Where once bellowed supercharged V8s, turbocharged fours (and electric motors) now rule the roost

V8s have always ruled the roost at AMG. Whether it was the 355-horsepower 5.5-litre V8 that so thrilled sedan owners in the original “Hammer”; or the 503-hp 4.0-litre V8 that powers the current C63 S, the formula has remained pretty much the same. Oh, turbochargers (sometimes two) and superchargers have been added, and, in the case of that Hammer, AMG had to design all-new double-overhead-cam four-valve cylinder heads to replace the low-tech single-cam originals. But the common denominator was — big cubes or small, turbochargers or no — eight pistons.

No more. The all-new 2023 Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance breaks tradition in the most dramatic of fashions, and is powered by a seemingly lowly 2.0-litre four. Worse yet — for purists, at least — it’s a hybrid. A plug-in hybrid, no less, complete with battery and electric motors. Surely this is the end of the C63’s reign as the highest-performing of all AMGs.

You see, thanks to some Formula One magic, the new S E Performance pumps out a seriously tire-shredding 671 horsepower (500 kilowatts) and some 752 pound-feet of driveshaft-twisting torque. Both, by the way, are new high-water marks for the C63. Likewise, the 469 hp (350 kW) AMG claims for the gas engine makes it the most powerful 2.0-litre extant. Throw in what Mercedes calls the S E’s “P3” hybrid layout — more on that in a minute — and you have, despite the four-banger under the hood, the fastest C63 yet. Indeed, Mercedes claims the four-cylinder hybrid scoots to 100 kilometres an hour in just 3.4 seconds.

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As for the inclusion of Formula One technology, AMG says the C63’s “electrically-assisted exhaust gas turbocharger” is very much based on the units that propel Lewis Hamilton’s Petronas F1 car to glory. Now, Mercedes has used electric turbos before. High-performance versions of the current 3.0-litre inline-six, for instance, use both an electrically-powered supercharger and an exhaust-driven turbocharger to maximize their efficiency.

But those units are separate. The C63’s high-tech power-adder sees both combined into one unit. In this case, a high-powered, incredibly slim electric motor is sandwiched in between the turbocharger’s exhaust and inlet turbines. At low speeds — when the exhaust gas can’t provide enough pressure to provide the boost needed — the turbo is electrically driven. At higher speeds — once the exhaust is really pumping up the turbo’s impellers — the electric motor is disengaged and the turbochargers spins up to a reputed 150,000 rpm.

And, because the electric drive all but eliminates turbo lag, Mercedes says the turbocharger can be made “significantly larger,” big enough to force-feed the little four the fuel-air mixture it needs to produce a whopping 402 pound-feet of torque from just 2.0 litres. The gas engine then transmits all this power to the ground via AMG’s AMG Speedshift MCT 9G transmission, which incorporates a motorcycle-like “wet” clutch to replace the nine-speed’s traditional torque converter.

As for the hybrid system, Mercedes says it, too, is F1-inspired. The battery, for instance, was developed completely in-house and, according to AMG, its 560 high(-power)-density cells are individually cooled so they can deliver extremely rapid bursts of energy to the rear-mounted electric motor. Said electric motor can sustain 150 kW (201 hp) for ten seconds, and 70 kW (94 hp) continuously. The lightweight 89-kilogram battery can also power the C63 for 13 kilometres of electric autonomy all on its own.

Most importantly, the lightweight battery and electric motor are positioned right at the rear axle in a compact electric drive unit (EDU). Mercedes says that drivetrain engineers refer to this arrangement as a P3 hybrid, and claim the benefits are better weight distribution and superior efficiency because the “motor acts directly on the rear axle and can therefore convert its power more directly into propulsion.”

And, like Porsche’s Taycan, the C63’s rear electric drive unit incorporates a two-speed gearbox that automatically shifts into high gear at 140 kilometres an hour (by which time the motor is already spinning a heady 13,500 rpm). Also worth noting is that while the gas engine is placed up front and the electric motor in the rear, both propulsion systems can power both sets of wheels.

How much of that power is sent to each axle is determined by which of the eight AMG Dynamic Select drive programs is chosen. Electric, for instance, keeps the combustion engine switched off until 125 km/h, but Mercedes’ 4Matic+ is always engaged. Comfort, meanwhile, starts off in electric mode but then switches to hybrid at higher speeds, but when both electric and ICE are running simultaneously, the rear electric motor is limited to 25 per cent boost. Battery Hold is similar except that the gas engine produces a little extra power to maintain the battery’s state-of-charge at its current state. Sport mode again uses both engines, but allows 65 per cent of the rear electric motor’s 150 kilowatts to be used; while Sport+ uses up to 80 per cent of its total capacity. Race allows access to the electric motor’s full 201-hp output; while Slippery is tailored to reduce throttle response and maximize traction.

It’s also worth noting that AMG has developed four different levels of regenerative braking, with Level 0 replicating the freewheeling on an ICE engine with its clutch disengaged; and Level 3 allowing for complete “one-pedal” driving with as much as 100 kilowatts of power fed back into the battery. The one exception to this variance is that Race mode automatically sets recuperation to Level 1, which most closely emulates the deceleration of an ICE with the clutch engaged.

Besides the fully-variable 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system, Jochen Hermann, AMG’s Chief Technical Officer, says that the new S63 has a built-in Drift mode, the first such application, as far as I know, in a four-cylinder with rear-wheel steering. Said rear wheels turn 2.5 degrees in the opposite direction of the fronts up to 100 km/h (in order to replicate the agility of a shorter wheelbase) and thereafter in the same direction of the front wheels to a maximum of 0.7 degrees (simulating the greater stability of a longer wheelbase). Turning the rears in the same direction as the fronts at high speed also leads to a faster build-up of lateral forces in the tires, providing more direct feedback to the driver through the steering wheel.

Eventually, AMG says, the C63, like all its road rockets, will be fully battery-powered. There will be no roar of piston, not even from a measly four-banger. In the meantime, however, we get to enjoy internal combustion at its highest tech, replete with turbochargers seconded from Formula One and hybrid systems that add torque, not weight.

We may be witnessing the end of an era, but it is truly a golden age.

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