Mercedes readying GLC 63 AMG Coupe

Mercedes-Benz hotshop AMG will kick off its 50th anniversary year with a powerhouse V8 version of the new GLC Coupe, which launches in Europe in June and in Australia in October.

The high-performance Affalterbach arm of Mercedes-Benz will deliver 10 new models this year to push its portfolio out to 48 cars and SUVs.

While other AMGs have gone for wider wheels and bigger track widths, sources at AMG insist the GLC 63 AMG Coupe already has enough rubber beneath it to cope with 4.0-litre twin-turbo power.

“Well, we almost have to, don’t we?” a senior AMG manager insisted.

“Yes, we are well advanced with it. There’s no chance it will be this year, though. It’s not one of the 10 new models this year,” he confirmed.

The GLC 63 AMG Coupe will use the smaller 4.0-litre biturbo V8, which is essentially two four-cylinder A 45 AMG 2.0-litre engines joined in a 90-degree vee, instead of the bigger 5.5-litre biturbo V8 AMG uses on its larger machinery.

Its engine will be detuned from the rampant, dry-sumped version of the 4.0-litre V8 in the Mercedes-AMG GT and GT S coupes, and is believed it will have a similar tune to the wet-sumped C 63 and C63 S.

That should leave it with a power range of 350kW to 375kW, and you should expect the hand-stitched trim AMG usually delivers, along with AMG Ride Control suspension, complete with electronically controlled dampers and a rear-biased weight distribution.