2024 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance review

It’s a big call, swapping out a bellowing V8 for a four-pot screamer. Has Mercedes-AMG done the right thing?

Well, as anyone with any interest in C 63s will know by now, the king is dead, long live the king.

When we last reviewed a C 63, a wagon in 2019, we mentioned “this is likely the last V8 for the C 63. Enjoy it while you can then. Rest assured, the next iteration won’t sound this almighty.”

The rumours were correct – the V8 has gone – and in its place a four-cylinder donk that powers all the AMG compact cars.

Only this one has electric turbocharging and delivers even more power; would you believe 350kW and 545Nm? Strewth, that’s some mumbo from a four-pot 2.0 litre engine.

We were sadly right about the sound too. While there is a replacement for displacement – you just double up on your power sources – it’s hard to replace the character of the V8.

And let’s face it, the sonics have been going backwards since the C 63 that was powered by the 6.2 naturally aspirated mill back a decade ago.

So, the hybrid era is here and with that even more power and torque. How about 500kW and 1020Nm? Unreal, given the old car did 375kW and 700Nm.

But it’s needed. Back in 2019 the C 63 weighed 1800kg. Now it’s almost 2150kg.

To achieve all that output, the AMG team has supplemented the four-pot up front – still handbuilt – with a rear-mounted electric motor that chimes in with 150kW and 320Nm of twist.

So there’s that change, and with it a marked difference in how they sound; there’s the whir of the electric and blat of the four pot on the upshift.

But is the added output enough to compensate for the change in how the car both sounds and drives?

Other significant changes

There’s one other major difference between the old and the new; this now has fully variable AWD, just like its rivals. So the rear-drive point of difference is no longer.

Unlike the four-ringed car, however, you can unbolt the front-wheel drive aspect of the Mercedes and drive it in drift mode if you so desire.

The company recommends doing that under strictly controlled closed road conditions, for obvious reasons. And no, we didn’t.

On road then this has gobs more peak power and torque than before, and with AWD it’s much faster in a straight line. The gain on the sprint front is the better part of one second.

It was fast before; in 2019 we managed 0-100 in 4.17sec. The latest C 63 M-AMG claims will get the job done in 3.4sec, which is hiking.

And impressive times are increasingly common with electric gubbins and fiery engines in modern hot shot supercars. A sprint time beginning with a two was once a rarity, but not any more.

And the trimotor and quadmotor electric hypercars are in another league of accelerative authority altogether.

RWS and a plug

There are yet more changes to this fifth-generation W206 machine. Like, for instance, the C 63 now has rear-wheel steering, so not only is there more mechanical grip but there’s also better agility when turning and added stability in faster sweepers.

The turning circle is hardly amazing however, at 12.1m. While M-AMG claims an improvement, numerically it is no different from before so we’re not sure why that is.

Anyhow, another rather big difference is that this has a plug for an electrical cable and you can drive it for a short while on electric energy only. Figure on around 15km from the 6.3kWh battery pack.

Which is pretty much next to nothing. But that’s not the point of this P3 hybrid. It is all about assisting the engine with ‘fast power delivery and draw’.

The battery (89kg) can deliver up to 150kW for 10 seconds, and regen of up to 100kW can be fed back in.

There are four levels of regen possible, activated by pushing the button attached to the wheel. The top level is not quite single-pedal driving but certainly slows the car appreciably on the go, while coasting is also possible on the lowest level of regen.

It’s just a pity that making these changes isn’t as simple as it is with, say, paddles. Only here, they’re for shifting gears and we used them quite a bit…for noise enhancement purposes mainly.

Outside there are minor styling changes, featuring a more cab-rearward stance and slightly more width, while inside is relatively familiar.

There are new digital instruments but unlike other Mercedes models, the infotainment system and driver’s readouts are not under a single pane of glass. Instead the central touch screen looks to be integrated into the centre console.

Safe as it sounds

Can the C 63 still hike? Of course it can. With so much torque and traction available from the outset, it fair blasts out of the blocks in Race mode with Race Start activated.

You can feel your head pinned into the headrest. On the very first acceleration run this posted a time of 3.38sec 0-100, ending with a best reading of 3.14sec.

That’s not bad for something weighing over 2.1 tonnes but bear in mind that’s 300-400kg heavier than some of its key rivals.

The nine-speed MCT auto that features a clutch pack instead of a torque converter is a quick shifter but not blindingly so. We recorded a best overtaking time of 1.85sec but DCTs definitely shift a bit quicker.

Still, anything below 2sec for 80-120km/h we consider rabidly quick.

What about fuel use? This is one of the secondary reasons M-AMG has opted for this powertrain.

It is rated at 6.1L/100km overall but on a drive into the backblocks we never saw anything below 14L/100km, sometimes closer to 20. No real change there then.

Long term the figure was 12.5L/100km, about double the combined claim.

To be fair, this is a tester and the hybrid will likely do much better in town settings where it will both regen and run on electric power alone rather more often. Single figures are also possible on the motorway using adaptive cruise.

And yes, it really does handle, but without quite the pizzazz of before. Now there’s the security of AWD and rear-wheel steering. Previous C 63s were pretty damn good on road, but this is almost foolproof.

There’s just 1.9 turns lock to lock and its change of direction with all wheels aiming is the very definition of live and direct.

You’d not credit how well this hangs on in the dry too with its sticky low profile Pilot Sport 4S tyres. With a 50/50 weight split it is just about neutral through corners.

Unlike the rowdy CLA we drove before this on the same exact brand of rubber, the C 63 doesn’t announce its presence with road roar – we recorded a worst in-car SPL reading of 73dB, five less than its compact sib.

So you get to hear more of the new drivetrain. And yes in the Sport modes there’s the cackle of the exhaust on the upshift but it’s still a four-pot.

The sonic character of yore is a distant memory. As is the rawness and throttle-led oversteer of the rear-drive C 63s.

The brakes are certainly effective, especially for something that weighs this much, but there’s not quite the pedal feedback of the old warhorse either. That’s due to the mixed regen/friction functions of the brake pedal.

Is a reset imminent?

It’s of note that Mercedes is having a rethink about its decision to go hybrid in its performance variants, and that’s about to come to fruition in the CLE 63.

This was initially going to pick up the same petrol-electric powerplant that the C 63 has but customers in Europe have given the GLC and this car a lukewarm reception. And Mercedes-AMG did formerly say “let the customers decide” when it comes to the driveline they prefer for the C 63.

Moreover, dealers were wondering how they would explain to customers why the CLE 53 has a six-pot twinturbo mill whereas the range topping CLE 63 gets a four-pot hybrid.

Now it looks as if the CLE 63 will go with a 4.0 twin-turbo V8 and a mild hybrid configuration. That would also give it an advantage over its six-pot turbo M4 rival.

The latest C 63 might not get the aural tick of approval then but it certainly is refined. Riding on steel suspension with adaptive damping, this is smooth and absorbent in the Comfort mode, and only slightly less so in Sport.

These are the two modes most will only ever use. Even in Normal mode most others won’t see which way this went.

It’s easy enough to operate overall too, in that AMG way; once familiarised. It’s just the twirly knobs on the wheel take a bit of sorting.

There are two final aspects that might well prove a deal breaker for those considering the $199,900 C 63 S E. The multispoke wheels are impossibly difficult to clean; pay the kids to do it.

And that lithium-ion battery pack seemingly takes up about half of the previous boot space. There’s a pronounced hump in the floor that makes an area aft of the rear seat backs essentially unusable.

You might slot a few kids’ lightly packed backpacks in there but not much else. In total you’re looking at 279L of space – little more than a Suzuki Swift – versus 455L for the C 43.

So while there’s been some technological progress, Mercedes-AMG look to have overly tamed their wild child C 63.

Those with safety in mind might approve but have they simultaneously alienated former fans? It sure looks that way.

This story first appeared in the June 2024 issue of NZ Autocar magazine.