Dropping Cylinders: The Next-gen Mercedes-AMG C63 Will be Hybrid

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published Apr 3, 2018

Enjoy the V-8 AMG C 63's while you still can

If you love yourselves some V-8 in the Mercedes-AMG C 63, you might want to start making plans to get one, or at least hold on to the ones you have. The days of a V-8-powered AMG C 63 are numbered as more stringent emissions regulations could fast-track its retirement. According to AMG boss Tobias Moers, the departure of the V-8 AMG C 63 will open the door for the performance sedan to go the hybrid route. Barring the unexpected, that’s exactly what the next-generation AMG C 63 is going to be.

The Mercedes AMG C 63 is an important car for AMG so it’s important that the car can still maximize its potential no matter what kind of powertrain it has. Fortunately, AMG is not sitting on its laurels. The automaker understands the need to improve the C 63 so it can evolve with the increasingly stringent regulations while still keeping true to its identity as a performance car. Nobody understands this better than the man leading the charge. “I think the formula is perfect for now, but for sure we need to have a close look at viable alternatives because we have to be creative; I’m chasing performance, and that’s not strictly linked to the number of cylinders,” Moers told Car Advice. “If you apply proper intelligent hybridization or electrification to a car which is capable of having an always-on strategy regarding the battery and the whole system, then it’s amazing what you can get out of them.”

If it sounds like Moers has come to grips with a hybrid future for the AMG C 63, it’s because he probably has. The increasingly stringent emissions regulations have forced a lot of automakers to look for alternative ways to keep their models relevant. In the case of the AMG C 63, that could involve giving it an electric motor and a smaller six-cylinder unit that can comply with future regulations. It’s not like this setup comes with a dramatic decrease in power. The power and the performance will still be there; it’s just a matter of packaging it in a way that those figures, and the driving pleasure that comes with them, aren’t compromised.

There is some good news for those who are still clinging to a world where the V-8 C 63s still exists. A hybrid version of the performance sedan isn’t scheduled to arrive until the next-gen AMG C 63 his the streets. That’s not happening for at least a few more years. There’s still plenty of time to enjoy the car Moers calls “the wild child” of the AMG family. That’s good to know, too, because the facelifted AMG C 63 just arrived at the New York Auto Show with plenty of new bits — some 25,000 new parts, according to AMG — and a promise of all-world driving dynamics.

At the heart of the facelifted model is a 4.0-liter, biturbo, V-8 engine that produces north of 476 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque for the AMG C 63. Those numbers help the car accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds before setting off on a capped top speed run at 155 mph. If that isn’t powerful enough, you can opt for the model with 510 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, which can do its own 0-to-60-mph acceleration in 3.9 seconds before peaking at a top speed of 180 mph. Either way, there’s no shortage of fun that you can have when you’re driving the new AMG C 63s. If you don’t want to take my word for it, then take the word of the man who led the car’s development.

“The C 63 was always well balanced, but now it’s better because we increased the driving dynamics, added a little bit more comfort and it’s faster on a racetrack with better traction on the rear axle,” Moers said. “You can get back on the throttle mid-corner and nothing happens, which is great.”