2020 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe review: Raw and riveting

There is a route I want to use for testing cars late at night. It’s a mix of rash and smooth-surfaced roads, as well as some free-rays, including on and off-ramps, cloverleaf interchanges and long, straight shots to see how the car behaves at speed. These exploratory campaigns really inspire me to learn about a car, and the late night hours mean that there is very little traffic. With most vehicles, I make a run once and go home for the night. But cars like the 2020 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe inspired me to stay out for longer.

Twin-Turbo V8 Heart

Things get interesting when you push the C63’s engine start button and roar the 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine. Its low, silly exhaust note in vain tells you that 503 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque is wide awake and ready for the party. Anyway, the S model has an increase of over 469 hp and the regular C63 by 479 lb-ft. AMG states that the S can hit 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds and be out of the electronically limited top speed of 180 mph. The non-S has a slow top speed of 60 mph and tops out at 155.

Put the C63’s engine to work and it doesn’t take long to realize it’s a special piece. It is muscular-car strong with thrust everywhere in the rev range. Peak torque comes in at just 1,750 rpm and it continues to work hard at the 7,000-rpm redline, making great sound all the time.

Powering the C63’s rear wheels is a nine-speed dual-clutch transmission. With the car in dynamic or race mode, the gear is manually selectable using a metal steering wheel-mounted paddle. Reactions to shift commands are almost immediate, making it easy for the engine to boil during acceleration and drop a cog or two when applying a fast brake.

When you are not writing this, the C63’s drivetrain is chill with only the comfort setting. It dials back a few things – power delivery is not hyperactive and the gearbox provides smooth launches and swaps. If you can hold your right foot, the EPA estimates a fuel economy return of 17 miles per gallon in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. Looking at the output of the engine is not too shabby.

AMG Reflex

The C63 goes like hell and does business when it does, but it is not light at 4,134 pounds. But you never feel that speed. Each C63 S has adaptive dampers, a limited-slip differential, variable electromechanical steering, and mind-numbering of traction and stability control settings to aid its handling mission. My test car is equipped with staggered Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (255 / 35ZR19 front, 285 / 30ZR20 rear) and a couple of other optional goodies such as carbon-ceramic brakes.

With the C63 in the Sport Plus, the body becomes almost flat while the corners are hardened, rounding the corners. The steering is direct, communicative and responsive, and the car moves exactly where you point it. Carbon brakes are stronger, offering the right amount of starting brake and a progressive pedal behavior. Because of all this, the C63 feels much lighter and more tossable than its weight figure.

With the lossy stability control in the Pro or Master Drive settings – rather good times are a pleasure to roll or slide. However, in Basic or Advance, the C63 is quick to hang out. But you can fully dial it to your preferred level of expertise. There are four stability modes, nine settings for traction control, four drivetrain options, three suspension modes and two exhaust programs with Tinker. This is a bit too much; I’ll just stick to preprogrammed Comfort, Sport, Sport Plus and Race options.

Dynamic downside here is ride quality. Even in Comfort mode, the C63 is quite bumpy, and you will feel every road blazing. If you are ready to accept a stronger ride in exchange for higher cornering abilities, you will be fine.

Micro aggression

The backing performance is the attractive look of the C63. It is clean and shapely with some aggression mixed through Mercedes’s Panamericana grille. The vertical slat design makes for a great looking front end, unlike the schnoz New bmw m4. My tester also has some other optional visual touches such as matte gray paint, carbon fiber bits, gloss black trim and five-spoke wheels with polished lips. All are delicious and add to the coupé’s beautiful and sinister stance.

The cabin is also slick, with a stylish and comfortable layout built from high quality materials. Large portions of the dashboard and door panel are wrapped in leather and neatly stitched together, and a piece of brushed aluminum and carbon fiber has to break things. It is light and airy thanks to the panoramic sunroof and optional AMG performance seats, which provide plenty of support without any discomfort. The 10.5 cubic feet of space in the trunk is serviceable, but the rear seat is not very well organized.

Infotainment Infotainment is Mercedes’ tried and true COMAND system with a 10.2-inch center screen. Since there is no touchscreen, the Burmester with a good sound controls the audio setup, Apple carplay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, optional navigation and AMG Track Pace data recorder comes primarily to the rotary controller on the console. Entering addresses in navigation is a pain and changing satellite radio stations seems a second to notice, but COMAND has an intuitive interface to operate. It cannot compete with modern MBUX technology, however.

On the driver-assist technology front, the C63 gets forward-collision warning with automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, and attention assist standard. They are available as an option if you want things like adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, rear cross-traffic alert, head-up display, parking sensor, or 360-degree camera.

How i will believe it

As much as I prefer the optional wheels, gloss black and carbon fiber exterior parts, the cost is steep. This car wears a whopping $ 106,440 worth of $ 1015 destination incl. I’ll be a little more restrained to my ideal car, yet rest on some visual enhancements such as a $ 2,020 selenite gray matte paint job and a $ 900 carbon fiber interior trim. I’d go for $ 5,450 carbon ceramic brakes and $ 2,500 AMG performance seats to track it more, and the $ 200 wireless charge pad is an extra bit of convenience. In all, my fully AMG Coupe rings in at $ 88,645, not much of a climb from the $ 78,495 base price.

Sleep can stop

Driving the C63 S is an experience that appeals to all senses. It gets a head-turning look and great V8 noise, and a raw personality compared to competitors Audi RS5, Bmw m4 And Lexus RC F. AMG is simply a more interesting and involved driver than the others, which makes me drive my night route over and over again. Who Needs Sleep Anyway?