Confession: I love the Mercedes-AMG C63 S. More than just the car, it's the concept alone that enthrals me - stupid amounts of power, ear-bleeding noise, tyre-shredding madness. It's a combination that's sure to get under anyone's skin (for better or worse). It's a gratuitously childish car for those of us who are, deep down, just an insolent kid looking for a laugh.

Now, Mercedes has updated the C63 S, so is this facelifted model still as bonkers as before? 


A new look

The first thing you'll notice about this car is the new Panamericana front grille, first debuted in the hardcore AMG GT-R. At the rear, there are two remodelled twin tailpipe trim elements in high-gloss chrome, a more expressive diffuser, and a diffuser board on this S model, all adding up to a more aggressive and muscular design.

The interior also features a host of improvements. The central infotainment display has grown significantly, while the dashboard has gone fully digital. There's a new steering wheel, with a rotary knob on the right (we'll get to that later) and two additional buttons on the left side.

The facelift helps bring the car up to date with the rest of its C-Class brethren, while also improving everyday quality of life for the driver and passengers too. 

A renewed sharpness

Dynamically, there's a lot to love about the new car. An AMG is still (in our opinion) fundamentally defined by its engine, and this one cannot disappoint. The handcrafted 4.0-litre powerplant is world-class. It shoves out 503bhp and 700Nm of torque, capable of sending the C63 S from 0-100km/h in four seconds.

But more importantly, it's full of character - menacing and growly at low revs, full of violent anger and rage at higher revs. Unlike an M engine, which is more a precision tool, this AMG engine is a personality all to itself.

All that urgent power is accompanied by an ungodly noise. The car is already so obnoxiously loud, but the noise ratchets up another notch when you cross 5,000rpm. It's so deeply intoxicating that you just want to hold a lower gear and let the rev-hungry V8 rush all the way to the 7,000rpm redline, fuel consumption be damned.

The new AMG Speedshift MCT 9G gearbox is also a notable improvement from before. It reacts much quicker, and has shed the downshift hesitancy that used to plague the previous one.

The engineers have also made the C63 S more dynamically capable than before (and added a ton more modes too, while they were at it). An electronically controlled rear-axle limited-slip differential and dynamic engine mounts come as standard. The steering is urgent, direct and meaty, egging you on to wring the car hard through corners.

It also delivers more dynamic malleability, thanks to the ample different dynamic settings available. The aforementioned rotary knob can be used to select the various drive modes (six in total), as well as to choose from nine different traction control settings.

Confession: I love the Mercedes-AMG C63 S. More than just the car, it's the concept alone that enthrals me - stupid amounts of power, ear-bleeding noise, tyre-shredding madness. It's a combination that's sure to get under anyone's skin (for better or worse). It's a gratuitously childish car for those of us who are, deep down, just an insolent kid looking for a laugh.

Now, Mercedes has updated the C63 S, so is this facelifted model still as bonkers as before? 


A new look

The first thing you'll notice about this car is the new Panamericana front grille, first debuted in the hardcore AMG GT-R. At the rear, there are two remodelled twin tailpipe trim elements in high-gloss chrome, a more expressive diffuser, and a diffuser board on this S model, all adding up to a more aggressive and muscular design.

The interior also features a host of improvements. The central infotainment display has grown significantly, while the dashboard has gone fully digital. There's a new steering wheel, with a rotary knob on the right (we'll get to that later) and two additional buttons on the left side.

The facelift helps bring the car up to date with the rest of its C-Class brethren, while also improving everyday quality of life for the driver and passengers too. 

A renewed sharpness

Dynamically, there's a lot to love about the new car. An AMG is still (in our opinion) fundamentally defined by its engine, and this one cannot disappoint. The handcrafted 4.0-litre powerplant is world-class. It shoves out 503bhp and 700Nm of torque, capable of sending the C63 S from 0-100km/h in four seconds.

But more importantly, it's full of character - menacing and growly at low revs, full of violent anger and rage at higher revs. Unlike an M engine, which is more a precision tool, this AMG engine is a personality all to itself.

All that urgent power is accompanied by an ungodly noise. The car is already so obnoxiously loud, but the noise ratchets up another notch when you cross 5,000rpm. It's so deeply intoxicating that you just want to hold a lower gear and let the rev-hungry V8 rush all the way to the 7,000rpm redline, fuel consumption be damned.

The new AMG Speedshift MCT 9G gearbox is also a notable improvement from before. It reacts much quicker, and has shed the downshift hesitancy that used to plague the previous one.

The engineers have also made the C63 S more dynamically capable than before (and added a ton more modes too, while they were at it). An electronically controlled rear-axle limited-slip differential and dynamic engine mounts come as standard. The steering is urgent, direct and meaty, egging you on to wring the car hard through corners.

It also delivers more dynamic malleability, thanks to the ample different dynamic settings available. The aforementioned rotary knob can be used to select the various drive modes (six in total), as well as to choose from nine different traction control settings.