Like the prize wheel in The Price is Right, the Mercedes-AMG rumor mill has turned and turned, and now it has landed on an official response: AMG’s decision to remove the V8 from the C63 and E63 is final, and it will not bring the big bruising engine back any time soon.
Rumors emerged earlier this month, suggesting that Mercedes-AMG regretted its decision to remove its legendary V8 from its smaller sedans, and that, in the face of continued pressure from big-engined competitors, it would bring them back.
Then, a report from Germany called that rumor “pure nonsense,” but it, too, cited unnamed sources. Now, The Drive has gotten an official denial of the original V8 return rumor from none other than Mercedes-AMG CEO Michael Schiebe.
Read: Mercedes-AMG Insider Calls C63 and E63 V8 Rumors “Pure Nonsense”
Schiebe said that he could “definitively deny” the rumors of a V8 return to the high-performance C- and E-Classes. Moreover, he believes the company was right to turn to high-output hybrids instead.
“I don’t like to talk about other manufacturers, but it seems like there are many more performance hybrids coming to the market now. Or at least they’ve been announced,” he said. “So I think we were right when we said, let’s go in that direction.”
To be sure, the latest C63 generates an impressive amount of horsepower, despite having a four-cylinder engine under the hood. In combination with rear-mounted electric motors, its 2.0-liter-based plug-in hybrid powertrain produces 671 hp (500 kW/680 PS), which is 128 hp (95 kW/130 PS) more than the BMW M3 CS.
However, that tremendous amount of power does come at the cost of weight. While the M3 CS tips the scales at 3,915 lbs (1,776 kg) the C63 S E Performance weighs in at 4,654 lbs (2,111 kg). That has led to some complaints about driving dynamics, but shouldn’t affect its ability to be an Autobahn menace.
Meanwhile, the E63 is still expected to come with a similarly hybridized powertrain, but in this case, the engine at its heart is expected to be an inline-six. Power figures have not yet been shared by the automaker, but we would anticipate that it will make more than the C63, so it should be a rather large number.
While we will all surely miss the bassy thrum of the AMG V8 in these vehicles, we won’t have to go without it entirely. The engine will continue on in larger vehicles, like the AMG GT, the SL convertible, and the S63 sedan.
