and 752lb ft.
The petrol engine and the electric motor work together through an all-wheel-drive system to send that torque to where it’s most needed at any given moment, aided by a limited-slip differential.
And there’s rear-wheel steering, able to swivel the back wheels for quicker turn-in. That’s needed to compensate for the stretched wheelbase, required to accommodate the powertrain and its cooling equipment.
How does the new C63 S E Performance feel from the passenger seat?
All this extra power and extra size means the chassis needs some strategic bracing to stop it flexing. Bracing that is, itself, not light.
But out on the twists and turns and straights and curved banking of Immendingen, this spec-sheet angst is quickly relegated to the back of your mind as the car demonstrates astonishing pace away from the line, an uncanny ability to snake through twisty sequences and then staggering braking power.
What’s equally impressive, if rather less dramatic, are the things this new C63 can do that the last one couldn’t.
It can breeze along near-silently in electric-only mode (albeit not for long). Even with the engine working hard, it’s not difficult to chat in the cabin without raising your voice. And – thanks to that long wheelbase, and that bracing, and the upgraded suspension – it copes much better with surface irregularities.
Final thoughts?
With half the number of cylinders count and a hugely inflated chip count, the new C63 S E-Performance may not fit very well with some people’s idea of what an AMG should be. But it’s one hell of an impressive C-Class.
UK price and on-sale date still to be confirmed; specs are for the saloon.
Keyword: Mercedes-Benz C63 S E-Performance (2023) passenger ride: techno, techno, techno, techno...