Mercedes-Benz’s AMG performance car division has given the new C63 super-saloon its first public at the Paris motor show.
The BMW M3 rival will be offered with a similar power output to the company’s recently unveiled GT sports car, with which it effectively shares its engine, when it arrives in UK dealerships early next year. Customers will, however, be able to place orders for the new C63 from this month.
The new car, officially named the Mercedes-AMG C63, will begin being delivered in saloon guise from February and in estate form from April, with sleeker coupé and cabriolet variants planned for introduction by the end of next year as part of a four-strong model line-up.
Read our review on the brutally fast Mercedes-AMG C 63
The C63 is the second model to adopt AMG’s new twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine, which receives a fresh M177 codename in this latest incarnation owing to a lack of dry sump oil scavenging among other detail changes that differentiate it from the M178-designated unit used by the GT.
In line with the recent new model strategy at AMG, the 4.0-litre unit is being offered in two differing outputs, depending on model.
In keeping with the downsizing trend evident across the Mercedes-Benz line-up of late, the new engine gives away a considerable 2226cc in swept volume to the naturally aspirated 6.2-litre engine that has powered the C63 since its introduction in 2007. Despite this, AMG’s latest model packs more power and torque than its direct predecessor.
In the new C63, the M177 engine delivers 469bhp at 5500rpm and 479lb ft between 1750 and 6250rpm – respective 18bhp and 37lb ft increases on the old model’s peaks of 451bhp and 442lb ft.
With added turbocharger boost pressure, the downsized AMG engine endows the new C63 S with an even more potent 503bhp at the same 5500rpm, along with 516lb ft from 1750 to 6250rpm, giving it 23bhp and 74lb ft more than the old C63 equipped with the optional Performance Package. It is also more than the previous limited volume C63 Edition 507, which had 500bhp and 450lb ft.
By comparison, its keenest four-door performance rival, the newly introduced fifth-generation BMW M3, offers 425bhp at 5500rpm and 405lb ft from its twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol engine. Among the five-door estate competition is the Audi RS4 Avant, whose naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8 delivers 444bhp and 317lb ft.
With a kerb weight some 15kg below that of its predecessor at 1640kg in saloon guise, the new C63’s power-to-weight ratio has risen by 14bhp per tonne over its direct predecessor to 286bhp per tonne.
The C63 S saloon tips the scales at the same kerb weight as the old model, at 1655kg, giving it an even sharper 304bhp per tonne, or 14bhp more than the car it replaces.
Add your comment
WHY NO AIR SPRINGS?
Windup
Economy