Mercedes-AMG C63 S first official pics

MERCEDES-BENZ has revealed its first images of the AMG C63 due on sale in Australia next year.

Mercedes-AMG has revealed the red-hot C63 S sedan that stumps up

BMW M3 crushing mighty maximums – 375kW and 700Nm – from its twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8. Making its debut in the metal at next week’s Paris motor show, Mercedes Australia has already confirmed that it will take exclusively the S model instead of a slightly less bonkers version of the C63, which offers a less powerful 350kW and 650Nm that would still put the M3 and M4’s 317kW in the shade.

In great news for wagon lovers, the wilder engine will also shoehorn under the bonnet of a C63 S Estate due for launch in Europe in April.

Mercedes-AMG’s performance numbers are stunning, running a claimed 4.0sec 0-100km/h sprint for the S sedan, and only 4.1sec for the S Estate. The less powerful versions are naturally a little slower … by 0.1sec.

Crucially, Mercedes-AMG makes it clear there will differences between the hand-built-at-Affalterbach V8 for the C63 and the closely related engine for the company’s forthcoming GT. The sedan and wagon will use the version codenamed M177, while the heart of the two-seat sports car will beat with a variant of the twin-turbo V8 incorporating changes sufficient to earn its own codename, M178.

The pre-show C63 tech-tease does answer some important questions on what Mercedes-AMG has done to make these rear-drive torque-monsters manageable. The 700Nm S models are equipped with an electronic locking differential, which the go-fast factory claims provides “faster and more finely tuned control, thus pushing the physical limits of the driving envelope even higher”. The standard 350kW/650Nm C63 will have a purely mechanical limited-slip differential.

While the regular C63 will wear standard 18-inch wheels, the S will have a standard 19-inch wheel and tyre package, plus a fourth mode – Race – for its seven-speed auto. AMG says the Speedshift MCT transmission has been extensively redeveloped for the C63, and now shifts gears faster than ever.

The options list will include some tempting items. AMG Ride Control adds three-stage adjustable dampers to the suspension, already much modified for duty in the C63. There’s also a “Performance” exhaust system for both C63 and C63 S, with three switchable flaps instead of the standard system’s one.

The C63’s predecessor was AMG’s best-selling model, racking up 40,000 buyers globally during its lifetime, and the new C63 should continue in the same vein.

One thing it won’t have, though, is the same name.

“We are marking the beginning of a new era with the new nomenclature,” says AMG chief Tobias Moers. “The successor to the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, which has been incredibly successful worldwide, will now be called the Mercedes-AMG C63.”

The new-name C63 is scheduled to arrive in Australia months later than Europe, in mid 2015. A Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman confirmed the S sedan would arrive first, adding that decisions on also importing the S estate and the regular 350kW C63 models were yet to be made.

Australia is one of Mercedes-Benz’s strongest global markets for AMG. Last year, one in every 10 Benz-badged models rolling out of showrooms also featured an AMG badge.