Even though many driving enthusiasts are bemoaning the disappearance of the AMG V8, which is being replaced by a heavily electrified four-cylinder, things aren’t all bad. Upon seeing a very lightly camouflaged 2023 Mercedes-AMG C63 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last week, a few key points need to be made about the upcoming monster sedan.
Firstly, it will be considerably more powerful and torquey compared to the current C63S, even with half the displacement. It will be powered by the Mercedes M139 2-liter turbo that is expected to make 470 horsepower - it’s one of the most powerful engines of this displacement ever made and even on its own, it would make any car very quick.
However, Mercedes is boosting it by an additional 200 horsepower courtesy of an electric motor that is mounted on the rear axle. The combined total power output is 670 horsepower (680 PS) and peak torque is 750 Nm (553 pound-feet), and don’t go thinking it will be much heavier than before, so it needs the extra oomph to overcome the extra weight.
Gallery: 2023 Mercedes-AMG C63 at Goodwood FoS 2022
In fact, the four-cylinder is over 100 pounds lighter than the V8, so even with the extra weight of the motor, battery pack and other components necessary to make it a PHEV, it will realistically only end up marginally heavier than the V8 C63. In fact, given that Mercedes is reportedly not giving the C63 PHEV its big 25 kWh battery, but a smaller 6.1 kWh pack instead, sacrificing pure-electric range for lightness.
And when it comes to the way the new C63 will look, well, the prototype on display at Goodwood revealed pretty much everything but the interior, which just looked like a normal C-Class interior. Oh, and the black wheels are most likely placeholders too, so expect those to be different in the finished vehicle.
