Gadgetory

breathing it's the only thing we absolutely can't stop doing if we want to stay alive the air around us is vital to every fiber of our being the same is true with cars you can put as much fuel in as you want but deny a car air and you're going nowhere this is the mercedes AMG c63s and like everything out of our falter bar it comes with a buttload of stats to put a smile on your face 510 horsepower 516 foot-pounds of torque 62 miles an hour in four seconds dead and a top speed electronically limited to a hundred and fifty five miles an hour but as impressive as those numbers are what I'm most interested in is the engine that delivers them the previous generation of this car featured the much-loved 6.2 liter naturally aspirated v8 an engine praised not just for its phenomenal power but for its amazing sound but AMG like everyone else has had to move with the times they've had to teach the car how to breathe better they've had to go turbo that 6.2 liters has been reduced to a still sizable four liters with two turbos nestled inside the V of the cylinders it is in fact the same engine you find on the gorgeous AMG GT having turbochargers to engines is just the done thing at the moment the m3 which is the c63 s opposite number at BMW added a turbocharger in this latest generation in fact it's a twin-turbo straight-6 the v8 has been dropped completely from the lineup natural aspiration it would seem is being phased out going the way of its automotive cousin the carburetor and the pop-up headlamp for years and years it was the way things got done but as progress is marched on and trends have changed carburetors have made way for fuel injection headlamps pop up no more and turbos they're so hot right now combustion inside a car engine needs what every flame needs fuel and oxygen fuel in the form of petrol and oxygen in the air around us now the normal action of an engine draws that air in just fine but in the 19th century gottlieb daimler the same Dame law as in danger bends now de leur AG the parent company of mercedes benz discovered that by compressing the air and forcing it into the engine you could get more air some more oxygen or oxygen means a bigger explosion which means more power later a Swiss engineer by the name of Alfred bushi patented the idea of using the exhaust gases from the engine to blow a turbine that in turn compressed and forced air into the engine and the turbocharger was born the technology was patented in 1905 but it took until 1962 for it to find his way into a production car the Chevrolet Corvair and the Oldsmobile Jetfire both had its in that year and slowly but surely the idea started to catch on by the seventies Porsche was fitting them to 911s and making Widow's the world over BMW had put one in a 2002 and Renault had slaughtered one into a Formula One car mostly though these were for increased power adding a turbo to an existing engine to get greater performance adding turbos however wasn't all gain early turbo cars featured a lot of turbo lag and by that we mean the amount of time it takes for the exhaust fumes to spool up the turbine to compress the air to give you that boost it wasn't uncommon for you to put your foot down for an overtake maneuver and to have almost finished it when the power would kick in at the worst possible time spinning you off the road in a fiery ball of death if you're interested in the characteristics of driving those early Porsche turbos you should check out our film turbo fever with Magnus Walker now however turbos largely feel a different role instead of increasing the power of an existing engine turbos are added to smaller engines to match the power of their larger naturally aspirated brothers whilst being more economical due to their smaller displacement losing less energy through heat and friction in a world of depleting natural resources it makes sense to try and get the most out of every drop of petrol and increasingly manufacturers are turning to turbos to make that happen in a performance car like an AMG fuel economy an efficiency isn't really the main selling point though in order for this generation of c63 to satisfy fans of the previous car is going to have to satisfy them in the gut and in the ear now normally taking the exhaust and using it to power a turbine can have detrimental effects on the exhaust note of a carb but the engineers aims you have worked incredibly hard to preserve that v8 character that they're so well known for without having to resort to such cheating methods as pumping an artificial sound through the stereo like some other people may have done now I'm not naming names but you know who you are so does this car sound as good as its naturally aspirated predecessor has the turbo affected the throttle response and the overall handling of the car well there's only one way to find out I'm going to have to go out and thrash around a bit all right well if I must so the sound that's what everyone wants to know does this buy turbo four-litre v8 sound anywhere near as good as its predecessors naturally aspirated 6.2 liter engine well I defy anyone anyone to say that that isn't an amazing sounding engine the boost feels so progressive the way it comes on the problem of turbo like has been all but eliminated through various methods chiefly amongst our multiple turbos that spool up sequentially to bring on the boost more immediately and progressively there is no obvious turbo sound there's not much in the way of waste gates that you can hear although it does make a fantastic burble when you lift off listen to that that is phenomenal oMG have done an incredible job not only retaining the characteristics of that v8 noise but really proving that without any fakery it's possible in an age of emissions regulations and increasing fuel prices that you can still more keeping in mind that this car claims to have the most economical performance of the eight on the market that's nothing short of impressive so that's the noise box well and truly ticked but how about the rest of the experience I've got to spend all of yesterday with this car and immediately it felt like a nice place to be these really sporty looking seats are more comfortable than they look and the interior is really well laid out I've never been too much of a fan of Mercedes as interiors but they've done a great job on this with the mean exception being the budget tablet computer looking screen that seems to have been super glued to the dash as an afterthought although it looks great I'm not a massive fan of having a cluster of buttons down here when you've got 500 horses at your disposal even when they are this well-behaved you don't really want to be looking down there to adjust certain things and that's another point it wasn't that long ago that 500 horsepower was the domain of top-end supercars and the kind of thing that would spit you off the road at the nearest convenience and frankly be absolutely terrifying to drive nowadays though that is a completely different case because these are 510 extremely well behaved horses the power is available for you when you ask for it and only then they don't sneak up on you jump out at you from darkened corners it's an insane amount of power on a tight leash but like with any leash if you feel inclined you can give it some slack and see where it takes you this car with all of its phenomenal power and the potential to have incredible performance doesn't feel any harder to drive than any other car you can buy you jump in and go as horse powers have increased in saloon cars like this the safety measures that have come along with it have been incredibly well developed and impressive frankly at keeping numpties like me from spinning themselves off the side of a mountain for which I must say I am eternally grateful you're given a raft of options to customize so you can turn this car into exactly what you want it to be I settled on everything in Sport+ but the suspension which shapes the c63 into a screaming beast that is still a few notches short of breaking your back each time you hit a pothole for your money you're getting an AMG GT engine wrapped in a practical and comfortable shell which in my book isn't a bad deal at all so here's the key question has turbo charging a small displacement v8 damaged in any way what the c63 was has it changed how we feel about AMG is it welcoming in a dangerous new progression in a fault box finest no this car is everything AMG wants it to be and more they know what they're doing they're gonna put that smile on your face they're gonna give you that kick in the gut and they're gonna make your balls tingle