THE WIDER REAR TRACK INCLUDES ADDITIONAL BRACING THAT IMPROVES STEERING RESPONSE
All the talk of drifting and sliding might lull you into thinking the C 63 cannot handle all its power. That’s far from the truth. Considering this is only rear-wheel drive, the C 63 actually does deliver more grip and more composed handling than you’d think possible. You really have to be aggressive with the throttle to kick the tail out, otherwise in all other situations the C 63 handles tenaciously with very little body movement and next to no roll.
In fact, the Coupe is a (slightly) better handler than the 4-door. The wider rear track of the Coupe includes additional strengthening that makes this 2-door heavier than the 4-door (weird as it might sound) but that bracing improves steering response, giving you the confidence to lean on the outside tyres that much harder.
Of course in Sport+ mode it offers next to no suspension compliance either. Already a stiff car, the 19/20 wheel combo with low-pro tyres make the C 63 hard. Very hard. Sport+ is good only for a smooth race track like the BIC. For the MMRT and every other road, Comfort is the best, adding much-needed compliance to deal with the bumps that you hit at speed when motoring along enthusiastically. Comfort, though, should be labelled Just About Adequate. The C 63 is a hooligan and that extends to its ride quality. That said, I must clarify that we had no trouble with the tyres despite driving it very enthusiastically during the test and over a mix of roads.
I must mention the gearbox, something that has improved over the C 63 S. Where earlier it would hesitate a fraction, now the revised mapping delivers crisp, sharp, immediate shifts, especially going down the gears. And on the way up, as the V8 rushes headlong to its 7000rpm redline, the change-up lights on the 12.3-inch digital cockpit flash furiously, a strobe effect that makes you drive even more like a hooligan.
Elsewhere on the inside, you get massively bolstered AMG seats. The IWC clock. Carbon trimming everywhere. A higher
resolution 10.5-inch infotainment that finally gets Apple CarPlay but still isn’t a touchscreen. And that ferociously fat steering wheel that has gorgeous metal trimmings and inserts mated to horribly plasticky protrusions on the steering wheel.
This is AMG’s version of Ferrari’s Manettino. The protrusion on the right is to toggle from Slippery all the way to Sport+ while punching the button takes you to your pre-configured Individual mode. The two buttons on the left let you activate the sport exhaust, engage manual mode on the gearbox, and get you access to that new AMG Dynamic mode. This is an electronic safety net that’s similar to Ferrari’s Side Slip Control in that it allows you a certain degree of leeway, or slip, before intervening when a crash is imminent. Three modes are on offer, Basic, Pro and Advanced and that makes the C 63 progressively more frisky, playful and unhinged (without the worry of biting you in the arse). And much like how Ferrari’s system works in the background, so too does AMG’s, flattering the driver and making him look and feel far better than s/he is in reality.
There is a fourth mode, Master, in the AMG Dynamics that then turns the right knob on the steering wheel into a 9-stage traction control knob. Similar to the big yellow knob on the centre console of the AMG GT R, you can adjust the level of traction control. This mode lets you drift with a measure of safety provided by the electronic net, however this mode is only available on the C 63 S.
Do I miss the C 63 S? Not really because the AMG motor remains utterly, intoxicatingly EPIC. Now when this hot-vee twin-turbo V8 replaced the 6.2-litre naturally aspirated V8 in the earlier C 63, we all cried blue bloody murder. Now that there is talk of the next C 63 downsizing to four cylinders, we’re again crying blue bloody murder and — rightfully — placing this M177 motor on a high pedestal. It’s a beauty. There’s a wave of forced induction power and torque flinging you towards the horizon at a furious pace. And it sounds the part. Potent. Explosive. A wall of thunder.
It gets the juices flowing after eight weeks under lockdown. And it makes you feel alive. ⌧