When the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG first arrived, it took the market by storm. It was a legitimate hot rod: a rear-wheel-drive performance car with a large 6.2-litre, naturally aspirated V8 placed at the front, in a body that didn’t look too different from an elegant Mercedes-Benz family sedan’s.
It set the tone for performance cars in the space, often staying neck and neck with the BMW M3, which was the go-to in that segment. That was more than a decade and a half ago. Since then this automotive segment has seen many changes including turbocharging, downsizing and even bifurcation of model lines.
The biggest of which appears to have come just now, with the arrival of the brand-new Mercedes-AMG C 63s E-Performance. We take it for a spin around the glorious Buddh International Circuit to understand if what’s been referred to as ‘progress’ lives up to its name. What change, you must ask? In the last decade, Mercedes-Benz moved from the aforementioned 6.
2-litre V8 to a turbocharged 4-litre V8 for the C63. This time around, they’ve developed a high-tech four-cylinder engine to take its place. It might sound sacrilegious at first because while such developments are understandable owing to environmental concerns, a 2-litre engine in a high-performance sedan doesn’t seem natural.
It doesn’t, until you hear about how much power it produces: 670 bhp and 104.01 kg-m of torque. No, those numbers aren’t made up, and there’s definitely a 2-litre engine under the bonnet.
It.