Test Drive: 2024 Mercedes AMG S63 E Performance Wows with New Tech

“Eeny meenie miney mo, catch a tiger by its toe…” I look over the Mercedes, Maybachs and AMGs at the test drive pavilion, considering what to drive first.  I’m strongly attracted to a bright red AMG GT 63 coupe, but I recently drove the sister GT 55 coupe and would prefer a completely new experience.  “My mother says to pick the very best one, and you are it!” My finger is pointing at the long and elegant S63 sedan.  It feels right, so I tell the test drive attendant I’ll try the bonkers limo.

My first order of business is to stow my camera bag on the back seats.  When the dark green door opens, I’m surprised to see blue leather seats inside.  Green over blue? That is a daring color combination, uniquely bold, and—at least to me—questionable in taste.  My test drive attendant sees me staring at the azure hides and informs me that this S63 was built through Mercedes’ Manufaktur program, which caters to the buyer’s every whim.  She also shares that the car has $46k in options, for a grand total of $226k. Wowza!

Well, my camera bag is about to have the best ride of its life.  The seat on which it’s plopped is a business-class recliner with its own infotainment screen.  The plush leather is stitched in elongated diamonds, and a cloud-soft pillow graces the headrest.  I’m tempted to join my bag in the back and be chauffeured around Pebble Beach, but this S63 is in an AMG, and AMGs are for drivers, right?

With some reluctance, I find my proper place in the driver’s seat and buckle up.  While I should be noticing the S-class’s new mail-slot vents and jewel-like speakers, I’m mesmerized by the digital gauge cluster.  On the bright LCD screen, the tachometer appears to be stretching towards an invisible vanishing point while the speedometer floats in front of it.  I’ve never seen such a pronounced 3D effect without the aid of viewing glasses.  How is Mercedes making the 2D screen appear 3D?  I don’t know, but it is an incredible effect! 

My screen trance is broken when my chaperone tells me we are ready to pull out of the parking lot.  I put the S63 into drive and slink away from Mercedes’ pavilion, dodging Tour d’Elegance spectators until we reach the security gate.   While waiting for the guard’s go-ahead, I notice a prominent E in the gauge cluster; we’ve been driving in EV mode!  No wonder the crowds were so oblivious to our approach.

I rotate the drive mode dial until the V8 wakes.  I hear a distinctive AMG grumble in the cabin, and then confusion strikes me. Shouldn’t S-classes be silent all the time?  But powerful AMGs are known for their vocal V8s. What is the right personality for a Mercedes-AMG S63 E Performance?  I don’t know.

Once clear of the gate and rolling through the neighborhood at 25 mph, I can feel some AMG starch in the air suspension.  The S63 doesn’t carpet over every bump and crack but lets some of them be felt in the cabin.  I’m sure a firm grip on the earth is an essential element of a sporting AMG, but in light of the S63’s length and girth and captain-of-industry rear recliners, a magic carpet drive like that of a Maybach or Alpina seems more fitting.

My train of thought is broken when I notice that the S63’s head-up display projects its graphics higher and further away from me than any other HUD I’ve ever experienced.  In a BMW, for example, the HUD graphics hover on the windshield glass, but in the Mercedes S63, my bright digital speed appears to hang ten feet beyond the front bumper.  The illusion is helpful, as there is less space between the floating numbers and the traffic and hazards my eyes are tracking.  I imagine the HUD placement also enables the augmented reality features in the S63’s quiver.

We wind our way past mansions, making several tight turns on the way to the beach.  The S63 is a titanic 208 inches long, but its rear-wheel steering virtually trims the wheelbase and helps me navigate the tricky intersections.  My hands enjoy the steering wheel’s fine leather wrapping—also blue—but my fingers wish there was more road texture to enjoy.  Regardless, the steering is modestly weighty, and the rack has good pacing.

A power gauge in the instrument cluster reminds me that the S63 E Performance—with its 603 gas-powered horses and 188 e-ponies—is the most powerful vehicle I’ve ever driven.  I am excited to experience 791 hp and 1,055 lb-ft of torque at full boil, so I switch the S63 into Sport+ mode and floor the accelerator.  The engine sound gets angrier with the mode change, and the twin-turbo V8 converts great gulps of air and fuel into an angry bassy bellow.  While the V8 roar is familiar from my AMG GT S, the E Performance hybrid augmentation gives the already-brutish V8 newfound strength.  With startling ferocity, the 5720-lb super sedan surges forward.  In the blink of an eye, I’m risking an ignominious expulsion from Pebble Beach.

Because I want to stay friendly with law enforcement, I trim my speed, relax the drive mode, and focus on the S63 as a luxury limo.  I mosey along the spectacular Pacific Coast, then find an overlook where I can park the S63 and absorb its icon shape.  From the outside, the long S-class is elegant and refined. Its flowing shapes softly say luxury, while its quad-tipped exhaust hints at the power and noise its drivetrain can make.

The short drive back to the Mercedes pavilion cements my impressions of the S63 as a purveyor of speed, luxury and futuristic tech.  When I hand over the keys and retrieve my bag from the back seat, I’ve scratched just a fraction of this incredible machine’s capabilities.

Because of its luxury and exclusivity (and green and blue color scheme), this S-class is at home in Pebble Beach, where $40,000,000 mansions and emerald forests meet the sapphire sea.  However, considering the car’s startling power and sporting ride, the muscled-up AMG is better suited for ripping down Moscow’s center lanes or obliterating stretches of the German autobahn.

“My mother says to take the very best one, and you are not it.”

But I’m not convinced that the S63 E Performance is a good fit for the Golden State.  In California, traffic moves like molasses, the highways are capped at 70 mph, and driving enthusiasts enjoy their fast cars on tight mountain roads or road courses.  We don’t have opportunities to flex a +200 mph limousine.

As such, I’d rather split the S63 E Performance’s dual mission and have a normal S-class (as if any S-class is normal!) with a softer suspension for traffic and travel and an AMG GT for canyons and race tracks.  Now, that would be a best-of-both-worlds solution for California!