The Most Powerful Mercedes S-Class Ever

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The S-Class has long stood at the pinnacle of Mercedes-Benz’s  increasingly diverse product line—with its high performance, luxury-oriented sedans and coupes. That’s not likely to change as the marque pivots to electrification. In fact, Mercedes has just unveiled a 791-horsepower S-Class, setting a new standard as the most powerful S-Class ever. 

The car is the 2023 Mercedes-AMG S 63 E Performance, and it will hit the market sometime next year with a price in the vicinity of US$170,000. The earlier S 63 started at US$152,595. “U.S. pricing and on-sale timing is subject to a future announcement,” says Andrew Brudnicki, an AMG spokesman. 

The S 63 bristles with technology, and it’s an alternative to the battery electric EQS 580 4MATIC Sedan, which starts at US$125,950. Both are very luxurious S-Class iterations, and both benefit from an upturn in Mercedes sedan styling. 

The S 63, however, has as its main powerplant a handcrafted 603-horsepower/664 pound-foot four-liter AMG bi-turbo V8. It’s augmented by a nine-speed automatic transmission, a 188-horsepower (for 10 seconds at peak, otherwise it’s 94 horsepower) electric motor mounted on the rear axle and a 13.1-kilowatt-hour battery pack. A belt-driven starter-generator is part of the hybrid’s 400-volt electrical system and makes for quick takeoffs. Electric range on just the e-motor is 20.5 miles, or until the car reaches 87 miles per hour.    

In the tradition of hot S-Class sedans like the very collectible 450 SEL 6.9 of 1975, the S 63 (with 1,055 pound-feet of torque to complement all that horsepower) can reach 60 miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds with an electronically limited 180 mph at the top end. 

It will, of course, be much slower on just battery power. The car can run all-wheel drive in both gas and electric modes. The 4MATIC system uses torque vectoring to send the power where it’s needed. There are four levels of regenerative braking, which is useful—some people don’t like the one-pedal driving effect. 

One of the best things about cars like the S 63 is their versatility. Sure, you can tear up the road like a latter-day
Carroll Shelby,
all the while enjoying Bach on the Dolby Atmos 360-degree infotainment, but you can also loaf along in cosseted comfort while letting the air suspension and active adaptive shock absorbers soak up the bumps. 

There are seven driving modes: Electric, Comfort, Battery Hold, Sport, Sport+, Slippery, and Individual. Choose Comfort and the vehicle starts off in electric mode, staying there in city driving. The air suspension and steering dial in their softest settings, and the transmission offers early upshifts for smoothness. Even the engine mounts are “active” to aid the shift from performance to comfort modes. 

By contrast, Sport combines the combustion and electric engines for maximum takeoff power, allows earlier downshifts, and tightens up the suspension/steering. Sport+ ratchets it all up further with even more boost and at-the-limit settings. 

As a plugin hybrid, a large battery isn’t needed. The onboard 3.7-kilowatt AC charger helps revive the cells fairly quickly. Brudnicki said that a 240-volt home charger should be able to charge the S 63 from 25 to 100%in 3.25 hours. 

The car really is a technology showcase, with the owner’s only worry that it will all continue to work in harmony over a long road life. Active roll stabilization is standard, electromechanically doing the work of anti-roll bars to keep the car even-keeled. As on other S-Class iterations, there is 2.5 degrees of rear-wheel steering at speeds of up to 62 mph. This reduces the turning circle on a big sedan considerably, resulting in what the company calls “a virtual shortening of the wheelbase.”

It would be interesting to know the range of the car in gas mode, with its 20.1-gallon fuel tank. Also the fuel economy when used that way. The gas-engine-only 2021 E63 S station wagon drank fuel at the rate of 16 mpg (city) and 23 mpg(highway). But this S 63 is a plug-in hybrid, and it won’t use any gasoline at all if you keep it in electric mode around town.