Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance 2024 review

Typically, any C63 AMG is one-with-the-lot. So, no surprises then, to find a panoramic sunroof, head-up display, AMG-specific dashboard and interior fittings, heated and powered front seats, ambient lighting, full connectivity, wireless phone charging, augmented reality navigation and the race-track focussed 'Track Race Package' which includes the sportiest suspension and driveline settings as well as launch control. Twenty-inch alloy wheels are also standard fare.

The price of all this is $187,900, plus all on-road costs, the latter varying from state to state.

From there, you can go to town with the options list and Mercedes offers three main equipment packages.

Typically, any C63 AMG is one-with-the-lot.

There’s the 'Performance Ergonomics' pack at $6900 which gets you the multi-contoured AMG Performance seats and steering wheel, followed by the 'Interior Carbon' pack which, at $2600, adds some carbon-fibre embellishments to the interior, and finally the 'Carbon Aero' pack which amounts to a deeper front and rear spoiler, both in carbon-fibre at $9900.

Carbon-ceramic brakes will be available as an option some time down the track, but cars form the first batch (on sale now) don’t offer this at any price.

What’s missing? Not much. Cooled front seats would be nice.

Upfront is an AMG-specific dashboard and interior fittings.

One of the C63’s selling points over the years is that it has been just as practical as any other C-Class sedan in the Mercedes line-up. That stops here, mainly because the boot-space is now marginal rather than generous.

It’s all down to the space occupied by the battery-pack and other hybrid equipment which lives under the boot floor, raising the latter and reducing space by almost one third from the previous car.

Beyond that, however, it’s just as accommodating as any current C-Class which has now grown to be quite a substantial vehicle.

The thick-trimmed steering wheel features Alcantara sections for great tactility.

The driving position has enough adjustment for any body shape and the thick-trimmed steering wheel (with its two decks of buttons and switches) features Alcantara sections for great tactility. How clean those sections stay is another matter.

The all black interior makes for a bit of cave-like ambience, although the quality of the fit, finish and materials is top-shelf. Apart, that is, from the hard plastic lower door-trim sections.

Where some carmakers apparently try to make their menu-driven functions difficult to fathom, the C63 doesn’t seem to fall into that trap. Even so, Mercedes has elected to make the major functions including the drive modes accessible via specific knobs, dials and switches, making them easy to find and manipulate on the run. The standard head-up display is large, clear and works beautifully.

The all black interior makes for a bit of cave-like ambience.

Pull up a comfy chair, because this gets pretty involved. The hybrid driveline is one of the more complex ones you’ll see, with lots of intricacies and some novel layouts to test your understanding of how stuff works.

For a start, the petrol engine this time around is not a booming V8, but a turbocharged four-cylinder. It’s mounted at the front and lies longitudinally.

AMG claims it’s the most powerful production four-cylinder in the world (it’s shared with the AMG A45 S) and with 350kW and 545Nm it really delivers. But that’s not all. The C63 S E Performance is also a plug-in hybrid. Which means, it has an electric motor which is part of the rear axle.

The petrol engine this time around is not a booming V8, but a turbocharged four-cylinder.

That’s fed by a 6.1kWh battery-pack which can also offer about 15km of electric-only running as well as recharge on the run by means of the car’s regenerative braking.

AMG claims the electric motor can contribute up to 150kW of power and 320Nm, but there’s a catch. The electric motor’s potential for continuous output is 70kW, while the 150kW peak is available only for 10 second bursts (although 10 seconds at full chat here will still see you in the next parish).

And here’s the even weirder part. If you add those peak petrol and electric numbers, you get a total of 500kW and 865Nm of torque. But, officially, AMG claims a total of 1020Nm of torque.

AMG claims it’s the most powerful production four-cylinder in the world.

How’s that possible? Because the torque figure is an at-the-wheel number, calculated after the drive has gone through the two-speed transmission (which won’t shift to high gear until about 140km/h) of the electric motor and multiplied.

Most cars (and that includes ICE powered ones) display a similar degree of torque multiplication when tested this way, so the 1020Nm thing is a bit misleading. However, here is a car that is not lacking in the stomp department.

But here’s where it gets really involved. The front-mounted petrol engine can drive either the front axle or the rear axle or both via its nine-speed automatic transmission. The electric motor can do the same, with every combination of petrol/electric/FWD/RWD/AWD in between.

Officially, AMG claims a total of 1020Nm of torque.

The demands of grip and traction will ultimately dictate what power unit drives what wheels and when but, typically, the electric motor will only drive the front axle in low-grip situations.

And there’s more. Instead of being exclusively exhaust-gas driven, the turbocharger on the C63 S E Performance is also initially electrically driven.

This means you don’t have to wait for the engine to build boost, and the turbocharger can be ready to go the instant you put your foot down. In theory.

The turbocharger on the C63S E Performance is also initially electrically driven.

It’s all extremely techy, and, frankly, a bit confronting, and it also adds weight. In fact, the car is now a 2.1-tonne proposition, which is definitely out there for a car based on a Benz C-Class. Welcome to the future. Maybe.

This level of complexity might also make some wonder why AMG didn’t just shovel the 460kW/950Nm, all-wheel-drive all-electric driveline from the EQE 53 into this car.

Maybe that’s next. Certainly, it’s difficult to see a terribly long C63 hybrid dynasty emerging in the face of ever-changing technology and Mercedes’ desire to be at the cutting edge of that.

There are two ways to look at the official combined fuel economy number of 6.1 litres per 100km for the new C63.

Either it’s a fairly unimpressive number for a modern hybrid, or it’s a sensational figure for something that can get to the legal limit from rest in under four seconds.

We tend to subscribe to the latter. And which ever way you cut the deck, 6.1 litres per 100km is a heck of a lot sharper than the 10.3 litres per 100km of the previous V8 C63.

The official combined fuel economy number of the new C63 is 6.1 litres per 100km.

Here's the rub, though. That 6.1 litres per 100km figure was recorded on the official test cycle which doesn’t always equate with performance cars, or the way their owners use them.

Get serious with the throttle pedal and start using all that the turbocharged petrol engine has to offer, and you won’t be seeing 6.1 on the trip computer.

The C63 requires the more expensive 98 RON premium brew at the bowser.

At least with the 60 litre fuel tank, range will be a useful 900 or more kilometres if you can get near the claimed consumption. It’s also worth mentioning the C63 requires the more expensive 98 RON premium brew at the bowser.

Recharging the battery for silent getaways next morning will require one hour and 39 minutes to go from completely discharged to fully charged, while the friendlier (to the battery) metric of 10 per cent to 80 per cent charged takes an hour and nine minutes. Charging is via a normal household wall socket or an optional Mercedes-supplied wall-box.

As a world leader of automotive safety for many decades, you don’t expect anything but the best from Mercedes-Benz. Fair to say, then, you won’t be disappointed here.

The full suite of driver aids including active cruise-control, active lane-keeping, traffic-sign recognition, 360-dgeree camera system, pre-safe accident anticipation and adaptive headlights are just some of the features designed to keep the car, its occupants and everybody else safe. There’s also blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

  The full suite of driver aids includes a 360-dgeree camera system.

You’ll also find eight airbags including side curtain airbags, a knee airbag for the driver and a centre airbag to prevent head clashes in side-impact shunts.

The C-Class has been crash tested by Euro NCAP and achieved the full five stars, but the C63 has not been individually tested, nor does Mercedes-AMG have any intention of doing so in Australia.

Inside the new C63 ,you will find eight airbags.