► We test new Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe
► Power boosted to 503bhp and 479lb ft of torque
► V8 bi-turbo pushes 0-62mph sprint under 4sec!
Despite two days of the AMG C63 S Coupe trying to kill me, I’ve developed an acute case of Stockholm Syndrome. I am in its bondage, happily chained to its 503bhp in Spain’s endless rain, dragged along slippery surfaces at incomprehensible speeds in what feels like increasingly hopeless yet wonderful abandon.
The architects of this evildoing, Mercedes-AMG, have endured mission creep into all sorts of oddities – SUVs, six-wheeled desert tanks, F1 – but chairman Tobias Moers fervently believes the dark heart of the firm is its sports car, the GT, and this, the C63 Coupe. In the case of the latter the script is unchanged: a big V8 driving the rear wheels and a psychotic edge masked by a façade of soft leather and easygoing big-bore running.
Except in the latest models – the £68,070 S and 470bhp non-S for seven grand less – the bore is not quite so big, down from 6.2-litres to 4.0, ably assisted by a pair of turbochargers. Even AMG must toe the emissions line sometimes. Yet the new S is faster still, and Moers reckons at least as quick as the old Black Series, with a sub-four second 0-62mph time that challenges the AMG GT S (3.8sec). And Affalterbach fans will be relieved to hear that the psychotic edge, while still very much in evidence, now uses a scalpel rather than an axe for the ensuing carnage: the Coupe is notably more precise even than AMG’s saloon or estate, mainly thanks to a bespoke 12-link rear axle and carrier, which pushes the wheels out a further 25mm.
But back to the carnage. Despite the move to turbocharging, the new V8 doesn’t feel overtly turbocharged, the power delivery smoothly, consistently furious and long-lasting through all seven gears, accompanied by the kind of noise that only AMGs makes; a high revving chainsaw and bellowing, nihilistic rage in unison. This sound can be provoked into still more pronounced mood swings, from a midrange Comfort-mode sob to maniacal snaps, crackles and boom in Sport Plus and Race, accentuated further by a UK-standard three-flap exhaust system. So forced induction doesn’t have to mean sonic disappointment – and this without a single poxy sound-enhancing speaker in sight…
Individual settings allow you to choose a personality profile. For me, it’s the bonkers soundtrack allied to the softer damping and the lighter, more feelsome steering of Comfort mode. The heavy steering in the sportier settings deadens their appeal with weight, rather than any increase in actual feel, the only tangible result.
As for handling, well, the storm front well and truly buggered any reasonable assessment of the C63 Coupe’s behaviour against that other great German super-coupe other than to say this: even me trailing increasingly raggedly around the Ascari racetrack behind DTM hero Bernd Schneider, the C63’s front end refused to wash wide, although the Coupe was extremely keen to send the other end elsewhere. On the road the steering was precise and accurate, the vast braking power under-employed at all times, and traction was strong enough in a straight line to give the car a less niggly feel in wet weather than BMW’s M4. But any less than tiptoeing the throttle with any steering lock on? Brave. Or stupid. Or very talented (Schneider, not me).
Thank the Affalterbach Gods then that they switched the stability and traction software of the standard Mercedes Coupe to a more sophisticated, nuanced Bosch system for the C63, though even that has its work cut out delivering all that power sympathetically. Although the C63 is heavy, it feels lighter than its near-1800kg claimed kerb weight. The wide track, dynamic engine mounts and active suspension work together to remove most, if not all of the pitch, roll and shocks from road, while the monstrous 479lb ft of torque from only 1750rpm shoves you along effortlessly, even from low speed. Thin but supportive sports seats pin you firmly in place, fortunately.
Looking at the car, it’s hard not to fall for those heaving flanks and jutting exhausts. With only the doors, bootlid and roof unchanged, it looks much less like a Vauxhall Insignia than the standard Coupe from the back, though it’s hardly a cavalcade of swoops. Still, it’s always the quiet ones you need to watch…
This then is the new world of AMG, and it’s as insane as the old one, just more clinically so.
Up against
Better than: Audi RS5 – AMG trounces the doughy-helmed, concrete-booted Ingolstadt wonder
Worse than: BMW M4 – If all you care about is winning trackdays
We’d buy: Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe – Engine alone enough to trump M4
The specs: Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe
Price: £68,070
Engine: 3982cc 32v biturbo V8, 503bhp @ 5500rpm, 479lb ft @ 1750rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
Performance: 3.9sec 0-62mph, 155mph (limited), 32.8mpg, 200g/km CO2
Weight: 1785kg
On Sale: Now
Love – That it tries to kill you
Hate – That it tries to kill you
Verdict – Brutally fast, magnificently vicious, yet benign – if you behave…
Rating – ****