- 1 day ago
A 680-hp Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E PERFORMANCE packs Formula 1-inspired hybrid technology into a four-cylinder sports sedan—but does it deliver the excitement AMG fans expect? This test drive and review explores its turbocharged engine, electric motor, compact performance battery, all-wheel drive and rear-wheel steering, along with a measured 0–100 km/h launch and real-world fuel consumption.
From its clever powertrain and impressive brakes to its added weight, synthetic engine sound and handling character, the review weighs the C 63’s engineering against the outgoing V8 experience. A detailed Mercedes-AMG performance car review for anyone researching the C 63 S E PERFORMANCE, plug-in hybrid sports sedans, F1 technology in road cars or a luxury performance test drive.
From its clever powertrain and impressive brakes to its added weight, synthetic engine sound and handling character, the review weighs the C 63’s engineering against the outgoing V8 experience. A detailed Mercedes-AMG performance car review for anyone researching the C 63 S E PERFORMANCE, plug-in hybrid sports sedans, F1 technology in road cars or a luxury performance test drive.
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00:00this is the mercedes amg c 63 s e performance behind this rather long name is the most powerful
00:08and one of the fastest accelerating series production amg models ever and it's all
00:12thanks to technology transfer from formula one because this is a four-cylinder turbo plug-in
00:18hybrid have they all turned off the video that's fine let's just pack our stuff and call it a day
00:30thanks to all of you who decided to continue watching because this car is worth at least
00:34geeking out over it's mercedes amg petronas f1 team stuff in a production car which you can buy
00:43it's also a glimpse into the future of monitoring and perhaps most importantly i'll tell you how
00:49it affects the driving experience of the mercedes amg c63 s e performance
01:39in this episode i will not focus on the model that is the base for the c63 if you're interested
01:44in the
01:44regular mercedes-benz c-class you can watch my review by clicking the link on the screen or in
01:50the video description i will only talk about the differences between the regular and the sporty
01:56model first of all the c63 is more than eight centimeters longer than the standard c-class
02:02the track has increased by more than seven and a half centimeters and the width by eight centimeters
02:09the c63 has rear wheel steering as standard something that is an option on the c-class and
02:15it's good the rear wheel steering is standard here because even with it the c63 needs more than 12 meters
02:21to turn around depending on the speed the rear wheels turn two and a half degrees in the opposite
02:26direction to the front wheels tightening the turn or in the same direction increasing stability at higher
02:31speeds the transition between one mode and the other takes place at up to 100 kilometers per hour
02:37depending on the driving mode you can also tell this is the c63 by the air outlets on the bonnet
02:44and
02:45on the front fenders both look fake but at least the one on the bonnet is functional even if the
02:50opening
02:50only takes up half of the entire plastic grille there are some holes in the fender vents but i don't
02:55know
02:56what's behind them under the vents is the e performance badge replacing the mercedes star on
03:03the bonnet is the amg crest there's also the amg radiator grille modified front apron modified rear
03:10and you can order carbon blackout and aero packs to make your c63 look more expensive
03:26before we hit the road a few words about what's under the bonnet and what's in the boot bear with
03:33me
03:33there's a connection literally under the bonnet is the m139 l l for longitudinal four-cylinder engine
03:42it's the power plant we know from the amg a45 but here it's cranked up to 476 horsepower making it
03:49again the most powerful serious production four-cylinder engine in the world the same engine in the same
03:54configuration is also in the c43 but there it comes with a smaller electric exhaust gas turbocharger
04:01powered by a 48 volt system and here we have a larger turbo and a 400 volt system the turbocharger
04:09starts running on electricity before the exhaust gases make it spin it's like combining a compressor and a
04:16turbo with no increased engine load and no turbo lag in addition the excess kinetic energy is used to
04:23recharge the traction battery sounds familiar that's some f1 right here
04:29but if the c63 had only 476 horsepower we would say cool but the v8 had 510 horsepower so the
04:38new
04:38model is hardly headline news
04:43well it is because in the boot lives amg's high performance traction battery it's another tech
04:51transplant from amg petronas f1 the battery's capacity is only 6.1 kilowatt hours but the whole
04:58thing weighs just 89 kilograms and each of the 560 cells is individually cooled this allows the battery
05:06to maintain optimal temperature of around 45 degrees celsius 14 liters of the coolant individually cools
05:13each of the cells and is then pushed towards the front of the car for cooling thanks to advanced
05:17thermal management the battery can give and receive energy faster and at the same time it has better
05:23longevity and this could be the future of motoring and electrification better energy management will
05:31lead to improved battery efficiency and shorter charging times who knows the battery is mounted above
05:39the edu or the electric drive unit this contains the electric motor a two speed transmission and a
05:45limited slip differential the electric motor adds up to 204 horsepower which gives the c63
05:51a total of 680 horsepower and 1020 newton meters of torque and a measly 279 liter boot in the sedan
06:01but you can always order the estate
06:07sorry for this rather long introduction but a lot of things i'll tell you now will make sense because you
06:13have the basic grasp of what the new c63 is the mercedes angie c63 se performance starts in comfort mode
06:29which
06:30means a hybrid the engine only starts when you press the accelerator harder or when the traction battery
06:36level drops below a certain level or when you put the car into battery hold or sport or sport plus
06:45or race mode
06:48there are also electric slippery and individual modes switching between the modes is done with knobs and
06:55buttons on the steering wheel these have been in amg models for some time now on the one hand they
07:01are easy to
07:02use on the other they feel cheap to touch the same switches also control the exhaust sound esp and
07:09recuperation level the standard level is one you can also choose zero or no recuperation and go up to three
07:17to be honest at level one i didn't even notice there was recuperation
07:24the mercedes amg c63 se performance hybrid powertrain is on the one hand a wltp compliance solution and on
07:35the other hand a showcase for bringing f1 tech into serious production cars
07:43among options is the amg track pace app which records more than 80 data points when you're driving on a
07:50track it can also intelligently use electric energy depending on your chosen strategy at launch there
07:57are 30 tracks in the database with 70 planned in total you can either select a hot lap or endurance
08:03racing depending on your position on the track the car can either regenerate energy or give you a boost
08:08in certain sections
08:09you can also use the car as well as you can use the car as well as you can use
08:15the car
08:15i don't know how many c63 owners will actually use this but they will have the bragging rights
08:25similarly you're unlikely to experience the benefits of the edu being permanently connected to
08:30the drive shaft this means the electric motor can to a certain extent replace esp and stabilize the car
08:36the electric motor can to the front wheels when slip is detected or it can regenerate energy
08:41instead of esp braking individual wheels this makes the hybrid system more efficient
08:48because the new c63 has 4matic plus all-wheel drive which simply didn't fit on the already long
08:55main plate of course there's a drift mode available only when you reach certain parameters that are
09:01difficult to achieve on public roads of course you can drive at speed up to 125 kilometers per hour
09:08using only electric power and have all-wheel drive and of course hit the accelerator harder and internal
09:14combustion will kick in
09:21full power is only available in sport plus and race modes in other modes there's still about 570 horsepower
09:28available the second gear in the electric motor's transmission engages when the speed exceeds 140
09:33kilometers per hour it's similar to the porsche tycan where at certain speed you need less torque and
09:40more speed the internal combustion engine is mated to a 9-speed amg speed shift mct where a wet start
09:48of
09:48clutch replaces the torque converter performance mercedes promises 3.4 seconds from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour
09:55i managed 3.2 seconds in race mode with launch control top speed is electronically governed at 280 kilometers per
10:03hour
10:10claimed fuel consumption is 6.9 liters per 100 kilometers combined and 11.7 kilowatt hours
10:16and here we need to discuss the wltp and how ph evs are used to circumvent it
10:25the wltp cycle tests fuel consumption in four speed ranges up to 56.5 kilometers per hour up to 76
10:33.6
10:34kilometers per hour up to 97.4 kilometers per hour and up to 131.3 kilometers per hour this is
10:41supposed
10:41to simulate urban and extra urban driving in roughly equal proportions and everything would be great if it
10:47weren't for the fact that the wltp test route takes about 20 minutes in total and is just over 23
10:53kilometers long
10:55not surprisingly plug-in hybrids usually complete the test with ridiculous results like below one liter per
11:00100 kilometers however the c63's tiny traction battery is only enough for about 13 kilometers of electric
11:07range now don't worry there's always about 25 percent of that 6.1 kilowatt hours left in the battery
11:13which you get to keep your additional 204 horsepower after driving about 45 kilometers in and around the city
11:20without the high speed section i did see just below seven liters per 100 kilometers however on a 100
11:27kilometer long test route with dual carriageway sections my result was closer to 15 liters per 100
11:33kilometers and this is the absolute minimum you should expect especially if you drive your amg like it was
11:44intended so how does it ride and handle while the c43 weighs 1765 kilograms just 10 kilograms more than
11:52the previous generation v8 but still 10 kilograms more than the v8 the c63 weighs 2168 kilograms which
12:00means we could just skip all the hybrid green washing business keep the v8 stop pretending that wltp has
12:06anything to do with real world fuel economy since a 650 sorry 680 horsepower plug-in hybrid passes the
12:14test with flying colors but it actually is as inefficient as the v8
12:22with a stiffer chassis smart all-wheel drive and even smarter active suspension and rear wheel steering
12:28it doesn't feel like the sedan you're driving weighs as much as a mid-size suv now while the old
12:37amg
12:37rear wheel drive kept you on your toes this is more like a game console i mean you can push
12:43this beyond
12:44what seems physically possible and not feel much excitement especially that gone with the v8 is the v8 sound
12:53the amg cars always had the best soundtrack all you had to do was start the engine you didn't even
13:00have
13:01to drive the car and this
13:48and now everything sounds the same the c63 has a bunch of mics and speakers
13:53which pick up the sound from under the bonnet amplify it and play it inside as well as the
13:58outside but the car still sounds no better than an a45 which is lighter more engaging to drive and has
14:06the same engine the brakes are superb i was warned by the press office that the car is going in
14:12for
14:12service after my test drive but i cannot complain about how the car breaks there are six piston calipers
14:18in the front and single piston floating calipers in the rear composite brakes are optional prices of
14:24the mercedes amg c63 se performance started 115 174 euro with options this car costs 130 599 euro and 91
14:39cents
14:41i understand and appreciate the transfer of technology from motorsports to series production models
14:46while it may seem like tour de force now ultimately it will help in development of affordable efficient
14:51electrified vehicles but it's one thing to run a hot lap around a truck and another to feel engaged
14:59while driving and the new amg no longer delivers the latter and what do you think about the mercedes c63
15:08s e performance are you excited by the new technology or do you prefer the v8 sound
15:15and do we really have to choose the comment section is yours if you like my sarcastic down-to-earth
15:24and
15:24possibly mildly amusing car reviews join me every friday 3 pm central european time and don't forget
15:31to subscribe and like this video as it helps me with the youtube algorithm thanks for watching
15:37and i will see you in the next one