Mercedes-AMG C 63 Estate caught testing ahead of 2022 arrival
hot on the heels of the recently revealed and a lot more luxurious than ever Mercedes C-Class, the firm’s performance-focused AMG C 63 has been identified testing in estate form ahead of its arrival in 2022.
It’s clear from our images that this is the new C 63 Estate, with the prototype sporting broader bodywork to cover the extended track, a deeper front bumper and an AMG-specific quad-exit exhaust system.
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We’d expect the new car to feature the AMG division’s Panamericana front grille as well, to differentiate it from lesser C-Classes, as per other AMG models and their conventional counterparts.
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The a lot of significant feature for this new C 63 is that it’s highly likely to ditch the current car’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 in favour of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine supported by an electric motor.
In the firm’s current A45 S AMG the combustion engine produces 415bhp and 500Nm of torque. There’s potentially room to squeeze even a lot more power and torque from this unit, but it’s likely that the car would have to offer a significant improve from an electric motor to surpass the outgoing C 63 S’s 503bhp total and offset the additional weight of the hybrid system’s battery.
This added weight would also be countered by the reduction in cylinder count, the C 63 moving from a V8 to an in-line four with a lot less mass over the car’s front axle as a result. This could help improve agility, in partnership with a host of other chassis upgrades and performance-focused electronic systems.
Reports indicate that the new C 63 will feature Mercedes’ 4MATIC four-wheel-drive system – matching rivals such as the new all-wheel drive BMW M3 – but with a certain AMG calibration, as per the larger E 63 S. This indicates the front axle could be decoupled depending on the driving mode selected. With the added traction of four-wheel drive, a 0-62mph time below four seconds could be possible, helped by the instant torque its electric motor would add.
Of course, a incredibly estate such as a C 63 has to offer practicality as well as performance, so expect the car to match the standard C-Class Estate’s 490 litres of boot space. We’d expect prices for the new AMG C 63 Estate to start from around £82,500 when it goes on sale next year.
Check out our review on another hot German estate – the Audi RS 6 Avant…