[Auto] 2024 Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance Gets Half As Much Engine, Way More Power

[Dr@g0n]

There probably hasn't been a launch of a mainstream AMG car that's been more carefully choreographed than the reveal of the 2024 Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance. In this story, we can talk about the mightiest C-Class's redesigned exterior and the hardware underneath. Next month we'll be able to tell you what it feels like from the passenger seat. And sometime before the end of the year, we'll finally be allowed behind the wheel to put AMG's potent new compact sport sedan through its paces. Why the wary waltz? Well, the folks at Affalterbach are perhaps just a little nervous about how this new C63 will be received by the AMG faithful. There were some grumbles in 2015 when those fans learned the W205 version of the C63 would be powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 rather than the thunderous naturally aspirated 6.2-liter engine (the ambitiously named "6.3") of AMG legend. But that development pales in comparison to what's coming for the new W206 series model: The V-8 is gone, replaced by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid powertrain.The new C63 might be a hybrid, but it's nothing like a Prius. In fact, many of its key technologies are derived from a 1.6-liter hybrid that is the most advanced and highest performance powertrain ever to carry the three-pointed star: the EQ10 Power+ powertrain used in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 racers.The all-wheel-drive C63 S E Performance packs a system output of 670 hp and 752 lb-ft of torque, enough, says AMG to punch the 4653-pound sedan to 60 mph in less than 3.4 seconds, and to a top speed of 174 mph with the optional AMG Driver's Package fitted. For the record, the turbocharged 4.0-liter C63 S we tested back in 2015 had a mere 503 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, and despite its near-mythical status among AMG aficionados, the 6.2-liter powered C63 we tested in 2011 could only muster 481 hp and 443 lb-ft. The new C63 will be at least six- to eight-tenths of a second quicker to 60 mph than either. More impressive than the headline numbers, perhaps, is how they're made. The C63's hybrid powertrain consists of a 469-hp version of AMG's M139l inline four under the hood, and a 201-hp electric motor mounted at the rear axle. "What's different is we didn't put the e-motor 'on top' of the internal combustion engine," says AMG development engineer Peter Szalay. "Instead, we have a 'virtual' engine that provides the output demanded by the driver in the fastest, most responsive way, using the best characteristics of both." What that means in simple terms is the outputs of the internal combustion engine and the e-motors are treated separately. The gas engine drives all four wheels through the AMG Speedshift multi-clutch nine-speed automated transmission. The e-motor drives the rear wheels through its own automated two-speed transmission, which shifts to high gear at 87 mph, and an integrated electronically controlled limited slip differential. It also sends drive forward via a separate propellor shaft to a clutch unit at the rear of the nine-speed transmission, from which it can be distributed to the front wheels as well. Szalay says this setup avoids having to put the e-motor's torque through the Speedshift transmission, which is torque-limited to about 736 lb-ft, and allows it to freely distribute torque to the front and rear axles as needed. But more importantly, Szalay says, if the ICE and the e-motor shared the same output shaft, as is the usual practice with many hybrids, the system could not deliver maximum power because the power peaks of both occur at different revs. That's why the C63's peak power number is a simple sum of the ICE and e-motor outputs. The peak torque number is a little more complicated because of the multiplier effect of the transmission.
link:https://www.motortrend.com/news/2024-mercedes-amg-c63-s-e-performance-first-look-review/