Some people may not be familiar with Christian Lübke and his works, but for those who do know the man, he is regarded as one of the finest exhaust systems specialists in the aftermarket tuning scene. His company, NAP Sportauspuff Manufacture GmbH, specializes in bespoke exhaust systems for a wide range of brands, including Mercedes Benz. It’s on that note that Lübke has created a special tuning program for the Mercedes-AMG C63 that not only includes his patented state-of-the-art exhaust systems, but also an upgrade of the AMG C63’s 4.0-liter biturbo V-8 engine that helps bring out an output of 690 horsepower.

Needless to say, Lübke and NAP weren’t the only ones who worked on the tuning kit. It sourced some aspects of it to contemporaries like Schmidt and SKN with the latter supplying the engine upgrade that yielded more than 200 extra horses to the V-8.

Make no mistake though. The entire kit is the brainchild of Christian Lübke and considering the man’s penchant for developing bespoke exhausts and limiting them to just 100 copies, there is some exclusivity attached to this program for the AMG C63 as only 50 copies will be made available to customers.

Continue after the jump to read the full review.

2016 Mercedes-AMG C63 by Christian Lübke

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2016 Mercedes-AMG C63 by Christian Lübke
  • Horsepower: 620
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior

Exterior upgrades are limited to a set of 20-inch alloy wheels from Schmidt Revolution that were exclusively designed and manufactured for this specific program.

Drivetrain

To create his ideal tuning program for the AMG C63, Lübke tapped chip tuning specialist SKN to provide a software upgrade to complement his bespoke CL exhaust system.

A closer look at the exhaust reveals what owners can expect when they avail of the entire tuning kit. The software tune, in particular, has been calibrated specifically for the lower back-pressure of the exhaust’s three-inch pipework and the 200-cell ceramic catalytic convertors. Not only does this provide a purer soundtrack for the V-8 engine, but it also opens the door for Christian Lübke to install an electronically controlled sound flap that can customize the noise settings coming out of the engine depending on the mode that’s chosen at a given time.

The end result is a total of 620 horsepower on the engine dyno, although no mention was made on how much extra torque the AMG C63 gets. The tuner does confirm that the power increase helps drop the car’s sprint time to 62 mph to less than four seconds and increase the top speed to 186 mph

Pricing

No mention was made on the pricing for the entire program. Fortunately, Christian Lübke isn’t a hard guy to find. His website, www.nap-sportauspuff.com, isn’t particularly hard to find and you can contact him and his team in case you’d like to inquire about the pricing details of this specific program.

Competition

Mercedes-AMG C 63 by B&B Automobiltechnik

Back in April 2016, B&B Automobiltechnik presented a full-scale tuning program the entire AMG C63 family. Of particular note was that the tuner offered a two-stage kit made up of an ECU remap for the Stage 1 kit that brings the output up to 575 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque. Then there’s the Stage 2 kit, which builds off of the ECU remap and adds a modified intake system that increases airflow to and from the engine and some recalibrations of the fuel and ignition maps to improve the efficiency of the engine’s combustion. The result is an output of 600 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, enough to propel the car from 0 to 62 mph in 3.5 seconds to of with a top speed of 198 mph.

Read the full review here.

Mercedes-AMG C 63 by Vath

German tuner Vath has also developed programs for the AMG C63 and one of the recent ones it unveiled came in December 2015. Just like B&B, that program was focused on improving the output of the model’s 4.0-liter biturbo V-8 engine, which the tuner accomplished by adding a new oil cooling system and remapping the engine’s software. With the upgrades in place, Vath was able to increase the V-8’s output to 609 horsepower and 598 pound-feet of torque, helping it cut its 0-to-60-mph sprint time to a tick below 3.5 seconds and hit a new top speed of 199 mph.

Read the full review here.

Conclusion

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not too familiar with the work of Christian Lübke. That said, I do know a few people who have bought his products and they swear by the man’s abilities. On the surface, the tuning program isn’t as comprehensive as some of the other kits we’ve seen offered for the AMG C63. But for what he’s trying to build, I’d like to think that Lübke accomplished his goal of developing a kit that helps bring out a better representation of the AMG C63’s performance capabilities. Hopefully, the price is manageable enough that it doesn't become an impediment for owners of the car who'd like to bring some life to their Mercs.