How buying a Mercedes-AMG C 63 S coupe can save you $100,000
Being the second-most-special AMG model in the range isn’t so bad when you consider the competition. By David Linklater.
Mercedes-AMG’s awesome new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine comes in variety of packages. The ultimate one for NZ at the current time is the GT S coupe, a monster sports car that aims to rumble along and rough it up with the likes of the Porsche 911. Don’t bet against it.
Now, not everybody has the $275,000 required for entry into the GT S club.
But I reckon the new C 63 S coupe gives you a lot of the look, character and dynamic experience of the GT S for $100k less.
Not everybody has the $172,900 required for entry into the C 63 S club either, but we’re talking value as opposed to outright purchase price. And the C 63 S two-door offers plenty.
The C 63 S is the crazy-fast version of the new C-class coupe, but there’s a lot more to it than that. It has the same twin-turbo V8 engine under the bonnet as the C 63 S sedan, but it’s very much its own machine: more than an uprated C-coupe, more than a twodoor version of the C 63 S sedan.
The C 63 S (any C 63 S) has 50Nm more torque than the same engine in the GT S, which is why the coupe is just 0.1sec behind its hardcore cousin to 100kmh. And I’m sure that 0.1sec is more marketing rhetoric than anything.
While some complain that the C-class coupe looks a bit droopy in standard form (I’m not one of them), the C 63 S looks squat and more than a bit scary. Only the roof, doors and bootlid are shared with the lesser versions; the rest is pure AMG sheet metal.
The coupe has the same power and torque outputs as the sedan, but the chassis boasts a unique rear axle and even wider (by
25mm) track that makes it the most aggressive and agile of the C-class breed in the corners. It retains active engine mounts and a locking AMG differential.
And of course that engine. AMG is not into artificial sound enhancement, but it’s still managed to make this twin-turbo unit sound even more terrifying than the old 6.2-litre V8 naturally aspirated job. Arguably not as deep and soulful, but way louder.
There’s no contest when it comes to flexibility and sheer grunt. The new V8 has incredible reserves of torque, which can used to rumble along in pseudo-luxury Comfort mode, or shred the rear tyres and give your wrists a workout in Sport.
It’s an exciting thing, no question. But also a very beautiful thing in terms of attention to detail. Build quality is sublime and inside you get stunning AMG-specific stuff like race seats in Nappa leather, unique steering wheel and a special instrument cluster. All on top of what’s already a very swish Mercedes-Benz coupe.
The C 63 S is over $70k more expensive than the C 300 two-door, which sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud. But it does look and feel like a very different car.
The C 63 S adds up to more than the sum of its bespoke parts. And there are plenty of those.
$172,900.
4.0-litre turbo-petrol V8, 375kW/ 700Nm, 7-speed automated dualclutch transmission, RWD, 0-100kmh 3.9 seconds.
Vital statistics: 4686mm long, 1406mm high, luggage 400 litres, 19-inch front and 20-inch rear alloy wheels.
We like: Dramatically different to any other C-class, thrilling in every way, could be a cut-price GT S.
We don’t like: Still a massive price-premium over the cooking coupes, not much else.