New Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S goes on sale with a whopping 671bhp
Mercedes brings turbocharged hybrid power to its performance SUV
Revealed back in the summer of 2023, the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S has now gone on sale in the UK prices from £121,820. It’s the second-generation of the high-performance mid-sized SUV and is more powerful than ever thanks to a hybrid setup taken from the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S super saloon.
The cheaper GLC 63 S is snappily named 4MATIC+ AMG Night Edition Premium Plus. It’s certainly well-equipped, although you’d hope so given the price tag which makes it almost £30,000 more expensive than the BMW X3 M Competition. As standard, the GLC 63 S gets 21-inch AMG wheels, a beefy AMG bodykit, a quad-tip exhaust system and a rear spoiler.
There’s also a panoramic sliding roof, wireless smartphone charging, a 360-degree camera, Mercedes’ ‘transparent bonnet’ tech, active parking assist and AMG Performance seats. Like the standard GLC there’s the latest MBUX infotainment system using an 11.9-inch portrait touchscreen display and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster behind the wheel.
The GLC 63 S also comes in ‘AMG Edition 1’ guise at £130,820. For the extra outlay this version includes a graphite grey paint finish, yellow brake calipers, cross-spoke forged wheels, black and yellow contrasting stitching throughout the cabin along with yellow seat belts and bespoke floor mats. It also comes with an AMG indoor car cover.
Mercedes’ controversial decision to fit its smaller AMG models with a four-cylinder engine instead of a V8 extends to the GLC 63 S, although the unit is supremely powerful. Both of the trim levels of the GLC 63 S come with the same M139I four-cylinder engine.
The old car’s 4.0-litre V8 produced a respectable 503bhp, but the new model dwarfs this with 671bhp and 1,050Nm of torque. The powertrain consists of a 2.0-litre four-pot with an electronically-assisted turbocharger and a 6.1kWh battery sending power to a 200bhp e-motor with a twin-speed transmission and limited-slip differential. To maintain the lifespan of the electrical side of the powertrain, full power is limited to 10-second ‘boosts’. The hybrid power adds the ‘e Performance’ part to the lengthy GLC 63 S name.
Whatever 63 S model you choose, the 0-62mph time stands at 3.5 seconds with a limited top speed of 155mph.
The 63 S comes with an active anti-roll feature to modulate the anti-roll bars to maintain stability. The system uses a steel coil spring set up with adaptive dampers. The suspension of the 63 S is unique too with a wider track and a focus on delivering a performance-led drive. Big 390mm front brake discs are stopped by six-piston calipers with 370mm discs to the rear.
Technically a plug-in hybrid, the GLC 63 S does feature a mode to run in electric-only power. Given the focus on power rather than EV efficiency of the battery, the small seven-mile range isn’t surprising. Mercedes claims an economy of 37.7mpg and CO2 emissions of 170g/km.
The GLC 63 S name will again extend to the coupe-SUV variant which we expect will arrive in early 2024. Pricing for the sleeker coupe model is likely to eclipse the SUV’s.
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