Mercedes-Benz says the C63 AMG, due on sale in March and no doubt a crowdpuller at next month’s Melbourne motor show, will cost a relatively bargain basement $139,500.
Powered by AMG’s 336kW/600Nm 6.2-litre V8, the car’s said to blast from rest to 100km/h in just 4.5 seconds. That’s almost half a second quicker than the BMW M3 four-door’s claimed 4.9sec. And the sedan version of the M3 is still under consideration for Australia.
The C63 AMG also out-sprints – and undercuts – both the two-door M3 and Audi’s RS4 Quattro wagon. While the coupe 309kW/400Nm M3 claims 0-100km/h in 4.8sec and costs $157,000, the 309kW/430Nm RS4 Quattro weighs in with the same 4.8sec 0-100km/h time but costs $187,500.
The stove-hot C-Class puts its enormous power and torque to the ground at the rear wheels via an AMG-tweaked version of Benz’s 7G-Tronic automatic with paddle shifters. Among a raft of other performance tweaks, the C63 AMG boasts reworked suspension front and rear, revised steering geometry, wider front and rear track, and race-car-like, more-negative rear wheel camber.
Standard alloys are 18s, but 19s will be optional, and there’s a three-stage ESP system and premium braking pack.
A potentially RS4-trouncing wagon version is tipped to follow late this year.