New Mercedes-AMG C63 brings Formula 1 to the road

General Guides  New Launches 

If you're looking to lease a sensible family car you may as well stop reading now…because this one definitely isn't for you.

If, on the other hand, you're looking for something that's pretending to be sensible but is actually going to set your trousers on fire and then launch you at the horizon in a cloud of smoke and prayers say “Yes, please” to the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 Performance.

This is what happens when Mercedes takes everything it knows about building cars for Lewis Hamilton and sticks it in a C-Class. The results are simply astonishing.





It may be based on a C-Class but there's no mistaking this car has an altogether different purpose. It's available in both saloon and estate versions, both of which boast extensively modified AMG bodyshells that are longer, wider, and a million times more imposing than the regular cars. If the extra body doesn't give the game away all those vents, air intakes, side skirts, and the 19 inch alloys will get the message across.

The interior is slightly more refined than you might expect too. Along with the AMG sports seats with special upholstery you'll get all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a range-topping Mercedes.

The infotainment system controls the bulk of the car's functions as well as displaying the usual array of climate, entertainment, and other settings. The instrument cluster can also be personalised with different styles and views, and for those times when you can't tear your eyes from the road there's also an optional head-up display.

Drift Mode and active rear wheel steering

Other highlights of the new C63 models - some featuring for the first time – include a fully variable all-wheel drive system, Drift Mode for even more driving pleasure, and uniquely for this particular segment of the car market, active rear wheel steering as standard. If you've never driven a car with a little bit of rear-wheel steering you're in for a treat when you throw it into the first corner and feel the difference it makes.

Although the biggest difference is definitely under the bonnet.

The days of the huge 6.0-litre V8 monsters that used to hide in the front of previous C63s are long gone. Just like the Formula 1 cars, the new Mercedes-AMG C63 uses a much smaller engine and boosts the power with clever hybrid technology. The new version is now very much a Plug-in Hybrid for today's greener world.





Under the bonnet you'll find a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine that sounds like it should be utterly inadequate for the job. It isn't, although to be fair, given the fact it's the most powerful four-cylinder engine ever fitted to a production car, that doesn't come as a surprise.

Clever turbo technology, a high-performance battery, and an electric motor driving the rear axle combine to give this the performance you'd expect from a C63. A total power output of 680bhp and more than 1000 Nm of torque, and with the all-wheel drive system, equals a very easily lost driving licence if you're not careful.

Bury your right foot in the carpet in this thing and you'll have broken the national speed limit in a 3 second blink of the eye. Keep it buried and you'll quickly hit the electronic limiter, which is set to a mere 170mph. And if that doesn't blow you away, bear in mind all that hybrid technology means you'll still be getting around 40mpg....

So, not only does this car fly, it should also handle like a true performance car, and cost little more to run than most people would happily live with for a run of the mill family car.

We don't think there's much more to add to be honest.

The Mercedes-AMG has always been a car that puts an enormous smile on your face just by being completely and unnecessarily silly. The new one can still do that, but now it will also put a big smile on your wallet's face without spoiling any of the fun. Go here for the best Mercedes lease deals.

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