Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 review

If there’s a running theme of this review, it’s that there’s an awful lot going on in the C63. So it goes with the interior. The steering wheel is large, thick-rimmed and is festooned with buttons (18 of the blighters). So was the outgoing car’s: it’s just everything has now graduated to touchpads or weeny little screens. It takes several dozen miles to begin to comprehend, and unlike an M3, the C63 practically begs you to engage with its different drive modes to begin to get the best out of it.

It's distracting to begin with but you’ll work with it, and the almost endlessly adjustable dials and head-up display are very legible indeed. You can have a pair of classic ‘analogue’ instruments if you really wish, while the whacking great central screen can be made to display a large IWC watch face. It can also display an energy flow diagram, with data as nerdy as the current rpm of the electrically powered turbocharger (as much as 150,000rpm, fact fans).

What's it like to sit in?

The seats are firm on first acquaintance but support you well over a long journey. Merc’s column-mounted gear selector feels like a welcome dose of familiarity as rival firms needlessly fiddle with such controls. And while the climate controls have been hoovered into the touchscreen – as they have everywhere else now – they remain fixed on screen whatever else you happen to be fiddling with. But then again, if they never move... why not have buttons? It saves Mercedes a few quid, but cheapens the overall experience. An Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is £20k cheaper and 1,000 times easier to use inside.

Is it practical?

We also need to talk boot space. Hardly the most invigorating of topics, but here’s yet more evidence of the current downsides of bulky hybrid technology. AMG’s engineers have insisted on the C63’s battery pack sitting centrally atop the rear axle, for the best possible weight distribution. Given that’s near-as-dammit 50:50, they’ve hit their bullseye. But that’s impacted heavily on this car’s luggage capacity, with the 279/324-litre volume of the saloon/estate not comparing too favourably with the respective 435/490 litres of their predecessors.

The step of the battery pack also robs the car of a flat luggage compartment. It won’t be a deal-breaker for everyone, but it dents the all-round capability cars like this usually pride themselves upon. Especially as you'll also be using some of the boot space to cart around the charging cable, unless you use the engine to re-juice the battery. In which case, you'll use a tonne of fuel just to earn six-eight miles of real-world EV running...