Second report: one drive has transformed our man’s view of the 604bhp Mercedes-AMG E 63 S mega estate
Verdict
We’re
loving our Mercedes-AMG E 63 S more than ever now that we’ve had a
chance to try it on some traffic-free back roads. It’s incredibly fast,
but also very capable even in the wet, thanks to its sophisticated
chassis and four-wheel-drive system.
Mileage: 10,073
Economy: 26.9mpg
It’s strange how a single drive can make all the difference and help you connect with a car. But that’s exactly what has happened with our Mercedes-AMG E 63 S Estate, and I’m pretty glad about it.
It may surprise you to learn that up to this point, I’d been struggling to really gel with our rapid wagon. The E 63 S is spellbindingly fast, for sure, but I want my family car to be a bit more than a dragstrip specialist. And the mixture of stiff suspension, the 20-inch alloy wheels and deep-bucketed sports seats isn’t particularly comfortable on rough British roads.
• Best fast family cars
There’s quite a bit of roar from the tyres, too – almost to the point where it can be hard to hear the twin-turbo V8 burble – and my colleagues’ giggling predictions about economy have proven slightly closer to the truth than I’d like.
Hardly
a love affair, right? And yet, at the back of my mind, I suspected, and
hoped, that there would be a point where things would click and I’d
suddenly realise what a great car this is.
I’m pleased to report that this moment came the other day, when I drove from my house to Goodwood for a press event. It was a foul morning in Berkshire, with low cloud and heavy rain, and my frustration at the conditions was compounded by the knowledge that the schedule for the day included a drive of a 730bhp open-topped Lamborghini. God bless the British weather.
However, somewhere on the roads south of Guildford, the early-morning traffic died down and the Merc woke up. The roads were still soaking wet, with plenty of standing water in places, but with the car’s Sport mode selected, I was able to lean on its abilities in a fashion that had been impossible on so many other trips I’ve taken it on.
All of a sudden, the inherent stiffness of the chassis set-up started to work for me instead of against me, combining with the E-Class’s
long wheelbase and the clever 4MATIC+ four-wheel drive to deliver a
great feeling of security over some pretty treacherous roads.
The engine’s astonishing mid-range shove was perfect for the route, too, and I was able to enjoy the excellent gearbox integration and the nine-speed’s rapid shifts in manual mode. It was fast, as usual, but also a lot more fun, especially with its naughty exhaust crackle on downshifts.
By the time I’d reached our prearranged meeting point near the famous West Sussex estate’s racecourse, Goodwood’s famous microclimate had well and truly kicked in (as you can see from our main image). And my view on the Merc had cleared up nicely as well.
Of course, this early-morning blast through the country did nothing for the car’s fuel economy, which is averaging out at 26.9mpg. But now I’ve seen what it can do, on the right road and with no traffic, I don’t mind that quite so much.
I’ve been sharing the love, too, because the Mercedes has been booked by a couple of colleagues wanting something ‘fast and flash’ for long weekends away with their families. From the driver’s seat, it’s often easy to forget that this is a monster estate that can seat five and accommodate all of their luggage with ease. So I’ve started looking for possible weekend breaks, just to have the excuse for a longer run.
I’m also looking forward to slightly warmer conditions, if only because they’ll bring the E 63 S’s tyres back into an operating temperature where they don’t scrabble across the asphalt on full lock. This pronounced judder is a known issue among many big Mercs, although I think the combination of four-wheel drive and our car’s 20-inch alloys compounds it.
We resisted the temptation to fit winter tyres, which could have improved matters, but seeing the thermometer rising into double digits should remove the judder altogether. I’m hoping that I’ll have forgotten all about it by May.
One of the world’s fastest family cars – the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S - joins our fleet
Mileage: 6,250
Economy: 23.4mpg
It seems odd to say it, but in this era of environmental concerns and financial instability, one of the biggest success stories in the car industry is AMG. The brand has been enjoying record sales, thanks to an expanding line-up that includes everything from hot hatches (A 45 AMG) to sports cars (AMG GT). It also has a hypercar on the way in the shape of the Project One.
AMG is known for its V8s, though; and even when faced with demands for greater fuel efficiency, the firm’s engine wizards have found ways of keeping the legendary layout relevant. And now we’re planning to see how this science works out in everyday life, because we’ve just taken delivery of an E 63 S Estate for the next six months.
Under the bonnet lies AMG’s latest twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, a motor closely linked to that in the AMG GT. In our ‘S’ version the engine serves up 604bhp and a walloping 850Nm of torque between 2,500rpm and 4,500rpm. Add a nine-speed automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive, and you have the recipe for a two-tonne estate to go from 0-62mph in just 3.4 seconds.
The top speed is ‘limited’ to 186mph because the E 63 S also gets the AMG Driver’s package as standard.
It is supercar fast. Such is the level of performance, in fact, that each E 63 S comes with a free driver training session at Mercedes’ impressive ‘experience’ and dealer facility at Brooklands in Surrey.
When we arrived for our photoshoot, staff were preparing for half a dozen new AMG owners to get a briefing and then some useful instruction.
It makes perfect sense to us, because our early experience of the car is that it is shatteringly rapid; and that, even with four-wheel drive, it will allow you quite a lot of play before it scoops you up and reins things back in.
This is especially evident in anything other than Comfort mode, because the more focused settings ramp up the gearshifts and firm up the car’s standard air suspension, giving it a more capable, but slightly less tolerant character.
Cold winter mornings have also exposed the fact that the car’s high-performance Michelin rubber isn’t at its best until it has warmed up; that’s another reason why learning how to cope with slip, in controlled conditions on the track, is a good idea.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S behaves in clogged-up traffic on my commute; but we’ll also try to get a bit of track time, or even do a cross-continent journey, amid the everyday humdrum. This car deserves nothing less
Economy: 26.9mpg
It’s strange how a single drive can make all the difference and help you connect with a car. But that’s exactly what has happened with our Mercedes-AMG E 63 S Estate, and I’m pretty glad about it.
It may surprise you to learn that up to this point, I’d been struggling to really gel with our rapid wagon. The E 63 S is spellbindingly fast, for sure, but I want my family car to be a bit more than a dragstrip specialist. And the mixture of stiff suspension, the 20-inch alloy wheels and deep-bucketed sports seats isn’t particularly comfortable on rough British roads.
• Best fast family cars
There’s quite a bit of roar from the tyres, too – almost to the point where it can be hard to hear the twin-turbo V8 burble – and my colleagues’ giggling predictions about economy have proven slightly closer to the truth than I’d like.
I’m pleased to report that this moment came the other day, when I drove from my house to Goodwood for a press event. It was a foul morning in Berkshire, with low cloud and heavy rain, and my frustration at the conditions was compounded by the knowledge that the schedule for the day included a drive of a 730bhp open-topped Lamborghini. God bless the British weather.
However, somewhere on the roads south of Guildford, the early-morning traffic died down and the Merc woke up. The roads were still soaking wet, with plenty of standing water in places, but with the car’s Sport mode selected, I was able to lean on its abilities in a fashion that had been impossible on so many other trips I’ve taken it on.
The engine’s astonishing mid-range shove was perfect for the route, too, and I was able to enjoy the excellent gearbox integration and the nine-speed’s rapid shifts in manual mode. It was fast, as usual, but also a lot more fun, especially with its naughty exhaust crackle on downshifts.
By the time I’d reached our prearranged meeting point near the famous West Sussex estate’s racecourse, Goodwood’s famous microclimate had well and truly kicked in (as you can see from our main image). And my view on the Merc had cleared up nicely as well.
Of course, this early-morning blast through the country did nothing for the car’s fuel economy, which is averaging out at 26.9mpg. But now I’ve seen what it can do, on the right road and with no traffic, I don’t mind that quite so much.
I’ve been sharing the love, too, because the Mercedes has been booked by a couple of colleagues wanting something ‘fast and flash’ for long weekends away with their families. From the driver’s seat, it’s often easy to forget that this is a monster estate that can seat five and accommodate all of their luggage with ease. So I’ve started looking for possible weekend breaks, just to have the excuse for a longer run.
I’m also looking forward to slightly warmer conditions, if only because they’ll bring the E 63 S’s tyres back into an operating temperature where they don’t scrabble across the asphalt on full lock. This pronounced judder is a known issue among many big Mercs, although I think the combination of four-wheel drive and our car’s 20-inch alloys compounds it.
We resisted the temptation to fit winter tyres, which could have improved matters, but seeing the thermometer rising into double digits should remove the judder altogether. I’m hoping that I’ll have forgotten all about it by May.
Mercedes-AMG E 63 S: first report
Mileage: 6,250
Economy: 23.4mpg
It seems odd to say it, but in this era of environmental concerns and financial instability, one of the biggest success stories in the car industry is AMG. The brand has been enjoying record sales, thanks to an expanding line-up that includes everything from hot hatches (A 45 AMG) to sports cars (AMG GT). It also has a hypercar on the way in the shape of the Project One.
AMG is known for its V8s, though; and even when faced with demands for greater fuel efficiency, the firm’s engine wizards have found ways of keeping the legendary layout relevant. And now we’re planning to see how this science works out in everyday life, because we’ve just taken delivery of an E 63 S Estate for the next six months.
Under the bonnet lies AMG’s latest twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, a motor closely linked to that in the AMG GT. In our ‘S’ version the engine serves up 604bhp and a walloping 850Nm of torque between 2,500rpm and 4,500rpm. Add a nine-speed automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive, and you have the recipe for a two-tonne estate to go from 0-62mph in just 3.4 seconds.
The top speed is ‘limited’ to 186mph because the E 63 S also gets the AMG Driver’s package as standard.
It is supercar fast. Such is the level of performance, in fact, that each E 63 S comes with a free driver training session at Mercedes’ impressive ‘experience’ and dealer facility at Brooklands in Surrey.
When we arrived for our photoshoot, staff were preparing for half a dozen new AMG owners to get a briefing and then some useful instruction.
It makes perfect sense to us, because our early experience of the car is that it is shatteringly rapid; and that, even with four-wheel drive, it will allow you quite a lot of play before it scoops you up and reins things back in.
This is especially evident in anything other than Comfort mode, because the more focused settings ramp up the gearshifts and firm up the car’s standard air suspension, giving it a more capable, but slightly less tolerant character.
Cold winter mornings have also exposed the fact that the car’s high-performance Michelin rubber isn’t at its best until it has warmed up; that’s another reason why learning how to cope with slip, in controlled conditions on the track, is a good idea.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S behaves in clogged-up traffic on my commute; but we’ll also try to get a bit of track time, or even do a cross-continent journey, amid the everyday humdrum. This car deserves nothing less
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