Granddad versus the AMG E 63 S
Celebrating 50 years since Mercedes-Benz’s first super-sedan - with a modern monster E-class. David Linklater reports.
March equals Geneva Motor Show time. Simple. Geneva Motor Show 1968 in this context. Fifty years ago, Mercedes-Benz pulled the wraps off one of the coolest cars it has ever built: the 300 SEL 6.3. Back in 1966, a Mercedes-Benz engineer named Erich Waxenberger took the largest engine the company produced at that time - the 6.3-litre V8 from the 600 limousine - and decided to shoehorn it under the bonnet of the 300 SEL sedan.
Two years later the 300 SEL 6.3 (you can see what they did there) was ready for launch at the Geneva Motor Show. ‘‘Launch’’ in every sense of the word, because at the time its performance and specification were jaw-dropping: 0-100kmh in 6.5 seconds., fourspeed automatic gearbox, air suspension, four-wheel disc brakes and air conditioning. Because it was still a super-luxury supersedan, after all.
Five decades later, technology has certainly advanced. Yet in some respects the ingredients in the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S 4Matic+ are not dramatically different from Grandad SEL. It’s currently the fastest sedan in the Mercedes stable (also one of the fastest series-production cars in the world), it still shares an engine with the wider Mercedes-AMG group, it still has automatic transmission and air suspension, and the braking system is still key to harnessing all that performance. It also still carries the last word in Mercedes-Benz luxury equipment.
It even retains that iconic ‘‘63’’ badge, for no other reason than heritage. Back in the SEL’s day, model names actually told you something about the car. Not in 2018. Two incarnations of AMG’s V8 engines ago, there was a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre (yes, that’s correct - don’t get me started). Then it became a biturbo 5.5-litre. Now it’s a biturbo 4.0-litre. A magnificent thing for sure, but nothing to do with the number 63.
The basic ingredients might be broadly similar over 50 years, but the numbers have changed a lot. I mean, a lot. The 300 SEL made 213kW/541Nm, while the E 63 S 4Matic+ pumps out 450kW/850Nm and gets to 100kmh in nearly half the time. There are nine gears to play with, including multiple drive-modes for both transmission and suspension. And of course it’s all-wheel drive; it has to be, to harness that extreme power.
Never driven a 300 SEL 6.3 (very open to offers), but the idea was still that of a luxury sedan with high performance as a bonus. You could argue the E 63 S 4Matic+ has its priorities the other way around, given the out-of-control competition between premium brands in the performance sector and contemporary customers’ love of track days: it’s a circuit-capable monster that still offers the luxury kit of other high-end Mercedes sedans.
That’s especially true of the Kiwi-spec E 63: there are less extreme models available in other markets, but we only get the overthe-top ‘‘S’’ model that brings more power, an extra Race setting in the drive-mode menu, a more sophisticated differential, larger 20-inch wheels with mixed tyre sizes, active engine mounts that stiffen under load, supersupportive AMG-specific performance front seats and larger brakes. Our test vehicle took the business of stopping even more seriously, with a $9900 ceramic composite brake setup (note the bronze calipers).
The mind boggles, but the reality is that at speed, this is one of those pumped-up AMG vehicles that still delivers surgical precision once you get past all the monstrous onpaper specification. The biturbo engine combines elastic power delivery with a thunderous soundtrack - at least in Sport+ mode, although you can activate the loud-pipes via a separate button. The steering has heft but also extreme accuracy.
It you think all-wheel drive and all that sticky rubber might not make the E 63 S an ideal dance partner, think again: it has the power and drive-modes to make it so.
The electronics allow various degrees of chassis-movement depending on which buttons you’ve pressed, but you can also keep it failsafe if you want to.
The E 63 S has rather famously acquired a Drift Mode, which is activated by a double-pull on both gearshift paddles (only when traction control has been manually switched off as well) and then a confirmation click.
It decouples drive to the front and makes the big-Merc a
complete sideways weapon.
Mercedes-AMG says it’s only for track use and that’s fine with me. If you think I did anything more than activate Drift Mode to see if I could, then quickly switch back to 4Matic, you’re dreaming. I’ve felt what the car can do when all four corners are anchored and I’m just not that brave/silly.
The E 63 S is faster than many bespoke supercars of not-so-longago, yet still with all the luxury equipment and automated-drive features you get with any other high-end E-class model.
But it’s not quite the do-it-allexecutive you might think. There has to be some opportunity cost when a car’s circuit capabilities are so very high; the E 63 S doesn’t play the luxury role as well as a normal E-class and there’s no point pretending otherwise. Even in its most comfortable modes the ride is busy on urban streets, the massive tyres bind up in tight turns (like when you’re trying to get into your garage) and those aggressive front seats can feel like a bit much when all you want to is relax on the drive home from work.
Which raises the question whether the E 63 S 4Matic+ has gone too far for a seriesproduction sedan, when you could have a comfy conventional E-class and another really cool track-day car for the same money. But it is staggering how far Mercedes-AMG has stretched this super-sedan concept.