New AMG Coupe looks great, sounds great, gets as sideways as you want it to
What is it?
The 2017 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe isn’t just the two-door version of a remarkable performance sedan, though that alone should be enough to make you take notice. It’s also the freshest take on what has historically been one of our favorite AMG offerings -- and the most alluring incarnation of the already-pretty C-Class coupe.
The first things you’ll notice about the AMG version are its reworked front and rear fascias, but it’s the wider stance -- 2.51 inches in front, 2.59 inches in the rear -- that lends the car the most visual drama. It’s all in the interest of accommodating an AMG-specific rear-end setup, a wider track and meaty tires (255mm fronts, 285mm rears). Little of the series car’s sheetmetal remains; only the decklid, roof and doors have been carried over from the C300.
Gone, sadly, is the previous C63’s brawny 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8; a wet-sump version of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 found under the hood of the AMG GT S takes its place. What it lacks in naturally aspirated fury it makes up in sheer, virtually lag-free power (503 hp in the C63 S) and laughably accessible torque (516 lb-ft, enough to best even the mighty C63 AMG Black Series). All C63s get a seven-speed multi-clutch transmission sending power to the rear wheels only.
You can mix and match the car’s drive and ride modes all day: On the C63 S Coupe, AMG Dynamic Select comes with five selectable transmission modes (the C63 Coupe loses “race” mode), and the AMG Ride Control has three damping settings, all of them fairly firm.
At the moment, the C63 S sits at the pinnacle of the C-Class Coupe family, but U.S. buyers will also have the choice of an inline-four-powered C300 Coupe come spring 2016, with the C63 S and C63 arriving in summer. A V6-powered C450 AMG Sport variant, though not yet announced, seems like too rational an addition to the product lineup for any truly German automaker to ignore.
What's it like to drive?
Be careful with the throttle, our AMG GT S-wielding lead driver warned us before our first lap around Spain’s challenging Circuito Ascari, and don’t switch off traction control.
Sound advice: With 26 turns spread over 3.36 miles, Ascari is not the place to explore the full potential of 503 hp and 516 lb-ft right off the bat. So we began in sport-plus mode, thankful for a lead car to follow through the twists and turns. As we built speed, we felt the car subtly but insistently correcting for our exuberance, especially if we didn’t put enough faith in the very solid optional ceramic brakes ahead of a corner or were too eager to get back on the throttle coming out of one. It was spirited, invigorating -- and we’d only begun to experience what the car could do.
We pushed a little closer to the limit on our second stint, switching to the more permissive race drive setting and driving faster and harder to keep up with the lead GT S. Results were mixed; even as we were learning to trust the car, to let it slip into the occasional predictable slide, we went into a turn a little too hot somewhere in the 26-turn maze, forgot to mind that warning about the throttle and found the coupe’s arsch rotating maybe a bit more than we’d have liked. And that’s when we were thankful for the electronics waiting in the background -- in the case of race mode, fairly far in the background -- to bail us out.
With more time to learn the car and the course, a braver driver might have turned everything off. A braver driver will be pleased to know that is an option.
No matter which drive mode you’re in, it’s worth experimenting with the manual transmission mode (the button is on the center console). Manual mode doesn’t just put more control at your fingertips, AMG boss Tobias Moers explained -- after our turn at the track, naturally. It impacts throttle mapping, engine braking and more, and relies on parameters including lateral acceleration to coax “behavior more like a naturally aspirated engine” from the twin-turbo V8.
In theory, this makes the otherwise abrupt low-RPM torque blast more linear. So if you did hypothetically put the car in race and turn traction and ESP totally off, the manual mode’s predictable power delivery and more precise throttle modulation should help keep you from going sideways immediately.
In a welcome reversal of the typical first-drive agenda, we got to know the C63 S Coupe on the road after we’d pushed it on the closed course and after some time in the C300 Coupe. At sunrise the following morning, we broke from the pack and took a side trip to Gibraltar, welcoming the mix of city traffic, expressway cruising and stunning, winding mountain two-lanes. Near the border, we were stopped by a dour-but-polite member of the Guardia Civil and released without even a warning to mind the speed limit. We suspect he just wanted a closer look at the car.
With no track-day adrenaline in our system to realign our priorities or to skew our judgment, however, we quickly realized that, yeah, the grippy bucket seats are pretty darn firm and, yeah, the adjustable suspension doesn’t soften up a whole lot no matter the ride setting. The car is never harsh or unrefined, but there’s a world of difference between the hot AMG car and the series model it is based on -- something not necessarily as noticeable on its S-Class cousin.
We celebrate this differentiation. And in any event, the Mercedes performance coupe handles the day-to-day realities of the road better than its top-shelf rivals, tackling traffic, for example, with more ease than the dual-clutch-equipped, sometimes-lurchy BMW M4.
And when you get it on the narrow mountain back roads and wind it up as much as you dare, the vicious roar of the V8 building to fill the impeccably constructed cabin, shoved back in your seat as you bang through the gears: Never mind the track, this is what driving is about, and this thing seems built for it. You’ll feel like you’re getting away with something. But hasn’t that always been part of the appeal of AMG?
Do I want it?
At some point in the not-too-distant past, Nurburgring times became as important a benchmark to a certain sort of buyer as golf bag-carrying capacity, and the division between sports cars and luxury cars started to get a little blurry.
We’d like to say that the new C-Class Coupe clarifies things, that it picks a side, but we’d be lying. In C63 S guise -- especially in C63 S guise -- it juggles performance and luxury with exquisite competence. It’s an Alcantara-swathed autobahn-burner in the AMG tradition -- glorious, stylish overkill on all fronts. The C300 Coupe, by comparison, seems merely adequate.
But do you want it?
You want the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, certainly, and the responsive seven-speed multi-clutch transmission. And the rear-wheel drive. And the wider stance that comes with all the other AMG goodies.
But even if you have a spare $80,000-plus to burn, the purchase of a C63 S Coupe should not be made lightly. The car is heroic on the closed course and more composed during mundane driving than its rivals, but it’s a serious piece of ordnance. Don’t think for a moment that switching to “comfort” mode will make you forget that that there is, in fact, road beneath you.
So yes, you want it. But we’d like to try the C63 Coupe just for comparison’s sake and give the C300 Coupe another go, too. In any event, you have six months or so to mull it all over, so don’t go making any rash decisions.