It would certainly help if Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton could celebrate the usual good Formula 1 season. But the Briton, like the Mercedes Formula 1 team, is experiencing the darkest racing season in years. Hamilton follows the field, as does the Formula 1 car with the star, which has been almost invincible for many years. No tailwind therefore for the new Mercedes AMG C63 S E-Performance. So far, the beefy, rumbling eight-cylinder suction engine under the well-contoured hood was probably the number one reason for the purchase for many C-Class fans. After all, the main competitors BMW with the power double from M3 / M4 and Audi with its double pack from RS4 / RS5 had said goodbye to the image-boosting eight-cylinder in their sports versions years ago.
But since then, powerful six-cylinder engines have been working here, which give the fans almost as much pleasure. Loss of image and tired driving performance? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! AMG, the sportiest of all Mercedes subsidiaries, is now forced to go two steps further. Because there was no powerful six-cylinder in the engine range, from which one could have elicited the sportiest top performance, one jumped down to a narrow two-liter displacement, which is distributed over just four combustion chambers. It remains to be seen whether this will cost many customers. The fan community of Mercedes and AMG cried out a long time ago when word got around about the notable cylinder reduction. With the high-tech engine, many are likely to strike anyway.
Apart from the strange name, there is nothing to complain about in terms of the performance data of the new Mercedes AMG C63 S E-Performance, because it is the first in its class to be a plug-in hybrid, and one whose performance data is hard to hear and see . Because if in the class of powerful middle-class models with more than sporty 500 to 550 hp it’s all over with fun, the Affalterbacher goes into other dimensions. Thanks to an additional electric motor on the rear axle, the obligatory all-wheel drive delivers a gigantic 500 kW / 680 hp and a spectacular maximum torque of 1,020 Nm.
“With the C 63 S E Performance, we are opening a new chapter in our brand history. With its revolutionary concept, it brings a completely new approach to the segment, which until now has been primarily characterized by pure promises of performance. With a maximum system output of 680 hp, we keep this promise. But the intelligent P3 hybrid concept offers much more. I’m sure that we will also appeal to a new group of customers with this technology, which contains a lot of know-how from Formula 1,” says AMG CEO Philipp Schiemer. As with the AMG GT four-door, the electric motor in the sporty plug-in hybrid is only intended to boost performance. The purely electric distance to be covered with the battery pack is a meager 13 kilometers. Instead, the electric motor with a maximum output of 150 kW / 204 hp provides powerful acceleration and enough thrust not to lag behind the competition with more power and combustion chambers. The electric motor makes the rear axle the technical highlight of the C63, because there is not only an additional two-speed gearbox for the electric power, but also a limited slip differential and rear-axle steering, which are intended to ensure that the zest for action gets onto the road. From a standing start, it accelerates to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds and the top speed is limited to 270 or 280 km/h, depending on the body version.
The two-liter, four-cylinder engine provides the main power with its 350 kW / 476 hp with electric turbocharger. The additional 150 kW / 204 hp on the rear axle are available for a maximum of ten seconds. The only 6.1 kWh battery enables a continuous output of 70 kW / 105 hp. The battery pack is charged via the 3.7 kW onboard charger with alternating current at a charging station or a wall box. The question remains whether the eight driving programs Electric, Comfort, Battery Hold, Sport, Sport, Race, Ice or Individual are not a bit too much of a good thing. The bottom line is that the electrification reduces the standard consumption to 6.9 liters per 100 kilometers. A disadvantage is the gigantic weight of more than 2.1 tons for such a sporty mid-range model.
Visually, there are the usual extras from AMG. The C63 – still available as a sedan or estate version – is not only more than eight centimeters longer than the normal C-Class due to numerous bodywork measures, modified rocker panels and aprons, but in particular the wide track widened the two four-door models by 7.6 centimeters .
