New AMG C 63 already a sell-out

The replacement for Mercedes-AMG's most popular model, the C 63 AMG, has arrived Down Under but will be in short supply until next year.

That's because Benz already has more orders than the 300 or so it will land here this year, with supplies not expected to free up until well into next year, when it expects to deliver 700 or more examples of the new Mercedes-AMG C 63.

That's well up on the 400-500 it has traditionally sold, but around the same number of customers the smaller all-wheel drive CLA 45 sedan has already attracted in the first half of this year alone.

Therefore the CLA 45 is likely to remain the top-selling AMG here for the foreseeable future, followed by the C63 and then the A 45 hot hatch, which has found about 500 Australian homes so far in 2015 following extensive delivery delays last year.

Upgraded versions of the A, CLA and GLA compact AMGs are due to arrive from early next year, but the new C 63 – including sedan, Estate and Edition 1 versions, followed next year by the new C 63 Coupe – will continue to be a significant contributor to AMG's stellar sales growth Down Under.

So far this year AMG has notched up more than 2000 local registrations, putting it within a handful of its chief competitor Porsche, sales of which are 61 per cent up YTD at 2070, and maintaining Australia's position as the world's top-selling AMG market per capita.

"Historically we've sold 400 to 500 [C 63s] a year, but we'll do more than that in a full year with the new model, which will be supply constrained initially," said Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific's general manager of sales, Brad Kelly.

"We don't anticipate the same supply restrictions we had with A 45 because C 63 is an established model," he said, adding that Merc's Australian subsidiary could still choose to add the regular C 63 to its line-up, in addition to the C 63 S models exclusively available now.

Launched alongside the new GT supercar as part of the biggest and most expensive AMG customer event ever staged in Australia this week at Bathurst, the new C 63 replaces a model that attracted more than 40,000 customers globally.

Available in both sedan and wagon forms – priced at a respective $154,510 plus on-road costs $2500 higher at $157,010 – the C 63 S is also offered in special Edition 1 guise, for a further $7900 in either body style.

That sees the C 63 S sedan undercut its closest rival, the 317kW twin-turbo six-powered BMW M3, by about $1500 as well as the farewell 507 Edition of the outgoing W204 C 63, which it outpowers by just 2kW but outmuscles by a big 90Nm of torque, accelerating it faster while using less fuel.

All C 63s come with the same bahnstorming new mechanical package to replace the outgoing model's 6.2-litre naturally aspirated V8 – a downsized twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 that develops 375kW of power over  5500-6250rpm and 700Nm of torque over a wide 1750-4500rpm, matched to a seven-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT automatic transmission. The standard C 63 'makes do' with 350kW and 650Nm.

That means the C 63 S has 50Nm more peak torque than the similar (but dry sump) biturbo V8 seen in the GT S, in which it's matched with a seven-speed dual-clutch auto. The result is the same claimed 0-100km/h acceleration figure as the standard (non-S) GT – four seconds, or 4.1 for the Estate.

That's nevertheless two-tenths slower than the GT S (3.8 sec), which is significantly lighter than the C 63 (1655kg sedan; 1725kg wagon) and can hit 310km/h while the C 63 is limited to 250km/h.

However, the C 63 is more efficient than its two-door sports car sibling, with claimed average fuel consumption of 8.6L/100km and CO2 emissions of 200g/km (8.7 and 202 for the Estate), which 30 per cent less than the old C 63.

As the flagship of the latest W205 C-Class line-up, the 63 rides on Daimler's new rear-wheel drive MRA platform, but much of the front and rear suspension is developed by AMG, the track is widened and suspension is firmer, lower and features AMG Ride Control adjustable damping.

Accompanying the engine and chassis upgrade, which also includes adjustable steering and transmission modes as part of AMG Dynamic Select, is revised sheetmetal to accommodate the broader footprint and V8, including pumped out guards, a domed bonnet and a front-end that's extended more than 50mm.

The 'S' also gets active engine mounts to aid both ride and dynamics as well as an electronically controlled limited-slip diff that AMG claims controls the rear-end better than C 63's mechanical LSD, plus a performance exhaust and 19-inch AMG wheels with 245/35 front and 265/35 rear tyres.

Also included is single-piece performance seats, a flat-bottom steering wheel, aluminium shift paddles, AMG-specific instrument cluster with TFT multi-function display including lap timer and turbo boost gauge, and the latest COMAND multimedia system with 213mm colour display, touchpad, 10GB of storage, voice control and online access.

Black, black/white or black/red two-tone Nappa leather is standard, as is metallic paint and a Vision Package comprising a panoramic sunroof, LED headlights with adaptive high-beam and head-up display. In terms of safety the C 63 S gets the same Driver Assistance Package PLUS as C-Class models from the C 250 up, including Distronic PLUS automatic cruise control, active blind-spot assist and active lane keeping assist.

To this the S adds items like a 360-degree camera, digital TV tuner, Burmester 590-Watt 13-speaker surround sound, heated memory front seats, Black Ash Wood and Brushed Aluminium interior trim and the option of front ceramic composite  brakes ($9900).

Apart from paint colours and wheels, the only other option is an Exterior Carbon Package ($8900) comprising carbon-fibre rear lip spoiler (sedan only) wing mirror housings, door sill panels and front/rear apron inserts.

The $7900 Edition 1 option pack, meantime, adds a high-gloss black rear wing (sedan only), red grille and mirror highlights, matt graphite grey side sports stripes, forged 19-inch cross-spoke alloys in matt black with red rims and a Night Package comprising silver chrome grille louvers, high-gloss black bumper highlights, wing mirrors caps, waistline trim strip, window surrounds and rear apron trim, twin black-chromed exhaust outlets and dark-tinted rear/side windows.

Inside, the Edition 1 offers red designo seat belts, powered/heated/memory front seats, black AMG floor mats with red piping, Performance seats and door centre panels in diamond-pattern black nappa leather with red contrasting top-stitching, red pepper carbon-fibre/light longitudinal-grain aluminium trim and a Performance flat-bottom steering wheel with DINAMICA microfibre trim, red 12 o'clock marking, red contrasting top-stitching, steering wheel bezel in silver chrome with 'Edition 1' lettering and silver-coloured aluminium shift paddles.

2015 C 63 S pricing (plus ORCs):
C 63 S sedan -- $154,510
C 63 S Estate -- $157,010
C 63 S Edition 1 sedan -- $162,410
C 63 S Edition 1 Estate -- $164,910

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