The C 63 S is essentially a very high performance version of a regular Mercedes-Benz C-class. Built by the company’s sports and racing arm, AMG, it features the highest levels of performance, a design that spells restrained aggression and a cabin that blends luxury and sport in equal measure.
This may be difficult to imagine, but not much of the original C-class is carried over to the AMG version. The engine is completely new, the gearbox is different, and even the front and rear suspensions have nothing in common with the road car. On this S version, there’s also a new e-diff to help put all that power down cleanly when coming out of corners. The C 63 S we are driving also gets carbon ceramic disc brakes in the front, an all-new steering system, and larger 19- inch wheels. There are very few changes to the car’s ‘body in white’, but that’s only because Mercedes had already made allowances for this AMG version when it designed the original road going car. Considerable effort also goes into making the C 63 look the part. There’s the now-familiar gaping AMG lower bumper, the front wings are wider and there’s a new rear bumper as well. The signature square chromed tailpipes and a subtle rear deck spoiler round off the design.
Under the hood rests a wet-sump version of the AMG GT sportscar’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8. It makes a frankly ridiculous 503bhp at 5,500rpm and spins all the way to 7,000rpm. In comparison, the new BMW M3 makes 425bhp. What’s really is astounding is that the power-to-weight ratio of the C 63 S has gone up past the magic 300bhp per tonne mark, right into the serious sportscar league. Drive, of course, is sent to the rear wheels via AMG’s seven-speed Speedshift automatic that provides five different driving modes, including Race (R).
If you are accustomed to the luxurious insides of the new C-class, the AMG version comes as a bit of a surprise. Unlike the regular C, which looks a lot like baby S-class on the inside, the accent here is firmly on sport. You get plenty of black and grey, there are new sport seats with a wide racing harness-like backrest, a flat-bottomed steering wheel and the cabin’s awash with plenty of carbon fibre, red stitching and Alcantara. So instead of looking luxurious, it now looks sporty; it’s amazing what a bit of colour and trim can do. The showpiece of the new C 63, however, is the new rip-snorting V8. There’s a loud boom from the rear when you fire up the engine, and the square pipes lay out a thick layer of thunder behind you, even as you pull away. This is especially true if you kick the right pedal hard for short bursts in power.
The C 63 also does a decent job when it comes to ride quality. In ‘Comfort’, with the adjustable dampers on the softest setting, the car smothers most bad patches of road quite effectively.
However, should the quality of the surface deteriorate, the AMG does tend to hop over undulations in the road surface. And this is likely to affect how the car drives over rough patches in our conditions back home too.
But the C 63 S isn’t a car you buy to be cosseted in. What you buy this car for is manic, take-your-breath-away performance. And frankly there’s container loads of that available here. Toggle up to ‘Sport’ or ‘Sport+’ and the C 63 S comes into its own. Now everything is primed for action – gearbox, throttle responses, steering and dampers – and the C 63 S digs its rear tyres into the ground so hard, that it feels like it is vaulting from corner to corner in massive, barely controlled leaps.
And I’m only still using part throttle!
Low and medium engine speed responses are so explosive, I don’t really use full throttle for a bit. Eventually I learn the ways of the car and gain enough confidence to use 100 percent of the power, the AMG exiting corners like it’s been shot out of a cannon. Now acceleration is nothing short of feral, the engine pulling hard all the way to the 7,000rpm redline. In fact, so strong is the pace, you tend to literally hold your breath as you feed in the power exiting a corner. What completes the experience is the racing V8-like manic howl towards the top end. AMG claims a 0-100kph time of 4.0sec for the C 63 S sedan; think about that! The only reservation we have is that the performance of the gearbox is a bit inconsistent; it feels fast and brilliant at times and frustratingly stubborn to shift down at others.
Mercedes will launch the C 63 S towards the end of the year at an expected price of Rs 1.25 crore. For that money, you get a four-door sportscar you can use every day. Yes, this car needs to run on smaller wheels for India, it could have steered with a bit more precision, and the gearbox could have been more intuitive and quicker, but as things stand, the C 63 S is one of the best cars in its class. Question is, is it better than its other legendary rival the BMW M3? Unfortunately that’s only something we’ll be able to answer when we drive these two cars back to back.
