What is it?
The new Mercedes-Benz S 63 AMG: the £119,565 answer to your supercar-fast, luxury-segment contender question. Oh, you weren’t asking? Well, Mercedes would appreciate it if you got a bit more inquisitive; AMG is aiming to sell more than 30,000 cars annually before too long, and that means every one of them – including its limo-size saloon – is going to need to count.
Admittedly the market for this particular model is going to be extremely small. The previous Mercedes-Benz S-Class – a peach – found nearly 90 per cent of its business in oil burning form, and the sixth generation of it will likely prove no different. Even if you’ve got a particular hankering for serious petrol power, you have to leapfrog the very good S 500 L, at £86,840, to get to the S 63.
The S 500 L also has a turbocharged V8 engine, but what it doesn’t have – and this, frankly, is the key to grasping the AMG’s appeal – is the hand-built, 5.5-litre biturbo V8. With 577bhp. And 664lb ft from 2250rpm. Which, despite the two-tonne greatcoat, is capable of launching this S-dlass to 62mph in 4.4sec via the seven-speed Speedshift MCT, and on to 186mph if you’ve been clever with your choices on the options list.
Now, for the rest of Europe if not the UK, the manufacturer has decked the long-wheelbase S 63 (the only version available to us Brits) with its 4Matic all-wheel drive system, but as the right-hand-drive layout negates its deployment here, we get rear-drive only. Thanks to the dubious condition of our roads we also receive Mercedes’ new, technically highfalutin, ride-improving Magic Body Control as standard.
Its cause is helped along by a familiar spot of weight loss: the new model is around 100kg lighter than its predecessor thanks to forged 19-inch alloy wheels, composite brake discs, a lithium ion battery and a carbonfibre lining for the boot floor, and the diet plan is complemented by the inevitably bespoke AMG take on the S-class’s sophisticated multi-link suspension setup.
Join the debate
Add your comment
S class saloon
The S class saloon has always been a superb car in the lower specification versions. As the article says over 90% are sold with a diesel engine fitted, either the 3.0 litre V6 or 2.1 litre four cylinder engine. Even the ordinary S500 is far cheaper.
The problem Mercedes faces in trying to sell this AMG version costing £119k is that you can buy an identical looking car for half that price. If you bought a Bentley or similar everyone knows it cost over £120k.
I reiterate that the Mercedes
I reiterate that the Mercedes may be a better car, and its material quality may be superb, even class leading, but it does not excite me by its styling inside or out, you don't get a sense of excitement or well-being looking at it or sitting in it. It, and virtually every German car, do not possess a sense of occasion, style or desirability unlike British cars, regardless of whether a car is considered good looking or not. Compare the interior of a R8, 911 or SLS to either a F-Type or a Vantage and you'll see my point. Or park a XJ or Ghost next to a S-Class, 7-Series or A8. The British cars ooze style and class which only Italian cars can rival.
And the fact that nearly every car from a British company is either top, or close to being top, of their respective classes is merely the icing on the cake.
USA vs. Olde Worlde
There is no getting away from the fact that the new S Class Mercedes with all its engineering overkill is the best car in the world.
Or is it?
I think the Tesla is the shape of things to come.
This car makes a lot more sense than the traditional European luxury liners.
Who would have thought a few years ago that the Americans would lead the car industry into the future.