2024 Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance Is a Four-Cylinder Hybrid With 671 HP and 752 Lb-Ft of Torque

Bad information first: The V8 period at Mercedes-AMG is formally over. The thunderous M177 4.0-liter twin-turbo eight-cylinder that’s powered each AMG 63-series muscle machine since 2015 is not lengthy for this earth. Here’s what’s going to exchange it: A Formula 1-inspired hybrid drivetrain that marries the world’s strongest production-car four-cylinder (with an electrically-boosted turbocharger, no much less) to an electrical motor driving the rear axle by means of a two-speed gearbox. In the 2024 Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance, the primary AMG to sport the all-new drivetrain, meaning a most of 671 hp and a whopping 752 lb-ft of torque. Yeah, that’ll assist us recover from the lack of the V8.

The all-new C63 marks an entire new period at AMG, an organization that’s spent almost half a century turning Mercedes V8s into raucous tire-shredders. The ‘24 C63’s enormously elaborate drivetrain starts from an impressive foundation: The M139L 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder, first developed by AMG for the Mercedes-AMG A45, CLA45 and GLA45. In those models, the tiny turbo engine was the most powerful four-cylinder ever fitted to a production vehicle, cranking out 416 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. Now, thanks to a nifty electric turbocharger setup, this engine pumps out even more power: 469 hp at 6,750 rpm and 402 lb-ft from 5,000 to 5,500 rpm. That means the 1,991-cc M139L shatters its own record as the most powerful production four-cylinder in history, pumping out a hair less than 235 hp per liter of displacement — or put another way, a touch over 117 hp per cylinder.

That output comes courtesy of a newly enlarged turbo with electric assist, meaning the turbo can spool up on electric power before exhaust pressure takes over, helping to eliminate lag and create sharper response. This is the first production-car application of this electric turbocharger technology, which comes directly from today’s Formula 1 hybrid drivetrains and takes benefit of the brand new C63’s 400-volt electrical structure.

Of course, the brand new enormous turbocharger isn’t the one occasion of electrical energy increase. The new C63 has a 201-hp, 236 lb-ft electrical motor driving the rear axle by means of a two-speed gearbox, aiding the gasoline engine throughout laborious acceleration. With AMG Performance 4Matic+ all-wheel drive with Drift Mode, the C63 places a most of 671 hp and 752 lb-ft of torque to all 4 wheels, with the gasoline engine driving by means of AMG’s nine-speed automated transmission with a moist clutch rather than a torque converter for snappier acceleration and equipment shifts.

Mercedes says the brand new muscle sedan can dash from zero to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, and energy from each the longitudinally-mounted fuel engine and the rear-axle electrical motor will be shifted to the entrance axle when the rear wheels slip. The two-speed gearbox that transmits the rear-axle motor’s torque shifts routinely based mostly on velocity and cargo; the decrease of the 2 ratios is nice for as much as 87 mph. The motor delivers 94 hp constantly, with the total 201 hp obtainable in 10-second bursts.

The 400-volt, 6.1-kWh, 196-lb, liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery driving the axle motor rests above the rear axle for optimum weight distribution. While the brand new C63 is technically a plug-in hybrid, and might attain speeds of as much as 81 mph on electrical energy alone, Mercedes-AMG was fast to level out in a press launch that “the battery is designed for fast power delivery and draw rather than longest possible range.”

The new C63 bears a passing resemblance to lesser C-class sedans, however advantages from a ton of AMG-specific adjustments. The wheelbase has been stretched by 0.4 inches, with the front-end bodywork lengthened by 2.2 inches. Overall, the brand new C63 is a full three inches wider on the entrance fenders and three.3 inches longer nose-to-tail. The new hybrid muscle sedan rides on customary 19-inch staggered wheels and tires, with 20s elective.

The compact efficiency sedan has customary rear-wheel steering, which makes the automobile extra nimble in tight turns and extra steady throughout high-speed freeway maneuvers, and rides on Mercedes’ AMG Ride Control adaptive suspension with metal springs. The new C63 affords a whopping eight drive modes: Electric, Comfort, Battery Hold, Sport, Sport+, Race, Slippery and Individual, every of which tweaks the drivetrain output, steering, suspension and sound.

Because, sure, it is a four-cylinder hybrid, and meaning AMG needed to resort to augmented drivetrain noises to interchange the hammering rumble of that outdated twin-turbo V8. A single loudspeaker within the entrance bumper and a two-speaker soundbar on the rear emanate warning noises when the C63 is driving in pure EV mode; when touring below internal-combustion energy, the system picks up sound from a strain sensor within the exhaust system and “enrich[es] it further before it’s emitted in the interior via the entertainment sound system, thus making it possible to experience the signature AMG sound.” The C63 has iron-rotor brakes with six-piston calipers up entrance and single-piston calipers within the rear, plus 4 ranges of regenerative braking starting from almost zero regen to full one-pedal driving.

Inside, it has screens and screens and ambient lighting and glossy trim and screens and screens.

Mercedes-AMG has not but revealed when the brand new C63 S E Performance will go on sale, nor has the automaker disclosed the worth. We will definitely be taught all of that information earlier than Mercedes invitations journalists to drive this automobile for themselves.

We’ve identified for awhile that Mercedes-AMG can be heading on this path. Big V8s are going out of vogue (even when the AMG 4.0-liter V8 wasn’t that massive within the grand scheme of issues). Some gearheads will weep and gnash over this. But if the choice is stuff like this — a C-class with extra horsepower and torque than ever earlier than, with pure plug-in EV driving functionality and F1-inspired turbo and hybrid tech — it feels a bit of foolish crying over what’s gone to the previous.