Test Car Specifications
Model tested: Mercedes-Benz S 63 AMG Coupé
Pricing: from £125,595; car as tested £155,735
Engine: 5.5-litre twin-turbocharged V8 petrol
Transmission: rear-wheel drive, seven-speed AMG Speedshift MCT automatic
Body style: two-door coupé
CO2 emissions: 237g/km (Band L, £860 first year, £485 per year thereafter)
Combined economy: 28.0mpg
Top speed: 155mph limited; car as tested fitted with £2,760 AMG Driver's Package, top speed limiter increased to 186mph
0-62mph: 4.2 seconds
Power: 585hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 900Nm at 2,250- to 3,750rpm
What's this?
The S-Class Coupé, a mammoth, technological tour de force that follows in the tyre treads of similarly autocratic two-door creations such as the 560 SEC and old CL models. That latter badging has gone now, but looking at the S Coupé brings to mind the brilliant slab-sidedness of the old W140 tank of the 1990s. Don't get us wrong, the new S 63 AMG is a stunning looking car, but it remains physically imposing - more than five metres long and two metres wide, it's not exactly a sporty, lithe coupé, no matter how much those two converging swage lines try to convince you otherwise. However, the detailing is magnificent, and the dead-on rear-view in particular has muscularity and purpose. The front is a little bit too much like a CLA for our liking, but otherwise it's a handsome, domineering machine.
Inside is sumptuous in the extreme. This S 63 has a faultless cabin, replete with excellent front seats, a perfect-sized steering wheel, lush TFT displays and a neatly integrated central screen, plus banks and banks of buttons everywhere for the myriad controls. Rear seat space is good enough for adults to enjoy shorter journeys, while it is as loaded with all manner of hi-tech kit as you'd expect of any self-respecting S-Class. However, even though this is 'top of the line', our car was fitted with an astonishing £30,140 of extras. Included were such fripperies as Swarovski crystals in the headlights (£2,860) and a Warmth Comfort Package, which heats the steering wheel and armrests in the front for a (if you'll forgive the irony) cool £4,660.
How does it drive?
As you'd probably expect, it is monstrously quick and extremely capable, if not the deftest car you'll ever encounter. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a bi-turbo V8 that makes 585hp and a giddy 900Nm. If you think you need more performance than this, we'd suggest your senses are shot. Having been driving in a C 63 AMG Black Series - itself no slouch - and been given a salutary lesson in the advantages of forced induction versus normal aspiration when it comes to high-speed roll-on acceleration by an S 63, it's safe to say very little will out-punch this Benz in a straight line.
That V8 never really shouts about its exertions, though, and it is likely people outside the car will get more benefit from those squared-off quad exhausts. Nevertheless, a general hushed air and stratospheric levels of refinement mean the S 63 will be adept at long-haul driving, presumably what it was designed to do first and foremost. Its ride is sublime, even on optional 20-inch wheels (£1,740), while the seven-speed MCT gearbox is velvet smooth yet blessed with rapid reactions.
What the S-Class Coupé has as its party trick is Magic Body Control with Curve Tilting Function (CTF). This tilts the body of the car into the direction of the curve, rather than allowing the weight to transfer to the outside wheels. It's an unusual sensation when it first kicks in, as it tends to mask the point at which outright grip levels are in danger of being breached, but you soon settle into the S 63's gait before long. It then invites the age-old 'express train' analogy, tilting into bends at high speed and gobbling up straights with abandon. The only drawback to CTF is that you need to be going pretty damn fast to get the best from it - it's more of an Autobahn tool, rather than something you can safely deploy on the A59. Overall, though, the S 63 is ultimately a well-resolved, tech-laden GT.
Verdict
Stuffed with gadgets, possessed of a brilliant interior and powered by yet another AMG masterpiece, there's little to dislike about the S 63 AMG. It's expensive, on the large side and perhaps erring more towards luxurious comfort rather than handling prowess, yet it remains an enjoyable car in which to cover ground - be that motorway miles or tarmac snaking over the Yorkshire Moors. This is Teutonic efficiency at its very best.
Exterior Design
Interior Ambience
Passenger Space
Luggage Space
Safety
Comfort
Driving Dynamics
Powertrain
