Barely two months after introducing the newest 2-door version of its flagship S-Class line, Mercedes is taking the coupe to an all-new level of performance.
At an evening soiree previewing this week’s New York Auto Show, the German maker pulled the wraps off the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG 4Matic Coupe, which Tobias Moers, the CEO of the high-performance unit dubbed “our ultimate halo car.”
Previously known as the CL line, the renamed 2-doors feature more aggressive styling than their sedan siblings. But they carry over all of the various high-tech features found in the 4-door S-Class – and then some. The S63 AMG Coupe, for example, is the first model to feature the maker’s new “Curve Tilting Function which “leans into curves like a motorcycle rider or skier,” explained Mercedes AMG boss Moers.
The heart of the beast is a 577 horsepower version of the Mercedes AMG 5.5-liter biturbo V-8. That’s 31 hp more than the outgoing CL63 – and, Moers noted, 97 more than the Mercedes C-Class DTM race car. Torque is rated at a neck-snapping 664 pound-feet, or 31 more than the current Chevrolet NASCAR entry, added Moers.
That’s enough to propel the new Mercedes S63 AMG from 0 to 60 in a mere 3.9 seconds, though the AMG boss stressed that thanks to such technologies as Curve Tilting, the new Coupe is “not just a straight line beast.”
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As with virtually all future AMG models, the S63 will get a special version of the Mercedes all-wheel-drive system known as 4Matic. In this case, 33% of the engine’s torque is normally directed to the front wheels, the rest going rearward.
As with the S-Class sedans, Mercedes has worked hard to reduce the mass of the new 2-doors, the S63 Coupe coming in 140 pounds lighter than the outgoing CL version. That translates into better fuel economy as well as performance.
Along with the modified 4Matic system, and the new Curve Tilting Function, the S63 Coupe will get several other unique new high-tech features, including a heads-up-display and a touch pad for directly inputting addresses and other information into the infotainment system.
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During the preview of the new S63 Coupe, Moers noted AMG is on a roll. It had its best year ever in 2013, selling 32,200 vehicles worldwide. U.S. sales, in particular, were up 20%. And that momentum is only building, with demand during the first quarter of 2014 up 50%. The performance subsidiary’s new entry model, the CLA 45 AMG has been a major factor in building that volume.
“We have already ramped up production as far as we can go,” he lamented, though AMG has found ways to break through the bottlenecks before to meet its growing demand.
