Mercedes’ S-Class has been a byword for excellence because the first one formally debuted with the W116 chassis method again in 1972. They’ve repeatedly been the primary automobiles available on the market to debut new and thrilling tech like adaptive cruise management (Distronic), seatbelt pre-tensioners and even anti-lock brakes, which debuted in 1978. The 2024 Mercedes-AMG S63 E-Efficiency doesn’t debut something that groundbreaking, however holy hell, does it ever carry that custom of excellence ahead.

Full Disclosure: Mercedes-AMG needed me to drive the S63 E Efficiency so badly that they put me up for an evening in a swanky lodge in Santa Monica and teased me with a 300SEL 6.3 that I wasn’t allowed to drive at an ostentatious Malibu mansion. The 6.3 was brown.

The S63 E-Efficiency is notable for a number of causes. First, it’s probably the most highly effective manufacturing Mercedes ever, with a whopping 791 hp and 1,055 lb-ft of torque coming from the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine and electrical motor mixed. Subsequent, it weighs as a lot as a Ford F-150 Raptor, at almost 6,000 lbs. It is also the primary plug-in hybrid S-Class, and it’s the primary S-Class to not have a stand-up hood emblem. Huge modifications are clearly afoot in Affalterbach.

The S63 E Efficiency incorporates a 13.1-kWh direct-cooled battery pack which, aside from consuming up trunk area, enables you to drive the S63 on pure electrical energy for round 20 miles (primarily based on Euro estimates, EPA figures will possible be decrease and are available out in the direction of the top of 2023) and at speeds as much as 87 mph. AMG claims the automotive will hit 60mph in simply 3.3 seconds and rocket as much as an electronically restricted prime pace of 155 mph.

The S63 will get a ton of different AMG-specific tweaks as properly, like a two-speed rear axle that helps to maximise each acceleration and prime pace, an AMG-tuned air suspension and drive modes and a bunch of AMG-specific styling tweaks like the massive Panamericana grille which does an superior job of hiding all of the ADAS sensors packed into the entrance of the automotive. The nine-speed MCT transmission can be tuned by AMG and usually works properly.

Right here’s the factor, although. All that efficiency is basically fairly pointless. Don’t get me unsuitable, launching a automotive that large and heavy is fairly intense, however all that weight makes these big energy and torque figures really feel “regular S63 quick” at the price of additional complexity. I like that there’s all the time energy accessible for a fast overtake, however the thrilling a part of this automotive is its means to drive on electrical energy alone.

Why is that thrilling? Effectively, first, EVs rule. Secondly – and that is extra germane to our friends in Europe in the mean time – plenty of cities like London, for instance, are beginning to cost individuals with large indignant combustion engines to return into the town middle. Another cities are banning inside combustion altogether. The S63 E Efficiency might be a sport changer for the well-heeled businessperson. Over right here, we’ll respect the additional cruising vary that the hybrid system will most likely give us from the S63’s 20.1-gallon tank, and naturally, some individuals will decide it over a non-AMG S-Class only for the badge.

Whereas I’m lukewarm on the ability, I’m fully floored by the chassis. The S63 can do issues {that a} automotive its dimension shouldn’t be capable of. I assumed AMG was bananas for sending me out on Malibu’s impossibly tight and slender canyon roads, however this big boat of a automotive has an agility that will disgrace some automobiles half its dimension. That is largely all the way down to the AMG-tuned air suspension and four-wheel steering, neither of which is revolutionary by itself, however each are executed flawlessly right here.

I additionally respect how permissive the traction and stability management applications are, even outdoors of Sport Plus mode. It lets the automotive transfer round – even breaking rear traction – however intervenes easily and shortly to maintain issues from getting out of hand. I think that the S63 E Efficiency could be a blast round a racetrack, regardless of that positively not being its meant use case.

Aside from the zany powertrain, the remainder of the automotive is essentially simply an S-Class, which suggests it’s completely spectacular. All the things appears and feels costly. The seats are extremely adjustable and cozy, and so they function the flexibility to show heating and cooling on concurrently, which is dumb, however I adore it. The inside is well-isolated from the street, and whereas AMG makes an attempt to pipe in some sound, it doesn’t sound good and even remotely just like the V8 that lives below the hood. There’s a bizarre, raspy five-cylinder word to it in Sport Plus, and never in a cool method, although this may increasingly get adjusted because the automotive will get nearer to happening sale.

Additionally, being an S-Class, the S63 is packed to the gunwales with security tech. This factor has every part you’d count on on a contemporary six-figure automotive, and all of it works properly. This contains adaptive cruise management, driver consideration monitoring, lively lane preserve help, lively lane centering, evasive steering help, brake intervention, blind spot help and the record goes on. While you shell out for an S-Class, you count on the perfect, and also you received’t be let down right here.

Inside downsides are minor and few in quantity however embody Mercedes’ weird-ass-gonna-make-me-barf 3-D impact on the gauges and heads-up show, however that is straightforward to show off. Additionally, the hybrid pack eats into trunk area (10.8 cubic ft vs 18 cubic ft), so whereas not precisely sports-car-small, the S63 PHEV’s boot isn’t what you’d name cavernous.

Mercedes is enjoying it slightly near the chest by saying that the S63 E-Efficiency will hit the market across the finish of the 12 months. We’d guess that can find yourself being December. Mercedes is even cagier about pricing for its newest technological terror. A standard S63 sans hybrid will run you round $153,000 earlier than you get to including choices. We’d be shocked if this new one doesn’t run nearer to the $170,000 mark, given the marketed efficiency and the added price to fabricate it.

So, with all that in thoughts, what’s my takeaway?

The S63 E-Efficiency isn’t actually improved by the added energy and tech, at the very least not in ways in which the US market will respect. Certain, it’s fast as hell for one thing that weighs as a lot as a fishing trawler, and regardless of the handful of minor pre-production hiccups I skilled throughout my restricted time with the automotive, when it’s prepared for showtime it is going to have been ruthlessly engineered to be pretty much as good as it may be, as is Mercedes’ customized, significantly with the S-Class. The factor is, the hybrid system appears like an answer to an issue that solely exists due to laws and model picture, not a treatment to one thing that the S-Class was missing beforehand.

I completely beloved the 2024 S63 E Efficiency, however for my cash, I’d purchase an S580e and pocket the distinction. If badge, aggressive styling or bench racing bragging rights matter to you, then you definitely’ll love the S63, and there’s nothing unsuitable with that.