AMG replaced the V8 with a four-cylinder hybrid and somehow made the C63 faster — if not louder.
Purists cried foul when Mercedes-AMG announced a four-cylinder C63. After driving the E Performance version, the complaint is less about power and more about soundtrack.
The combined output of 680bhp is absurd for a car this size, and the electric fill-in torque makes it feel even stronger than the numbers suggest.
Zero to 100km/h arrives in 3.4 seconds, which is supercar territory. The electric motor masks turbo lag entirely, and the nine-speed gearbox shifts with a violence that belies the eco credentials.
Surprisingly, the C63 works as a daily driver — with conditions.
AMG has piped an artificial exhaust note through the speakers. It is convincing at full throttle but cannot replicate the old V8 rumble at idle.
The C63 S E Performance is a technical triumph that will divide enthusiasts.
Buy it for the pace and the technology, not for nostalgia.
Mercedes has built an EV that prioritises serenity over sport — and in Singapore traffic, that is exactly the right call.
The EQS was designed from the ground up as an electric flagship, not a converted petrol platform. That shows in the cabin silence, the seamless power delivery and the Hyperscreen that dominates the dashboard.
We spent a week chauffeuring ourselves around the island to test whether the luxury holds up in real conditions.
At urban speeds the EQS is virtually silent. Tyre noise only becomes noticeable above 80km/h, and even then it is quieter than most petrol limousines. The air suspension glides over poor surfaces without the wallow that afflicts some rivals.
Four features that stood out during our test.
We saw around 520km on a full charge in mixed driving — enough for a week of commuting without plugging in. DC fast charging from 10 to 80 percent took just under 35 minutes.
The EQS 450 is not an driver's car in the traditional sense, but as a mobile lounge it is unmatched.
If your priority is arriving refreshed rather than arriving first, this is the EV to beat.
The EQS53 makes 751bhp with the Race Start pack fitted, and it will still do 500km between charges.
There is no polite way to describe a 2.6-tonne electric saloon with 751bhp as sensible, and the EQS53 AMG does not ask you to. This is a car built on the premise that if the battery is going to be that large anyway, the motors may as well make use of it.
What surprises is how little of that effort is spent on noise. Mercedes offers a synthesised soundtrack and it is better than most, but the default setting is near silence, and the car is more impressive for it. Acceleration arrives as a shove rather than a crescendo.
Rear-axle steering turns a car with a three-metre-plus wheelbase into something that can use a multi-storey car park without a three-point turn. Air suspension keeps the body flat without ever getting harsh, and the brake blending, historically the weak point of fast electric cars, is now hard to fault.
The EQS53 is expensive even before COE, and the case for it rests on hardware that the standard EQS does not get.
The Hyperscreen dominates the dashboard and remains a mixed blessing: superb to look at, reflective in direct sun, and slower to operate than a physical climate control would be. Rear-seat space is enormous, and the low roofline costs less headroom than the silhouette suggests.
The EQS53 is excessive in the way AMG has always been excessive, and it wears it well. It is quieter, faster and more comfortable than any petrol AMG saloon has ever been, and it asks almost nothing of the driver in return.
Whether it is worth the premium over a standard EQS 450+ is a different question, and for most buyers the honest answer is no. That has never stopped anyone buying an AMG before.
