Mercedes-AMG has announced that its new - well, updated - C63 costs from £66,429, with first deliveries due in Britain this October. That entry price is for the saloon, but buyers wanting the AMG V8 experience with added air can purchase a C63 Cabriolet for £72,537. Oh, and the sleek two-door coupe also returns with a starting price of £68,719.
As Matt covered in the first drive last week, the refreshed models get several new features, although it's the use of the nine-speed MCT 9G transmission, as seen in the in the E63, that stands out. Expect smoother shifts and even more seamless acceleration to go with the car's deep-throated soundtrack.
AMG hasn't been tempted to extract more power from the big ol' V8 up front; nevertheless, the unit, which still uses turbocharging of the 'hot vee' kind, offers 476hp as standard or 510hp in C63 S models. So not exactly underpowered then.
ORIGINAL STORY - 28.03.18
Everyone loves a C63, don't they? For more than a decade now the combination of V8 brawn, sophisticated good looks and C-Class practicality has won it plenty of fans. It's easy to forget the C63's significance, too, as perhaps the first AMG model to show Affalterbach could really do hot rods that handled.
Anyway, three years after launch - and just in time for the New York Auto Show - the turbocharged C63 gets a reasonably significant mid-life update. Those expecting more power will be disappointed, however, because the 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged continues unchanged: the regular C63 has 476hp, the C63 S 510hp. Anybody who has driven the latest generation of cars will attest to the fact the power is just fine, in fact, and still more than the obvious rivals from BMW, Audi and Lexus.
The big mechanical change is the switch from the seven-speed automatic to the nine-speed MCT 9G transmission, as seen in the in the E63, for "an even more agile gearshift response." Performance is unchanged from before, with the saloons sprinting to 62mph in 4.1 and 4.0 seconds. Top speed is 155mph for the standard C63, or 180mph for the S. Or 174mph for the S Estate and S Cabrio. Got it?
Another significant upgrade - well, significant if you're a dork - is the replacement of the mechanical limited-slip differential in the non-S C63 models. Now all of them will use the electronically controlled diff previously reserved for the 510hp cars; AMG says it means it's "even easier to drive at the vehicle's limits" as a result. Recalibrated drive modes under the 'AMG Dynamics' name should make the most of the hardware upgrade, with a 'Master' setting for the driving parameters under the Race drive mode said to enable "optimal agility" and making "ideal use of the new C63's high driving dynamics potential." The AMG Ride Control suspension has also been reworked.
On to what most people care about: the C63's styling. Like the rest of the C-Class range this is a modest visual update, the outside tweaked with new grilles, "aerodynamically optimised" wheel designs and a more aggressive rear diffuser. Still looks pretty smart though - if it ain't broke and all that.
Inside C63 drivers will be treated to a new steering wheel, even more AMG driving information and the option of a fully digital instrument cluster, as found in other Mercedes models. Again, it's largely as you were, just made that bit nicer.
So there's much of what we enjoyed about this generation C63, with a few worthwhile tweaks to keep it fresh in the mind of buyers. Should you be able to survive without remodelled exhaust trims or steering wheel touch control buttons, however, there's still a lot to recommend the previous C63, of which there are many on the used market at very tempting prices.
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