Latest news with #Mercedes-AMGS63E-Performance
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Weekend Drive by Hormazd Sorabjee: Let's do a reign check
The silent, dignified arrival of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class has long been a hallmark of understated luxury. It's a vehicle synonymous with serenity, where the cacophony of the outside world is shut out and passengers are cosseted in comfort. Then, there's the Mercedes-AMG S 63 E-Performance. This isn't merely an S-Class; it's what happens when the engineers of Mercedes's performance division, AMG, are given free rein to infuse a flagship sedan with supercar DNA. Bearing the '63' badge, highlighted in red, is a signal that this 802hp limousine has shed its regal composure for something far more assertive, turning the traditionally rear-seat focused S-Class experience squarely onto the driver. At its core, the S 63 E-Performance is a plug-in hybrid system taken to an extreme. The familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, formidable with its 612hp and 900Nm, is augmented by a rear-axle-mounted electric motor and a 13kWh battery, contributing an additional 190hp and 320Nm. The combined output is a staggering 802hp and a monumental 1,430Nm of torque. Unleashing this power is almost surreal. Despite its considerable 2.5-tonne mass, the sensation under full acceleration is less about forward motion, and more akin to the vehicle warping the very asphalt beneath its tires. The 0-100kph sprint is dispatched in a mere 3.4 seconds, an astonishing feat for a car of this size and stature. Top speed is electronically limited to 250kph but with the optional Driver's Pack, you can hit 290kph. Managing this colossal output involves a sophisticated dual-transmission setup: A Speedshift 9-speed MCT for the V8 and a separate 2-speed unit for the electric motor. An AMG S-Class inherently grapples with two contrasting ideologies: Sportscar handling versus limousine comfort. The S 63 E-Performance leans decidedly towards the former. While it features adaptive air suspension, the ride is firm. When faced with a challenging road, however, the AMG pedigree shines through. The 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system, complemented by 3-degree rear-wheel steering, endows this long-wheelbase sedan with surprising agility. It turns in keenly and maintains impressive stability through sweeping bends. Yet, in tighter, more technical sections, the laws of physics and its 2.5-tonne mass ultimately assert themselves, limiting how much the handling tech can truly do. Ground clearance, too, demands vigilance over significant speedbumps, even with the air suspension's raise function. Visually, the S 63 signals its intent with clarity. The distinctive Panamericana grille, aggressive bumper designs with large air dams, and the AMG logo replacing the traditional Mercedes-Benz star all contribute to a more muscular aesthetic. Inside, carbon fibre, interwoven with a red thread, adorns the dashboard. The digital instrument cluster offers racier themes, while the central 12.8-inch touchscreen serves as the highly responsive control hub for every facet of the car. Despite its driver-centric focus, the rear cabin remains a thoroughly luxurious space, offering ample legroom, massage functions, and independent entertainment screens. Priced from ₹3.3 crore, the Mercedes-AMG S 63 E-Performance occupies a curious niche. It possesses supercar-levels of power and combines it with the undeniable luxury of an S-Class. The S 63, then, is for the individual who demands both extremes – the ultimate in executive transport capabilities and the ability to rip through the fabric of time. It's a statement, an indulgence, and ultimately, a purchase driven not by logic, but by the sheer joy it provides. From HT Brunch, June 21, 2025 Follow us on
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Hellcat Hunter: Mercedes-AMG S63 E-Performance Hits the Drag Strip
"Man, you're out here eating up Hellcats!" So says the guy in the Dodge Charger Scat Pack who had the misfortune of lining up twice against the 2024 Mercedes-AMG S63 E-Performance plug-in hybrid at Rockingham Dragway. The big Benz doesn't look like it would be all that quick, especially wearing a gold paint job that prompted me to dub the car "Champagne Supernova" on the sign-in tech sheet. (Mercedes calls the hue Kalahari gold metallic, a $1750 option.) It's the kind of color you expect to see in the valet line at Joe's Stone Crab, not in the staging lanes at the Rockingham March Madness takeover, where the predominant exterior aesthetic seemed to be "vandalized by a graffiti artist, but in a cool way." The S63 is a sleeper, is what I'm saying. The S-class doesn't look like it has 791 horsepower and 1055 pound-feet of torque, but there's a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 at the front making 603 horsepower, and there's an electric motor out back contributing another 188 hp. It's like a mullet on both sides of your head: party in the front, party in the back. The electric motor is hooked to its own two-speed transmission and can generate its peak 188 horsepower for 10-second stints, after which it drops to 94. And 10 seconds, by my seat-of-the-pants reckoning, ought to be just about long enough to see the S63 down the quarter-mile. It feels like a 10-second car off the line. Is it? Let's find out. I've only run one official 10-second quarter-mile, in a Hennessey Hammer Wagon at Darlington. I almost certainly ran one there in the McLaren 765LT too, but the timing equipment malfunctioned on my first run and then traction went away after that. I got close with a Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye at Fayetteville, but the best I could wring was an 11.1. Even with the gonzo horsepower of modern muscle- and supercars (and EVs), 10 seconds remains rare air. But the S63 feels like it's got the juice. With a wet clutch, all-wheel drive, and launch control, the S63 departs like it's going to pull the front tires off the ground. (It's close, really—Elana Scherr tells me the drag-race term for this is a "paper-slipper," because you could slide a piece of paper under the front end at launch.) On my first few runs, I can't seem to get launch control going, but the Benz still cracks off runs in the 11.3-second range at 126 mph. That is no joke, but not quite what I'm looking for. I pull to the side in the staging lanes and consult the AMG addendum to the S-class owner's manual, learning that my practiced starting-line calm is actually too chill—you need to hold the brake with your left foot and aggressively stab the accelerator with your right to tell the Benz you'd like some launch control, please. At that point, the V-8 chatters at just below 4000 rpm, and when you pop your foot off the brake, you're on your way to what is surely a sub-3.0-second sprint to 60 mph. The first time I make a launch-control pass, I'm on my way back past the bleachers when I hear a spectator exclaim, "That m---------r's fast!" After another run, a guy calls out, "Is that an AMG?" Yes. "What've you done to it?" Nothing. This is just how they build them now. And I sneak into the 11.1 range—11.19 seconds at 125 mph—but that's all it's got. Which, make no mistake, is crazy quick, especially for a car that can do that sort of thing while giving you a hot stone massage and wafting its own signature fragrance from the HVAC vents. The S63 E-Performance is an impressive answer to the question, "Where does the S-class fit in a G-class world?" It's stately and menacing all at once, like Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple. The S63 never lost, even dispatching a fearsome regular-cab F-150 powered by what sounded like a supercharged Coyote. A guy in a Jeep Trackhawk challenged me to a run but later decided he wanted to line up against the F-150, so we don't know how that would have turned out, but I suspect my perfect record would've been shattered. The Jeep owner was wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with a photo of the Trackhawk, and I asked him, "Am I about to learn not to run against someone who has a picture of their car on their sweatshirt?" He laughed in a way that suggested that this was correct. Although I never broke into the 10s, I think my sense that the S63 is a 10-second car is correct. It has a vulnerability, though. Around 80 mph it feels like there's a flat spot in the power, followed by a 100-shot of nitrous. This happened consistently, at the same place every run, making me wonder if the car thought there was a traction problem or some reason to moderate thrust and then suddenly restore it. Then I realized the likely culprit: I was feeling the shift from the two-speed transmission at the rear axle. So that pause and surge before the eighth-mile is the electric motor hitting its limit, then rejoining the party after the upshift. As Benz's tech material says, "An electric actuator engages second gear by approximately 87 mph, which corresponds to the electric motor's maximum speed of around 13,500 rpm." If I may make a suggestion, perhaps we could tinker with the gear ratios to either extend that shift to, say, 130 mph, or do it sooner, before the electric motor runs out of revs. Because I want to break into the 10s again, and I've got a feeling that ol' Champagne Supernova here can do it. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
