I have one question for you... why? Why would you want a 4 cylinder C63? Why would you want awd? I honestly hope this model flops so bad so AMG has to reassess their poor choice in ruining what is a legendary legacy as the philosophy will continue to other models pending success of this one. They threw the whole kitchen sink at this with the hopes that enough gimmicks may actually attract some buyers. Please post why you actually want this car so I can convince you it will be trash. They should call it a C22S. C 20 for the 2.0L 4 cylinder. +2 for the electric motors and S for sucker. This car maybe fast in a straight line and may "feel" like it handles well. Anyone who actually knows how to drive or tracks a car knows it will handle like a giant overweight pig. The only benefit I see is fuel mileage and if you care about fuel consumption at $80k+ price point you're already a lost soul. This car is so lame, go buy a tesla model 3 or something if you're into this sort of thing.

 

Wow I’ve never seen anyone so upset about a model of a car than now lol you aren’t forced to buy it, why are you wasting your energy being upset about something you can’t change?

I’ve owned 2 Mercedes AMGs. One was a 2018 C63s coupe that I drove from 11 delivery miles to 72,000 miles in 2 years. It was my daily driver. Absolutely loved that car and what it was about. The sound, the emotion, the driving dynamics and the interior. All of it was perfect but it was time to let go we higher miles in a hot turbo car meant that maintenance costs were becoming very expensive for a daily. I had to change tires so often it was disgusting but I loved the car.

After the c63s, I decided I wanted to stick with AMG but get something more of a daily so I bought a 2020 CLA 45 AMG. I had that also from low miles to now about 36k miles. I absolutely love this car and how it performs. It’s less front heavy, it has AWD, it’s got all the emotion and dynamics I had in the C63s (less the sound) but in a better daily package. Also the interior was upgraded to be more with the times as well as the exterior. The front end of the cla45 looks more aggressive than the w205 C63, not entirely but in most ways.

So that leaves me to today where I want to get a new Mercedes and want to stick with AMG again. I absolutely love the W206 C-Class interior and exterior, it’s super luxurious which is what was lacking in the CLA45. So the answer is the W206 C63se.

Yes it loses the V8 and RWD and the sound but honestly in a daily city car where it snows in winter, I don’t mind losing any of those things. Yes the sound is a very big disappointment but driving in the city with a loud car is super annoying to everyone around you, nobody ever thinks it’s cool.

So having the performance of the CLA45 4 Cylinder + even more power, the AWD for quick launches and for snowy weather, the luxury and dailyness of the W206 C-class, the great tech features like the massive HUD, full drivers assistance and more..this really shapes up to be the best performance daily that money can buy.

I totally agree with you though, they should have retired the name and used a different one for this model maybe like the C6E or something.

I’m very excited for the new C63se, even as a former w205 c63s daily driver, it ticks all my boxes.

Also driving reviews come out next month, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprise by actual track drivers and reviewers how well the new car is. You haven’t driven it, you haven’t even looked at in person. You are acting purely on emotion and just photos and data. Reserve your harsh judgment until driving reviews come out lol then maybe you can rant..

 

I'll agree Cla45's are fun on a small tight track, but they understeer horribly. The harsh ride is unbearable for a daily though. Atleast with rwd you can induce the oversteer, which Im sure they'll do some artificial torque vectoring with the electric motors to induce. It's very Interesting you went from a 205 63 to a 45 car. I agree on loud exhaust, I stick to catted and heavily mufflered cars. They killed all alignment adjustments in the 205 so you're stuck with -2* camber in the front end from the factory and lucky to get 8k miles per set on the front. This was a trash decision, as for rears if you're getting more than 8k per set you have no business in a 500hp car. You're right I haven't driven it but I know what weight does to cars. As do you since you dropped a few hundred getting in the cla. 4400lbs is a E-class weight. Im sure the electric torque fill will help negate massive turbo lag, which you wouldn't have in an E63. You mention dumping the 205 for maintenance costs, but Imagine what this car will be maintenance wise outside of warranty.. I know it won't affect you because you'll trade out of it but long term this car will be terrible as most electrics and hybrids are doomed for long term ownership.

AMG is supposed to be a performance brand, not a follow the sheep trend with the current "go green" but not actually be green movement. Yea I'm overly emotional and pissed to see my favorite brand make poor choices. Do yourself a favor and just snag a 213 E63 I think it will deliver everything you could want and more. I remember back in the day when amg and all the magazines talked about the cla45 claimed there is no turbo lag. I was quite shocked at their lies upon first drive. Just drive a cla250 vs a 45 and you'll recognize the difference. I'll give you the cla45 launch is undeniable but this is just another gimmick that will almost never get used. I doubt anyone makes a purchasing decision based on launch control. A lot of car magazine writers are clueless and it's clear reviews are bought and paid for frequently.

Anyways good talk. I just wanted to hear a nice rebuttal and you delivered.

 

The CLA45 is considerably more front heavy than a W205. It's not even close. The entire engine hangs off the front of the car b/c it's FWD based.

Sigh....

 

We had seen the same reaction when the 6 cyl Caymans became 4 cyl 718's. It only took a short while for the majority to accept the new change, then this initial noise drastically faded away. Now, there is more praises than ever. Of course, there is always those that appreciate the old and classic tech - not to take this away from anybody. The majority would move on. It's the change of an era on many fronts nowadays.

Just like how loud exhaust notes used to be sought-after and popular only a few years ago is now being perceived as dinosaur-tech to many people's minds. More quiet but quick motors is becoming a symbol of high tech and class. Harsh reality.

I still appreciate how my V6 exhaust, but at the same time slowly appreciating the the newer but quieter vehicles.

 

I believe the Porsche analogy doesn't reflect the change from the w205 to w206. The 718 GTS 4.0 still comes with a flat 6 for a reason.

The only reason the W206 C63 exists is to comply with government regulations - it would still be a V8 if they weren't forced to buy emission credits or comply with Euro 7. (Which is sadly what the Cayman's are expected to go through in the next 3 years).

Instead we get a car that is grossly over weight, 4 cylinder's short, and with an interior targeted towards Gen Z.

 

Wait, unless I am missing something but didn't Porsche brought back six cylinders to the Cayman because of the outcry? Please correct me if I got it wrong, thanks.

 

Your absolutely right.

They also went 4 cylinder with the Cayman/Boxster to branch into a different market, but ended up giving traditional buyers what they want.

 

I see, I guess part of the Porsche ownership experience is the flat six sound which is a characteristic of Porsche that a four banger can never suffice?

 

I'd say that's a pretty accurate take. It's not even that the 4 cyl in a Cayman S is a bad car (I drive them quite often) - it just doesn't come anywhere close to the experience you get from a GTS 4.0.

 

Other than the main criticize being the sound I think when going from a six to four, I guess the efficiency "surprisingly" didn't improve, was the weight improvement worth it though (if there were any, supposedly)?

 

I guess bringing us back to MB and AMG, we can say the same for the C 63s, the V8 completes the AMG ownership experience, it is such an AMG characteristic that not a lot (or nothing) can really replace it... just imo.

 

There was no weight savings for the 4 cylinder Cayman. It actually gained weight. Also the Cayman/Boxster are going full EV within 3 years. So basically, the car will be dead to me in a short order.

 

Okay unless I am understanding this incorrectly, it made no sense as it is heavier, not more fuel efficient, sound way worse, less smooth than the straight six, I also heard that the four cylinder is less reliable too so I guess they went four cylinder for the sake of four cylinder? Cost-cutting? I wonder if Porsche is a low volume enough manufacturer to not have to deal with tax credits?

 

It wasn't more fuel efficient than the car it replaced....HOWEVER, it had higher performance levels than the models (base and S) it replaced. Seems to me that, logically speaking, had they been able to raise the base level flat 6s to the same performance level their mpgs would have suffered. Honestly I really don't know. The Cayman was getting "too close" to the 911 for Porsche's comfort and this helped separate it further. But a lot of people weren't very keen on spending $70k for a 4 cylinder that sounds like a Subaru. Porsche "blamed" it on fuel efficiency, but the Cayman/Boxster is their lowest volume model so you can toss that argument in the BS Bin.

Anyway, I don't want to steer this thread further off topic. Cheers!

 

I see, thanks for your explanation.

 

Not to try to derail the thread even more, but the downsizing of engines is largely a farce. The dirty secret of these small displacement boosted engines is that they only have great fuel economy if you stay out of boost, which is what the EPA and WLTP drive cycles favor, so the manufacturers get to claim high mpg numbers on the window sticker and for their fleet average, but the moment boost kicks in, the fuel economy goes into the crapper. The irony is that the 718 4-cylinder turned out to have worse real world fuel economy than the flat 6 it replaced, because who buys a 718 to tool around at 1500 rpm? Yes, these engines have great highway economy as that's where you drive at low rpms for a long time, but then again, the 718 is also not exactly a long distance car.

The other thing is Euro 7 that might have made Porsche and others go into these directions. However, the latest news now is that Euro 7 is gonna get scrapped, because it's too expensive for car manufacturers and they have convinced the EU that the money is better used to further electric cars. To bring it back to the W206, I'm now wondering how much Euro 7 hanging over AMGs head made them go into this direction, and now that it's not going to happen we are left with a compromised car that nobody wanted in the first place.

I'm honestly over these political policies that nobody really thinks through leading to overcomplicated products that nobody really wants. I'm wondering how many are gonna be willing to pay for the upkeep of such a complicated powertrain that will inevitably have expensive repairs after the warranty. Not to mention the increased CO2 emissions of the battery productions and all the environmental impacts that go with lithium mining. Just wondering how long until the politicians realize that electric cars are not reducing CO2 emissions as much as they thought, with them needing to be driven quite a lot of miles before break-even, which doesn't jive with people leasing a new car every three years and never drive them to the break-even point. It's gonna take second, third and maybe even fourth owners before the balance sheet turns green, and then the question is how many cars make it that far, considering how many get totaled and how many are simply not driven enough. Human behavior often causes these policies to fall flat on their faces.

 

We appreciate you sharing your knowledge on this matter.

 

I wouldn’t want a 4cyl c63

 

In the grand scheme of things, regardless of one's environmental views (be it WRT climate change, sustainability, etc), forcing everyone into EVs with half-baked tech isn't improving the situation at all. Nobody can look at 6000-9000 lb EVs and say with a straight face these are good for the planet. Anyone paying attention can soon realize this is a negative sum game.

But on the whole I have no interest in paying 6 figures for something with 4 cylinders. Bad math!

 

I tried my damn hardest to keep an open mind about this car until I saw the weight.. 4600lbs?! No thank you. I don’t know what to replace my W205 with. I want a rwd performance car that’s fun to drive and has a great exhaust note. M3/M4? Nope, the exhaust reminds me a gas weed eater, Audi is Quattro only and don’t like the CT4 blackwing’s interior. Maybe the Alfa Romeo? Even if I give up the convenience of 4 doors, not many great options. Maybe I’ll try a 911.

 

The W206 C63 is a scam of a car: it pretends to be something it isn’t. It is also a throwaway car: it isn’t repairable. Once out of warranty, this car will be worth $0.

One of the worst car Mercedes ever made for sure.

 

Being a BMW, there should be lots of ways to mod the exhaust more so than an AMG, if that is the only deal breaker then it might not be otherwise the Porsche might not be a bad idea still.

 

You can get the F-type now with the supercharged V8 in RWD. It is detuned down to around 450 hp, but it only weighs about 3700 lbs and will probably sound better than any of the cars you listed.

 

Maybe you could try a IS 500 Lexus those have a 5 liter V8 with RWD and 4 doors.

I highly doubt the W206 C63 will be reliable in the long run these high stressed 2 liters don't seem to be reliable past their warranty period. My 2015 GLA 45 has a bunch of issues and so does my friends 2016 CLA 45. Both are at around 40k kms.