Latest news with #S63
Business Mayor
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Mayor
Luxury cars, including Bentley, BMW, Mercedes-Benz models, picking up plug-in hybrid tech to attain impressive fuel economy
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Bentley's newest sleek coupe for 2025 is the Continental GTC Speed. It's an aspirational ultra-luxury ride with the usual attributes you'd expect and something you might not expect. This big British car is a plug-in hybrid, or PHEV. Recharge the hybrid battery and you're traveling on electrons, not gasoline. Well, at least for about 30 miles or so. This fuel-frugal ride still carries a staggering base sticker price of over $300,000, however. Yes, hybrid and plug-in-hybrid power is coming to six-figure cars all over. Like BMW's new M5, an epitome of mid-size BMW performance going back to the 1980s. It too now has PHEV technology, standard. When you're not using all 717 horsepower for very audible performance, you can do local trips silently in EV mode for up to 27 miles. The downsides to this new performance sedan are a curb weight well in excess of 5,000 pounds due to the dual power systems, and a starting MSRP of around $120,000. Longtime German rival Mercedes-Benz has gone PHEV for its mid-size AMG model this year, the E53. Turbocharged six-cylinder power for gasoline efficiency, and a hybrid system with promised plug-in range of 42 miles. Here too, not an inexpensive PHEV. The test model I drove came in at over $128,000 with several option packages added on. Even Benz's big boy hot rod has gone plug-in hybrid recently. The S63 delivers its famous AMG V8 rumble when you mash the throttle, but can also serve as a whispering EV on battery power, though only for about 16 miles. Okay, basically a round trip to dinner or some other place close. This big pricey German ride can top $200,000 with options. Keep in mind, these ultra high-end European cars are not just sold in the U.S., nor even in their home market. They're sold around the world. And around the world, there's a bigger and bigger call for cars to become electrified. And you can see the benefit if you start doing some browsing, either online or in person. On the window sticker of any new car sold there's that little EPA box showing the fuel economy. A car that moves under electric power to any degree gets a rating called 'MPGe' for miles per gallon equivalent. That includes all PHEVs, and the numbers can be impressive. That big expensive Bentley scores 52 MPGe. BMW's M5 racks up an MPGe of 50. The Mercedes E53 gets close to 60 with an official MPGe of 59, and even the big S63 is rated at 49 MPGe, even with its under 20 miles of plug-in range. These high-end hybrids represent the future when it comes to staying in line with regard to efficiency. They may look stylish and exciting when you see one. But keep in mind, they might be gliding along in EV mode, not unlike a fully electric car. MORE: New plug-in hybrid models let drivers ease into the EV experience When it comes to buying an electric vehicle, do you find yourself in the 'maybe' camp? Then plug-in hybrid vehicles may be for you. Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tested: 2025 Mercedes-AMG S63 E Performance Is Always Fully Loaded
From the May/June issue of Car and Driver. Spend some time in one of America's high-rent districts, and you'll see plenty of Mercedes vehicles sporting AMG badges. Some are genuine AMG models; others may wear an AMG trim package. Their presence is symptomatic of well-heeled shoppers reflexively buying "loaded" vehicles even when the expensive performance features offer no benefit to their driving lives. Luxury automakers happily encourage this thinking. As cynical as this may sound, there is no doubt that the full-on AMG models, such as the Mercedes-AMG S63 E Performance, deliver genuine speed and thrills. In this full-size sedan's case, that starts with 791 total horsepower thanks to a 603-hp twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 paired with a nine-speed automatic, plus a 188-hp electric motor coupled to the rear axle through its own two-speed gearbox. Total system torque is a massive 1055 pound-feet sent to all four wheels. This is enough thrust to hurl the 5877-pound, 210.1-inch-long sedan to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 10.8 seconds at 129 mph. Floor the accelerator at 50 mph, and the speedometer blows through the century mark in seemingly no time, while you're shoved hard into your seat. In Sport+ mode, the ordinarily crisp shifts are even firmer, and the energized exhaust channels a slightly muffled NASCAR stocker. The only way to get a big sedan capable of greater thrust is with a high-end Lucid Air, Porsche Taycan, or Tesla Model S. While those EVs as well as the S63 must be in their highest performance modes to deliver maximum acceleration, the EVs are notably more responsive in their lesser modes. That's because when the S63 is in Comfort mode, its V-8 turns off at a stop. When it begins moving again, it does so on electric power alone. That works fine in gentle driving, but if you demand more acceleration, the gas engine has to fire up and build boost before the car surges vigorously. The S63 perks up considerably in Sport and Sport+. And there's plenty of electric assist from the 10.4-kWh battery, which is large enough to motivate the S63 by electrons alone, albeit only for an EPA-estimated 16 miles. Once that battery is depleted, the car operates as a typical hybrid, occasionally shutting off the engine to maximize efficiency, even on the highway. If the throttle response is a bit wanting, the S63's chassis fully lives up to its AMG billing. The steering is nicely weighted and provides sharp directional responses. Thanks to virtually imperceptible help from the rear axle, the car feels smaller than it is. The S63's Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires cling to the skidpad at 0.96 g, and the sedan dives into corners eagerly on back roads yet also provides great on-center stability on the highway. Brake feel is also decent, though pedal effort could be higher. Equipped with the optional carbon-ceramic brakes ($8950) on the front axle, the S63 stops from 70 mph in an impressive 161 feet and from 100 mph in 330. This chassis responsiveness does not come at the expense of comfort, as the S63's well- controlled ride is never harsh. Even when the suspension tightens in Sport and Sport+, the car rides reasonably well. It is an S-class, after all, although you feel and hear tar strips and pavement slabs more than in its less aggressive brethren. Befitting an S-class, the cabin is large and sumptuous. The front seats are supremely comfortable—once we disabled the active inflatable side bolsters that irritatingly pressed into our ribs at every hint of a corner. The cavernous rear compartment is elaborately tailored and in our S63 had options totaling $11,000. These included highly adjustable individual rear seats with separate video screens, climate controls, and foldout trays. The right one even has a power-folding leg rest. A private jet could do worse than these seats. Such a fancy rear cabin seems a bit odd for an AMG model that is presumably driver-focused. And it's also slightly mismatched with only 11 cubic feet of cargo space. But this yin and yang of explosive performance and maximum luxury does support the "loaded" mindset. This S63 E Performance's $187,350 starting price inflated to $229,400 with options. Pretty loaded, we'd say. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Hellcat Hunter: Mercedes-AMG S63 E-Performance Hits the Drag Strip
"Man, you're out here eating up Hellcats!" So says the guy in the Dodge Charger Scat Pack who had the misfortune of lining up twice against the 2024 Mercedes-AMG S63 E-Performance plug-in hybrid at Rockingham Dragway. The big Benz doesn't look like it would be all that quick, especially wearing a gold paint job that prompted me to dub the car "Champagne Supernova" on the sign-in tech sheet. (Mercedes calls the hue Kalahari gold metallic, a $1750 option.) It's the kind of color you expect to see in the valet line at Joe's Stone Crab, not in the staging lanes at the Rockingham March Madness takeover, where the predominant exterior aesthetic seemed to be "vandalized by a graffiti artist, but in a cool way." The S63 is a sleeper, is what I'm saying. The S-class doesn't look like it has 791 horsepower and 1055 pound-feet of torque, but there's a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 at the front making 603 horsepower, and there's an electric motor out back contributing another 188 hp. It's like a mullet on both sides of your head: party in the front, party in the back. The electric motor is hooked to its own two-speed transmission and can generate its peak 188 horsepower for 10-second stints, after which it drops to 94. And 10 seconds, by my seat-of-the-pants reckoning, ought to be just about long enough to see the S63 down the quarter-mile. It feels like a 10-second car off the line. Is it? Let's find out. I've only run one official 10-second quarter-mile, in a Hennessey Hammer Wagon at Darlington. I almost certainly ran one there in the McLaren 765LT too, but the timing equipment malfunctioned on my first run and then traction went away after that. I got close with a Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye at Fayetteville, but the best I could wring was an 11.1. Even with the gonzo horsepower of modern muscle- and supercars (and EVs), 10 seconds remains rare air. But the S63 feels like it's got the juice. With a wet clutch, all-wheel drive, and launch control, the S63 departs like it's going to pull the front tires off the ground. (It's close, really—Elana Scherr tells me the drag-race term for this is a "paper-slipper," because you could slide a piece of paper under the front end at launch.) On my first few runs, I can't seem to get launch control going, but the Benz still cracks off runs in the 11.3-second range at 126 mph. That is no joke, but not quite what I'm looking for. I pull to the side in the staging lanes and consult the AMG addendum to the S-class owner's manual, learning that my practiced starting-line calm is actually too chill—you need to hold the brake with your left foot and aggressively stab the accelerator with your right to tell the Benz you'd like some launch control, please. At that point, the V-8 chatters at just below 4000 rpm, and when you pop your foot off the brake, you're on your way to what is surely a sub-3.0-second sprint to 60 mph. The first time I make a launch-control pass, I'm on my way back past the bleachers when I hear a spectator exclaim, "That m---------r's fast!" After another run, a guy calls out, "Is that an AMG?" Yes. "What've you done to it?" Nothing. This is just how they build them now. And I sneak into the 11.1 range—11.19 seconds at 125 mph—but that's all it's got. Which, make no mistake, is crazy quick, especially for a car that can do that sort of thing while giving you a hot stone massage and wafting its own signature fragrance from the HVAC vents. The S63 E-Performance is an impressive answer to the question, "Where does the S-class fit in a G-class world?" It's stately and menacing all at once, like Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple. The S63 never lost, even dispatching a fearsome regular-cab F-150 powered by what sounded like a supercharged Coyote. A guy in a Jeep Trackhawk challenged me to a run but later decided he wanted to line up against the F-150, so we don't know how that would have turned out, but I suspect my perfect record would've been shattered. The Jeep owner was wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with a photo of the Trackhawk, and I asked him, "Am I about to learn not to run against someone who has a picture of their car on their sweatshirt?" He laughed in a way that suggested that this was correct. Although I never broke into the 10s, I think my sense that the S63 is a 10-second car is correct. It has a vulnerability, though. Around 80 mph it feels like there's a flat spot in the power, followed by a 100-shot of nitrous. This happened consistently, at the same place every run, making me wonder if the car thought there was a traction problem or some reason to moderate thrust and then suddenly restore it. Then I realized the likely culprit: I was feeling the shift from the two-speed transmission at the rear axle. So that pause and surge before the eighth-mile is the electric motor hitting its limit, then rejoining the party after the upshift. As Benz's tech material says, "An electric actuator engages second gear by approximately 87 mph, which corresponds to the electric motor's maximum speed of around 13,500 rpm." If I may make a suggestion, perhaps we could tinker with the gear ratios to either extend that shift to, say, 130 mph, or do it sooner, before the electric motor runs out of revs. Because I want to break into the 10s again, and I've got a feeling that ol' Champagne Supernova here can do it. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
2025 Mercedes-AMG S 63 Sedan Blends Muscle with Luxury
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." With the team at Mercedes-AMG putting the V12-powered S65 out to pasture, the highest-performance S-Class has become the 4.0-liter-powered S 63. This latest iteration in the long line of hopped-up S-Class machines blends that 4.0-liter with an electric motor at the rear axle. Powering this 188 hp electric motor is a 13.1-kWh battery pack that can be recharged. Mercedes-AMG says this plug-in hybrid package was derived from the one that powers the brand's Formula 1 racecar. The electric motor at the rear works with the 604 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque from the internal-combustion engine and gives the latest S 63 a staggering 791 hp and 1,055 lb-ft—not bad for a luxury cruiser. Mercedes-AMG says this combination can rocket the 5,831-pound car to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds. On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek's Mark Vaughn hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Mercedes-AMG S 63 and puts it through its paces. Vaughn gives you a guided tour of the S 63 and highlights some of his favorite features and some of its accouterment. Later in the show, Vaughn takes you along for a live drive review of this S-Class, then chats with host Wesley Wren about the S 63, its competitive set, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes this 2025 Mercedes-AMG S 63 special. Tune in below, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever podcasts are played.
