► Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance review
► Plug-in hybrid 2.0-litre 4cyl replaces V8
► All-wheel drive and all-wheel steering
Mercedes-AMG has always had a thing for confusing badges on its C63 models. In 2008, we had a 6.2-litre car. In 2015, it became a 4.0-litre. And now, in 2024, the Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder plug-in hybrid. Controversial? Yes, by the bucket load.
There’s even a rumour that the then Chief of AMG – Tobias Moers – walked out of the board meeting where the decision was made to make the C63 a four-pot. Was he right to be concerned? Keep reading to find out.
At a glance
Pros: Tidy handling, doesn’t feel as heavy as it is, all-electric capability
Cons: Powertrain feels unfinished, sounds rubbish, boot space has been cut significantly
What’s new on the C63 S E Performance?
Lots. Out goes the V8, in comes an uprated version of the 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine from the A45 S. This time, however, it’s got hybrid assistance in the form of an electric motor attached to a 6.1kWh battery. That means you get performance augmenting electric boost as well as the ability to cruise around on pure electricity. Not very in-keeping with the brutish V8s of old, but very on trend in 2024.
The C63 S (we’ll call it that from now on) is also now all-wheel drive (but with a rear-wheel drive drift mode, natch), plus there’s rear-wheel steering to improve agility. Which is probably a good thing given how much the new C63 S weighs…
What are the specs?
The 2.0-litre petrol engine (the most powerful production four-cylinder in the world, no less) delivers 469bhp and 545Nm of torque left to its own devices. However, add this to the 20hp and 302Nm of max torque from the electric motor and you’re looking at combined outputs of 671bhp and 752lb ft of torque.
As such, 0-62mph takes a mere 3.4 seconds and top speed is – depending on spec – up to 280km/h. Serious speed that give certain supercars a hard time, but it’s even more significant given how much the C63 S weighs. See, all of that hybrid powertrain and all-wheel drive bits means the C63 S saloon tips the scales at 2.165 tonnes. Which is – checks notes – around 400kg heavier than the previous gen saloon. Yikes.
The extra tech does mean AMG can claim an electric range of around nine miles and claimed average fuel economy figure of over 40mpg, but there’s no getting away from the fact that this latest C63 S is decidedly porky.
What’s the interior like?
Like a regular Mercedes-Benz C-Class but more. There’s two large screens (one portrait and central in the cabin, the other landscape and functioning as the dashboard display). Both are packed with bright and impressive graphics and the latter is endlessly customisable.
The same can’t be said for the drive modes, however. OK, that’s unfair, you can change a lot (steering, power delivery, traction control, brake regen etc) using the plasticky feeling toggles on the wheel and by delving into the central touchscreen but, crucially, there’s only one individual mode. Audi and BMW saw this coming years ago – added complexity means customers want more than one custom drive mode slot – but unfortunately the C63 only has one. Which is a shame.
Aside from this, the C63’s cabin is the sort of place you either love or hate. For those that adore tech and all that comes with it, it’s pretty spot on and the ambient lighting, brushed chrome and piano black trim is, admittedly, very eye-catching. But for those whose idea of a dream interior is that of a Caterham’s? Best stay clear.
One thing that we can’t leave down to personal taste, however, is the boot space. See, AMG’s engineers likely wanted the battery pack in a certain place for optimum 50:50 weight distribution. They achieved that, but the compromise is a big stack of batteries over the rear axle.
Bootspace for the estate version, therefore, is 360 litres seats up and 1,375 litres seats folded. That’s significantly smaller than the old C63 estate and the BMW M3 Touring and Audi RS4. Fine, aim for optimum driving dynamics – but surely don’t do it at the expense of crucial practicality?
How does the C63 S E Performance drive?
Let’s start with the speed. When everything is up and running, the right mode is selected and the battery is juiced, it’s devastatingly fast. Really. The numbers on the speedo go up like the dot matrix display on a punching machine after Oleksandr Usyk has just had a swing. Thing is, it doesn’t always feel as quick as the numbers suggest. The powertrain is fairly flat in its delivery and the noise is predictably uninspiring.
However, there’s a strong sense that the powertrain really could do with a bit more polish. For example, floor it in Comfort mode and it often takes the powertrain a couple of seconds to wake up and give you a kick in the back.
Plus, we’ve noticed an issue (that first became apparent during our C63 S group test in Germany last year) where there’s an unexplained gap in the power delivery. Granted, the battery’s peak output is only available for 10 seconds at a time, but the gaps in power appear to come in sooner than that.
Over on the handling side things, the C63 S is markedly better. For starters, it doesn’t feel anything like it’s near 2.2-tonne kerb weight. The quick, precise steering (sadly it’s totally devoid of feel) helps with that, but so does the body control and general attitude of the car on the road. What’s more, the ride comfort in the softest damper settings is perfectly agreeable and there’s solid feel from the brake pedal – often an issue with hybrid cars.
Verdict
Mercedes-AMG took a gamble with the new C63 and, unfortunately, it hasn’t paid off. Hybrid powertrains, it seems, are to be a large part of the future of performance cars, yet the C63 S E Performance has been saddled with one that – at this moment in time – does not feel the finished article.
Thankfully, there is promise in the rest of the car that does well to handle the considerable kerb weight and deliver a highly usable (apart from the bootspace) everyday super saloon. However, there’s no doubt that Mercedes-AMG can do an awful lot better than this and indeed will need to if it’s to win back customers.
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.