BERLIN: You’ve probably already seen the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupé, revealed last week, and if you’re reading this you’re surely quite familiar with the C63 AMG sedan. Mix those two ingredients and you have this, the C63 AMG Coupé.
Of course, all the sedan’s technical wizardry applies here and to recap, that means a bellowing 4-litre twin-turbo V8 in two states of tune and mated to a seven-speed, multi-mode ‘sports’ automatic transmission with flappy paddles. The normal version is rated at 350kW and 650Nm while the S is wound up to 375kW and 700Nm. In both cases maximum power is produced between 5500 and 6250rpm, with twisting force peaking from 1750 to 4500.
There’s an extra tenth of a second from 0-100 in the S, which performs the sprint in 3.9 seconds, versus 4.0 for the tamer C63 and both have a 0.1s respective advantage over their sedan counterparts, thanks to wider tyres and shorter-legged rear-axle ratios.
Chassis trickery comes in the form of AMG Ride Control suspension with adjustable dampers and for maximum traction out of tight corners there’s a limited slip diff on the back axle, mechanical in the C63’s case and electronic in the C63 S.
The C63 is wider than regular C-Class two-door models, by 64mm at the front and 66mm at the rear, allowing for flared wheel arches that lend a more powerful look along with a restyle front end with ‘twin blade’ grille and aluminium bonnet with power domes, bolder back bumper and bigger wheels: 10-spoke 18-inch alloys in the C63, or 19-inch 5-spoke rims if you’re opting for the S.
Both versions of the BMW M4’s new enemy will form part of the South African Coupé line-up, which is due to hit our streets during the first quarter of 2016.
