Mercedes-AMG C63 review: 503bhp S Cabriolet driven

Wow, that’s a really handsome car.

Isn’t it just. We’ll get to whether or not the new £72,245 Mercedes C63 Cabriolet is a better car than a BMW M4 or not in a moment. First, you have to ask yourself if the looks alone are enough to swing it for you.

It’s an elegant thing, the new C-Class Cabrio. And yet by blistering its arches by 66mm, slamming the ride height onto gorgeous staggered, dished alloys and grafting on angrier bumpers and four (sadly fake) tailpipes, it's certainly moodier. It’s still pretty, but muscular too, with a stance to die for. Get one in grey with a red roof, dark wheels and a black interior, says us. Go easy on the carbon.

What about floppy bodyshells and a crashing ride?

Not here, m’lud. Besides a very, very slight shudder through the steering column if you really clatter into as pothole, the C63 Cabrio feels stiff as a board in the structure. No tell-tale withering of the rear-view mirror here. That means the four-mode adaptive suspension can actually get along with doing its job, which, in Comfort mode, is pleasingly supple. Sport and Sport Plus up the ante – Sport is the optimal compromise.

I'm guessing it's heavy?

Yes, make no mistake, this is a heavy car. As an ‘S’, it’s a 1925kg machine, which is 125kg more than the equivalent coupe, which itself is actually heavier than the C63 saloon and estate. Bespoke rear axles and chassis reinforcement for the two-doors don’t come lightly. Then again, an Audi RS5 Cabriolet gains a whopping 250kg when Quattro GmbH chop the roof off, and it’s only got 444bhp to deploy. Even the ‘non-S’ C63 churns out more than that...

And what about this C63 S?

It’s up 34bhp on the standard car, developing an AMG GT S-matching 503bhp from the familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbo ‘hot-vee’ V8, and an appropriately thrusting 516lb ft.

So, to come back to the weight skeleton in the closet, yes, you do notice the inertia when getting the car slowed down, and it’s more ponderous in the bends. Embarrassingly, irritatingly so? Not at all. And out the other side, 503bhp makes light work of chucking two tonnes of drop-top C-Class down the road. Essentially, you don’t feel like you’re driving a spoiled coupe, and there’s not much higher praise for a soft-top than that.

Fast, then?

As fast as you’ll need. Cue up launch control and you’ll blat up to 62mph in 4.1 seconds, and headbutt the 155mph limiter rather quickly. Optionally, that’s booted up to 174mph, and still limited.

Torque is abundant, and the lower gears don’t feel intergalactic, so the V8 just chomps through each ratio. Still, leave the seven-speed dual-clutch auto in fourth forever and you’ll simply swell along the road effortlessly. Suits the cabrio thing rather well, that.

Sound nice?

All the right woofly V8 noises are present, but you’ll notice the Cabrio’s vocal range has been pegged back a scale if you’re familiar with this V8 from its other homes in the C63 hardtops and AMG GT. This isn’t the cop-out you might imagine.

Ferrari pulled the same trick with the 458 Spider, in fact – fitting a slightly more polite exhaust, so top-down driving doesn’t give the occupants tinnitus. See, cabrios aren’t necessarily for show-offs. It’ll still pop und bag on a downshift.

So is it, when all said and done, fun, or just a muscle car?

Drive it back to back with a coupe and all you’ll notice is the Cabrio’s extra flab and blunted reactions, but in isolation this is a surprisingly sorted, enjoyable car to drive fast. I’d have one over a BMW M4 Convertible not just because it’s prettier, far smarter inside and sounds leagues more authentic, but also because it’s so much more trustworthy. You wouldn’t climb out of the AMG every day glad you’d escaped with your life.

Even in a deluge the traction breakaway is totally friendly, and encourages the driver to unstick the car a bit, and exploit that absurdly over-endowed engine. It’s not at all snatchy, or snappy, and the steering – slower than in a regular C-class, thanks to AMG’s preference for a new steering rack – weights up with much greater consistency. Big stops might betray the car’s sheer mass, but feverish direction changes don’t.

I genuinely don’t think a fightier M4 or lardier RS5 would see which way this thing had gone, but rowed back to a more sedate, al fresco-ready pace, the C63 S is still a naughtily indulgent bit of kit. A properly enjoyable convertible. And stood still, it’s got to be the best-looking of the lot, which counts for a fair whack in this market. Just look at those arches...