If you want the most technology in your performance car , wait no further than the 2025 Mercedes - AMG C63 S E Performance , a plug - in hybrid top-notch sedan that ’s as complex as its name is long .
Plug - in hybrids like the C63 are how Mercedes ’ legendary AMG carrying into action segmentation aims to achieve forward-looking performance while it preserve to develop the technical school for reliable high - performance electron volt . While it still burn some gasoline , the 2025 C63 is a full-grown advance over its predecessor in footing of efficiency , swapping a athirst V8 locomotive engine for one with half the cylinders that ’s serve by electrical power .
Car partisan will be feel a common sense of déjà vu because this is the same powertrain used in theGLC63 S E Performancecrossover SUV , which is also novel for 2025 . Mercedes really herald the C63 first , but the nature of medium event scheduling means we drive the GLC63 originally — and discover it to be telling , but puzzling . But , as a sedan , the C63 has the advantages of a lower center of gravity and less weight , giving the jade - in intercrossed powertrain and its attendant driver aids a respectable fortune to win our hearts .
Design and interior
The C63 bulks up the styling of the current - generation Mercedes - Benz C - Class , which arrived for the 2022 framework year , but has n’t been offered with a hype - in choice until now . Ribs in the hood recall past Mercedes sport car . The buffer are pushed out , and larger front strain intakes hint at the hard-core hardware beneath the skin . In the good AMG tradition , it ’s a subtle update of a handsome saloon that can still flee under the radar .
AMG tradition also dictates that cars maintain the luxurious national appointment of the models they ’re based on . As with the exterior styling , the C - Class was a good base . Its inclined splashboard is topped by large air vents , seat - adjustment control float off the doorway gore on their own minuscule island , and touches like 64 - color ambient lighting make the interior experience particular . The only hint that the C63 starts out as a trashy model is some of the plastic used for the lower parts of the dash .
It ’s a subtle update of a handsome sedan chair that can still fly under the radar .
AMG - specific rising slope admit sportsman backside that bestow more bolstering for aggressive cornering , without sacrificing comfort . They make out standard with artificial leather and microfiber upholstery , but Nappa leather is also useable . The AMG steering roulette wheel looked a piece big at first , but it still allows for the full reach of move without the driver inadvertently elbowing themself in the gut .
The C - Class is still considered a compact luxury saloon , but it ’s not a little vehicle . Interior space is comparable to rival sedans , and a wide center console separates the driver and front passenger for an added feeling of spaciousness . The mechanically similar AMG GLC63 S E Performance offers even more blank thanks to its crossover voter body cuticle , but only very marvelous people will need it .
Tech, infotainment, and driver assist
The C63 comes standard with an 11.9 - column inch central touch screen and 12.3 - inch digital instrument clustering supported by the Mercedes - Benz User Experience ( MBUX ) operating organisation used in the car maker ’s other current modelling . MBUX include wirelessApple CarPlayandAndroid Auto , as well as aboriginal voice realization . Upgrading from the radix C63 to the Pinnacle models bestow augmented - reality navigation and a head - up exhibit .
Despite the elevated cost tag , this infotainment system is essentially the same as what you get in non - AMG degree Celsius - family models . If you ’re buying a C63 , you ’re make up for performance , not more screens . But there is n’t anything wrong with this system , either . The forcible layout recallsMercedes ’ flagship S - Classand the computer graphic and reactivity give the interface a premium feel . The principal touch screen is well-heeled to navigate , in part because Mercedes opts for tile instead of endless menus , and the available augmented reality characteristic for the navigation system overlays arrows on a video recording provender , so it ’s less likely that you ’ll omit your turn . The C63 also elevate to a Burmester 3-D environment - sound system .
If you ’re buying a C63 , you ’re paying for performance , not more screen .
The C63 does get some hybrid - specific displays to avail keep running of how the barrage fire clique ’s charge is being used , plus steering - wheel control for drive modes , stilted sound enhancement , stableness control , and the grade of regenerative braking . They ’re meant as a less - deflect choice to the touchscreen , but we base memorizing their functions unmanageable and were thus never quite sure if we were increasing the level of regenerative braking or decreasing the grade of stableness control .
Most driver aid are bundle up into an optional Driver Assistance Package . This include adaptive cruise control with block up - and - go and automatise lane change functionality , blind - situation monitoring ( which will also attempt to nudge the railcar back into its lane if it detect another vehicle in the unsighted spot ) , lane keep assist , robotic emergency braking , and advancing hit warning , among other features .
Driving experience
Mercedes gives applied science nerds a circumstances to process , start up with the C63 ’s 2.0 - liter turbocharged four - cylinder locomotive . It name 469 horsepower and 402 pound - feet of torque by itself — the highest output of any serial - production four - cylinder locomotive , Mercedes claims . Itfeatures a small electric motor to keep its turbo spooled up , and is tie to a nine - speed automatic transmitting .
The electrified one-half of the powertrain comprise an electric motor that powers the rearward axle via its own two - swiftness transmission and a special - slip differential . It ’s powered by a 6.1 - kilowatt - hour barrage pack also mount toward the back of the car for better weighting statistical distribution . Mercedes claims a near identical 49%/51 % front / rear system of weights rip , although overall curb weight is a cheerless 4,817 Egyptian pound . Electric input convey total system production to 671 horsepower and 752 pound - foot of torque — 168 hp and 236 pool - feet more than the last C63 generated with a 4.0 - liter twin - turbocharged V8 .
The C63 will please anyone who merely want to go tight .
This also makes the C63 immensely more sinewy than its confining rival , the BMW M3 Competition , which evoke 523 hp and 479 pound - ft of torque ( with the optional all - wheel drive system ) from a 3.0 - liter twinned - turbo inline - six without a hybrid system . That does n’t make a braggart difference on paper , though , as Mercedes ’ estimated 3.3 - second zero - to-60 mph time makes the new C63 just 0.5 second gear quicker than its predecessor , and only 0.1 second quicker than what BMW claim for the M3 . That ’s still very immediate , though , and impressive considering that Mercedes attain this performance with a smaller locomotive than its archnemesis BMW .
The chassis is as complex as the powertrain , with adaptive abeyance , rear - axle steering , and a sophisticated all - wheel private road system helping to manage the exponent and battle the C63 ’s plentiful impounding . The result driving experience may not be to the liking of traditional cable car enthusiasts , but will please anyone who simply want to go fast . A railway car this heavy and this powerful should be difficult to manage , but all you need to do is repoint it in the right charge and trust that the engineering will do its thing . We did find a bite isolated from what the automobile was doing , though , which is always the causa when a railcar angle this heavy on anatomy tech .
A performance car first, a plug-in hybrid second
Official fuel economy and galvanising range ratings were n’t usable at insistency clock time , but these were not the precedency for the Mercedes - AMG engineering team . Mercedes estimates only eight international nautical mile of electric ambit when the C63 is driven conservatively . And while EV range is useable up to 81 mph , it ’s hard to use it systematically without waking up the gasoline engine .
force the C63 like it was designed to be push on a route with scads of hills , and the locomotive and belligerent regenerative braking configurations will in reality do a good job of charging the bombardment pack — a trick the German automakers have mastered . However , that ’s really helpful only if your best-loved drive road is situate next to master thoroughfares clogged with traffic . That admittedly was the font in Malibu , California , where we test drove the C63 .
How DT would configure this car
Pricing for this wunder sedan starts at $ 85,050 , put it above most rivals . The $ 87,100 Pinnacle trim layer sum augmented reality sailing , a head - up display , and digital light projections , while the $ 1,950 Driver Assistance Package is necessary to get the full array of driver aid , so you ’re bet at $ 89,050 just to tick off all of the tech - related boxes .
Mercedes had n’t released pricing for the mechanically similarGLC63 S E Performanceat press time , but require to devote a agio for that SUV . While the two modeling feature the same high - technical school powertrain , we finger the low - slung C63 is upright to motor . The scurvy center of gravity offer by a sedan really makes a difference . The C63 is also cheaper than the all - electricMercedes - AMG EQE sedanand avoids that car ’s polarizing styling .
In the C63 S E Performance , return AMG customer will retrieve impressive engineering and everyday usability . But young car shoppers who want a sport sedan have a lot of other options . The C63 ’s traditional rivals , machine like the BMW M3 and Cadillac CT4 - V Blackwing , provide a more engaging driving experience for less money . And while it is n’t as quick in a straight line , theLucid Air Pureis a better fun - per - dollar proposal for shoppers ready to make the bounce to an EV .
For now , AMG ’s belated chew - in loanblend is a bridge between the burning auto of today and the operation electron volt of the hereafter . It will go down in history as a remarkable engineering accomplishment , but whether it ’s as fondly recollect by take partizan as retiring AMG sedan chair persist to be seen .
