Mercedes-Benz C63 S coupe 2016 review

Australians are the biggest buyers of Mercedes-AMG cars on the planet when taken as a percentage of all Mercedes-Benz sales. Machines from the high-performance division sell to people who mean business and who want to get the best from their cars, and even more importantly, from themselves as drivers.

The latest model in the range is the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S coupe with a 4.0-litre V8 bi-turbo engine producing 375 kW of power and a prodigious 700 Nm of torque. That sort of grunt permits acceleration from zero to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds.

Which explains why Mercedes Australia chose to do the drive program for the C 63 coupe at Sydney Motorsport Park (nee Eastern Creek Raceway). There we got to drive the hot AMG coupes in controlled conditions.

Even better was a ride in the passenger seat of the GT3 race car piloted by Dom Storey to bring our driving egos thudding back to earth...

The AMG C 63 S has Ride-Control sports suspension, active dynamic engine mounts, electronic rear axle locking differential, high-performance composite brakes (an option fitted to one of the two cars we drove) and a performance exhaust system.

For the times you're not blasting around at a track day, the C 63 S has Nappa leather upholstery, heated front seats, digital TV, Air-Balance package and panoramic glass sliding sunroof as standard.

The sound and fury from inside the coupe is magnificent when you really get stuck into it.

The hot coupe has a wider track than the standard model, by 64 millimetres at the front and 66 at the rear. Larger wheel arches are filled by wider tyres (255 front, 285 millimetres rear), contributing to improved lateral acceleration, traction and agility. 

A major redesign of the front of the AMG sees a 60 mm longer aluminium bonnet with two power domes. The front section has large air inlets and precisely designed aero flics. A splitter at the bottom of the front helps to reduce front-axle lift. 

The sound and fury from inside the coupe is magnificent when you really get stuck into it. The engine shrieks under full-throttle acceleration, pops and spits on ultra-fast downchange in the seven-speed dual-clutch G-Tronic Plus gearbox, and burbles in a most satisfying way even when driving at low speeds.

Composite brakes hauled off speed with ease and felt as though they would last forever. The standard brakes felt as though they were starting to go off after a few very hot laps. Mercedes asked us to back off earlier under those circumstances - take note if you're thinking of buying one for track days. On-road driving will never test the brakes to anything like the same extent.

A race track really is the only place to properly appreciate any Mercedes-AMG model. Their acceleration, braking and cornering speeds, not to forget the superb sounds, are dulled in day-to-day driving. Track days let you enjoy the company of like-minded other enthusiasts, a huge bonus.

On the subject of cornering speed, the C 63 S has so much grip that if you seriously misjudge a corner and the electronic driving aids can't save the situation you're going to be travelling extremely fast when you hit that big tree.