Mercedes has given the C63 more grille but no extra power

An attack of The Sensibles, at AMG? Surely not?  Well, you best believe it. The facelifted Mercedes-AMG C63 has no more power than the original car. Enough is enough, says AMG, pulling the covers off the new C63 at this week’s New York motor show.

As a result, the standard C63’s 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 develops 469bhp – whether you have a saloon, estate, coupe and soft-top. The same choice applies to the C63 S – which stays put at 503bhp. 

In fairness at AMG, the C63 was so brawny when it first launches three years ago, it’s still at the top of the mini super saloon game. The Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio matches it at 503bhp, and the likes of the Audi RS4 (444bhp), BMW M4 CS (454bhp) and Cadillac ATS-V (465bhp) are a long way behind on Top Trumps, if pretty close in actual performance…

AMG’s gone to the trouble of fitting a new gearbox to this regenerated C63 – the old seven-speed automatic is gone, and we’ve got the E63 and GLC63’s nine-speed auto instead. It shifts faster, blips downchanges more cleanly, and has shorter getaway ratios and a longer top gear to make the most of the mountains of torque. 

Not that two new cogs make the new C63 any quicker, mind. AMG still claims the saloon will do 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds. The estate and cabrio both take 4.2 seconds, and the coupe takes 4.0 seconds dead. Speccing the ‘S’ will shave a tenth off all of those times.
 
Really, this update is a cosmetic overhaul-. Fine by us – the C63 is already our favourite everyday supercoupe. For 2018, it’s inherited AMG’s slatted Panamericana grille, grown enormous rounded-off tailpipes, and there’s now a 12.3-inch virtual instrument display instead of actual dials. Though curiously, the hooded binnacles remain from the old car, so it looks like you’re at the cinema, looking through binoculars. Strange. 

AMG’s not tried to fix what wasn’t broke before. Question is then, which body style. Surely it comes down to the squat-stanced coupe, or the RS4-beating wagon…