What's the news?
Mercedes currently makes four body styles for the C-Class - the regular Saloon, the Estate, a Coupe and the new Cabriolet model. Three of these have range-topping Mercedes-AMG C 63 variants, so it makes sense that the set must be completed with the new C 63 Cabriolet, due for its unveiling at the New York Auto Show this week.
Exterior
Take one Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet and give it the AMG treatment. Net result? One very attractive, four-seat, open-topped bullet. The C 63 Cabriolet has wider tracks front and rear, which necessitate flared wheel arches - the AMG is therefore 64mm wider at the front and 66mm fatter at the rear. The bonnet is also 60mm longer and is made of aluminium, while it sports a pair of 'powerdomes'. Underneath the headlights is the signature 'A-wing' front air intake of AMG, while the C 63 Cabriolet also features a front splitter to negate lift.
Along the sides are discreet skirts and big wheels. The size of these depends on whether you've gone for the 476hp 'regular' C 63 or the 510hp C 63 S. The former runs on 9 x 18-inch front and 10.5 x 18-inch rear items, while the S gets the same width wheels, but at a larger 19-inch diameter. Options include further designs of 19s and also some colossal 20-inch rims. Round the back is the handsome Mercedes coupe/cabriolet current design language, augmented with quad exhausts, an aerodynamic diffuser and a small lip spoiler on the boot.
Up top, it's the same multi-layered fabric roof as on a regular C-Class Cabriolet, which can be raised and lowered on the move at speeds of up to 50km/h (provided you started the procedure when you were doing less than 5km/h). Options to keep occupants warm with the top dropped include Airscarf neck-level heating and the Aircap automatic wind deflector, and further upgrades include a choice of colours for the roof, such as black, dark brown, dark blue or dark red. The boot can hold 355 litres maximum and 260 litres with the roof stowed away.
Interior
Sporty interior cues build on the standard, luxurious C-Class Cabriolet cabin. Artico man-made leather clothes the instrument panel and there's plenty of aluminium trim, plus a classy IWC analogue clock (depending on trim level). AMG-specific switchgear for the Dynamic Select, Ride Control, three-stage ESP and AMG Performance Exhaust system with flap control abounds, while the steering wheel sports a 12 o'clock marker; behind it, the carbon fibre-look speedometer reads up to 320km/h. Sports seats come as standard but deeper bucket Performance chairs are an option.
Mechanicals
Like any other C 63, the Cabriolet gets the 4.0-litre V8 with a pair of 'hot inside V' turbochargers. This develops 476hp at 5,500- to 6,250rpm, coupled to 650Nm of torque at 1,750- to 4,500rpm, as the standard C 63, with those figures raised to 510hp and 700Nm across the same rev ranges for the S variant. Mercedes-AMG quotes the same fuel economy and CO2 emissions for both, their brackets being 8.9- to 9.3 litres/100km (30.4- to 31.7mpg) and 208- to 218g/km, depending on which wheels are fitted.
Performance of these rear-drive monsters is brutally quick, despite their heftiness. With a 68kg driver, 7kg of luggage and a 90 per cent full fuel tank on board, the C 63 weighs 1,910kg and the S 1,925kg, but both do a 250km/h limited top speed (which can be hiked to 280km/h with the AMG Driver's Package), while the 476hp car takes just 4.2 seconds to hit 100km/h from rest; the C 63 S does the same sprint in 4.1 seconds. This pace is thanks in part to the AMG Speedshift MCT seven-speed automatic transmission, which features paddle shifts.
Both the Cabriolet and its closely-related Coupe sibling get a bespoke rear-axle carrier that isn't found on the C 63 Saloon and Estate models. The contact surfaces of the wheel bearings are moved out 25mm further on the two-door AMGs, which in turn leads to specific wheel carriers, stiffer elastokinematic suspension tuning and a higher negative camber. Adjustable AMG Ride Control damping, a limited-slip differential (mechanical on the C 63, electronically controlled on the C 63 S), four different AMG Dynamic Select transmission modes, dynamic engine mounts, a 14.1:1 steering rack and massive 360mm brake discs (390mm on the S, or even optional 402mm carbon ceramic items) all go to ensure that the C 63 Cabriolet cannot be accused of being a hairdresser's car; this thing should handle phenomenally well, despite the lack of a tin roof.
Anything else?
There are now 12 versions of Mercedes-AMG C-Class, which comprise the C 43 biturbo V6 all-wheel drive models and the eight different variants of the C 63. That's some serious Affalterbach choice, right there. Market launch of the Mercedes-AMG C 63 Cabriolet will begin in August of this year, with multiple exclusive optional extras from the AMG Performance Studio ensuring that owners can make their rapid open-top C-Class bespoke to their taste. Irish pricing and availability have yet to be confirmed.