It was a bit of a surprise to hear that the C 63 S had been facelifted, literally, given it seems like only a wee while ago we were driving the new model. Guess time flies faster as the world gets busier. Anyhow, the latest C 63 S inherits the styling chops of the AMG GT with the Panamericana grille, but more importantly actually does address the main issue we had with the car when we drove it last, its harshness over lumpy or loud surfaces.
That really isn’t the case any more – it rides the bumps rather well in C for comfort and S for Sport modes, without losing its corner tearing ability. A shame then that the tyre roar hasn’t been exorcised. It remains shouty over your typical chip seal and, being an estate, there’s a bit of cabin thrum thrown in as well. Fortunately, the orchestral explosions from the sports exhaust drown out some of that din, but it’s not really enough for a machine that’s purpose built to fly low, and go hard over vast distances.
A pity that because the improved ride makes it so much more the fast family fun vehicle that it should have been from the outset. There are a few other improvements that AMG and Mercedes have made that are worthy of mention. The first is a new rotary twirler for drive mode selection, and also miniature pushbuttons (for things like active dampers, exhaust mode, traction control), all of which have been added to the lower aspect of the steering wheel boss. Oddly, you can still manipulate the same things by centre console buttons if you want. But the wheel buttons are less distracting. The mode changer is a nice touch, and is fast becoming a must-have wheel fashion accessory. Besides, you don’t want to be late to the party, right?