Performance versions of giant luxury sedans->ke142 are one of the greatest examples of excess in the automotive world, possibly even more so than outright supercars->ke177 in terms of having one's cake and eating it too. The Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG is a supremely good example of this. It's a car for someone that wants both a very high level of luxury and performance to match. For those that want even more luxury, there is a Maybach->ke52 version, but for those that want more performance, there are tuner versions of the AMG->ke8, such as this one from G-Power->ke1323.

G-Power isn't quite the same company as, say, Brabus->ke368. They aren't selling a completely reworked version of the car with a bored-out engine and totally reworked interior. No, the G-Power S63 AMG is just intended to show off the company's new chip for cranking up the power via the engine computer. Many such devices have been built for all sorts of cars over the years, but G-Power has chosen the right ways to attract attention to this one. The car has no other tuning done and very little in terms of appearance modifications – all to keep the focus on the chip.

Continue reading to learn more about the Mercedes S63 AMG By G-Power.

Exterior

You will notice a number of differences between this car and the regular S-Class, but most of those are AMG's work and not G-Power's. The touch that G-Power has added is the wheels, which are Hurricane RR forged aluminum alloys. These reduce unsprung weight, always a good thing when you're looking to go fast. They come in silver, gray and black, and the 21-inch size fits nicely in the big S-Class arches. The AMG touches aren't quite as noticeable on the S63 AMG as they are on other AMG models, presumably because it's so much easier to go overboard with something as huge as this.

On the subject of being huge, an important difference between the AMG version of the S-Class and the regular one is that you are far more likely to drive the AMG than you are to have a chauffeur. So the fact that the S-Class is also offered as a coupe, something that cannot be said about most of its competitors, is an important thing to consider. The S-Class Coupe offers a high level of luxury without all of the look-at-me of a Bentley Continental GT. It's a more subtle sort of completely ostentatious luxury car.

Interior

Note: Standard Mercedes S63 AMG pictured

G-Power left the interior of the car untouched, but that is just fine. Mercedes loves to really push the technology envelope for even the interiors of its cars, so the S-Class has seats that come with a hot stone massage setting as standard. There is also a glass roof that electrically switches between transparent and opaque. It comes with the option of a champagne fridge, but this will cost you more than just money. The fridge will take a not-insignificant amount of truck space away, and this is one area where the S-Class wasn't exactly a leader even without the fridge. So you'll have to decide whether cold champagne in your car or luggage is more important.

Drivetrain

This is the important part of what G-Power has done to the car. The 5.5-liter, twin-turbo V-8 in the in the car already produces 577 horsepower in “regular” AMG form, but the G-Power version bumps this up to 695 horsepower. That puts it up over the amount of power produced by the S63's big brother, the V-12-powered S65 AMG. But the dirty little secret of the AMG version of the S-Class is that the V-8 car not only handles better that the nose-heavy S65, but it is quicker as well. The same is true of the V-8 and W-12 versions of the Bentley Continental. It's the unfortunate truth about 12-cylinder luxury cars these days; they are more about status that speed.

The G-Power tuning changes none of the mechanical components of the engines. Instead, it's a module that plugs in to the engine computer and sends instructions to allow the turbos, variable valve timing, etc. to produce more power. You might wonder why Mercedes didn't do this in the first place, but power is always reigned in on just about every car for the sake of reliability. So when the G-Power module senses that it is pushing the engine too much, and the coolant or oil temperature starts getting too high, it will switch itself off and let the factory programming bring levels back to where they should be.

G-Power says the modification will bring the 0-to-60 mph times down from the stock 4.2 seconds to 3.8 seconds. That's an odd statement though, because German automakers notoriously underestimate how quickly their cars accelerate, and third-party testers have gotten 3.7-second 0-60 times out of the stock S63. It's unlikely that all of that extra power made the car slower, so it seems that G-Power must also be underestimating the car's acceleration.

Prices

When you consider that this is a $144,175 car, the prices on the modifications don't really seem like very much. The chip will set you back $6,480 and the wheels $8,544. Why a single chip that does one thing should cost as much as 10 flagship smart phones might not make a lot of sense, but it costs money for the company to develop the software and with the limited number of people who are likely to buy one, the price would have to be fairly high just for G-Power to make back its investment. That said, the fact that an S63 AMG can afford a much pricier chip very possibly factored into how much the things costs.

Competition

Audi S8

Though you might look at the 520 horsepower that this car produces and think it entirely inadequate when compared to the Mercedes, you should know that that isn't the whole story. Audi's obsessive attention to weight means that the S8 will still hit 60 mph in 3.6 seconds. The styling might be more conservative (read as “dull”) than that of the AMG, but if you're looking for a sleeper, it is certainly the better choice.

Read our full review on the Audi S8 here.

Jaguar XJR

In a class dominated by Germans, it's good to see the Brits with such a strong contender. The design as well as the paint and interior colors are more interesting that what you'll find from the Germans as well. The supercharged V-8 puts out 550 horsepower and there are some semi-subtle upgrades to the appearance from the regular XJ.

Read our full review on the Jaguar XJR here.

Conclusion

Does the S63 AMG need even more power? Of course it doesn't, but then, the S-Class doesn't really need the extra power from AMG in the first place, so if you've already opted for that, you might as well take it all of the way. This is also a way to get a more powerful AMG without having to spend the truly insane amounts of money required to have a Brabus version of this car. It's good to see that G-Power recognized the need for a more mild tune.