AMG! These three letters could be considered the last word when it comes to performance cars that are mental enough to get your juices flowing, and yet carry let’s say an air of practicality rolled into them. Slowly shedding its image of simply being the performance wing of Mercedes-Benz, the Mercedes-AMG brand has now come into its own, selling a record 133,000 units last year. Hitting a new sales milestone in its 50th year was special, but lucky for us the folks at AMG aren’t resting on their laurels. Enter the fastest and most powerful E-Class ever built. Powered by a maddening V8 bi-turbo, the usually stately sedan turns into a track fiend. So today we have got our hands, albeit very briefly on the new Mercedes-AMG E63S 4Matic+ sedan at the Buddh International Circuit.
Being an AMG the car has to look the part. The front end in particular, oozes sheer muscle thanks to the creases on the bonnet and a shapely bumper. The grille gets two chrome slats, joining in on the star symbol, keeping the whole affair classy and elegant. Viewed in profile, the car retains the silhouette of the standard E-class.
(The engine on the E63S is a fire-breathing monster and it is LOUD)Coming to the rear, the boot has this cool spoiler on top and the rest of the brawn is added on by the AMG and E63S lettering and those chrome tipped quad exhaust pipes. Overall, the car might not be an outright looker but if the looks don’t pique your interest, the sound absolutely will! Exhilarating! It has to be! The E63S gets a mad 4.0-litre V8 turbocharged engine that makes just over 600 bhp at 5750-6500 rpm and pumps out a massive 850 Nm of peak at 2500-4500 rpm. The engine is paired to a very slick AMG Speedshift 9-Speed sport transmission. Thumb the starter and the car awakens with an angry growl! Start moving and mash the throttle and you wouldn’t even realise when you started doing illegal speeds. The E63S builds up speed quickly and the 9-speed auto transmission does a good job of holding the gears right up till the red line and shift at the precise moment, right when you are looking for that burst of power, sliding the rear while exiting a corner. We did see 240 kmph + at the 1.1 kilometre long back straight at the Buddh International Circuit before the instrumentation console started flashing a warning sign saying the winter tyres are beyond its maximum speed limit. (Winter tyres at BIC? Mercedes-Benz, what were you thinking). Having said that, the Pirelli P Zero 295/30/ZR20 tyres are super grippy and can keep up with the throttle inputs!
(Despite being a performance car, the E63S looks stately)If you are still up for shenanigans, The E63S also lets you engage a ‘drift-mode’. All you need to do is select the ‘Race’ mode, switch off the ESP and traction control, use the paddleshifts to shift gear and voila! You are ready to kill tyres and blow smoke! What is also impressive is the fully variable torque distribution system along with the 4Matic+ AWD system can distribute the spread of torque to the wheels as and when needed.
(And it can tranport 4-5 passengers with utmost comfort as well. Its an E-Class after all)And after all that performance, comes the sound! Close to the red line, the E63S breaks fully into this sweet symphony with the distinct bass laden guttural roar of the V8 bi-turbo. Brake and shift down and the overrun will make your eyes gleam with joy and put a giant smile on your face. The car sounds angry and raring to go, especially when you have it in Sport+ or Race mode. For a full blown four-door sedan, the E63S does a good job of sticking to the line and handles really well. It is not exactly razor sharp, but in case you want to carve through a set of twists, the car and its chassis is more than up for it. The E63S gets AMG carbon ceramic brakes, which offer excellent stopping power and did not fade away even after three proper laps. Oh! And you can specify the brake callipers in either red or yellow! We are biased towards the yellow though.
(The single slat grille gives the car an aggressive front end)Sure it is an AMG with a V8, but that does not mean it cannot transport 4-5 people in utmost comfort. We got limited time with the car and the few things that we could glance at, was the Burmester audio system, nappa leather upholstery, climatised front seats and the regular COMAND system. Then, there is the dual zone automatic climate control system. Oh! And the car has been launched in India at a price of ₹ 1.5 crore and upwards. (ex-showroom, India).
(The E63S is recipe for sheer, unbridled driving joy)The Mercedes-AMG E63S 4Matic+ (Yes! It’s a mouthful) could be called as an E-Class which was hit by gamma radiation and got an alter ego, like how the docile Dr. Bruce Banner turns into the monstrous, rampaging Hulk. In its Bruce Banner guise, the E63S could be your daily ride to work, the car that drops your kids to schools, picks up parents from the airport and at the sight of a racetrack, the car turns into the hulk! And, it takes just 3.4 seconds to do so! Yes, that is the claimed 0-100 kmph sprint time. So, that’s the secret, folks! The AMG E63S 4Matic+ is always angry!
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