Inside, it’s a variant of the car from a decade ago, and you won’t find Mercedes’ latest infotainment system, which retains the trackpad on the center console and keeps the transmission tunnel busy with buttons for driving functions. The steering has been updated to the latest split-spoke type, including rotary drive mode selectors. Adding an ‘electric’ mode when you spin them up is a rare obvious observation that this is a PHEV rather than a pure ICE car.
As you might expect, this fact is most apparent in motion. My hour-long test started with a nearly dead battery, so I can’t say much about the electric-only drive. But even with a dead battery, the 63 SE still gets some charge during performance braking, which helps curb response.
For a torque archive, this is great. No more fiddling with shift paddles or waiting for turbochargers to spin. At 158 hp per liter, the V8 isn’t overstressed by modern standards, but it still takes a while to wake up. Here, there’s immediate urgency, but it comes with a V8 hum and pop that makes the engine pull first, then follow, then back off.
So the best of all worlds? I’m not so sure. Of course, the ride and handling still maintain an easy-to-rub combination and balance. There’s a firmness to the ride in the bespoke AMG models that you won’t find in the hot CLS or E-Class variants, which is understandable and desirable. But it’s been a while since I’ve driven a standard 4-door GT and I can’t help but feel that this PHEV, with its premium curb weight of 289kg, lacks the ability and drive to allow for a pure V8. The variant earned five stars for ride and handling in our road test (scoring 4.5 stars overall).
Inside, it’s a variant of the car from a decade ago, and you won’t find Mercedes’ latest infotainment system, which retains the trackpad on the center console and keeps the transmission tunnel busy with buttons for driving functions. The steering has been updated to the latest split-spoke type, including rotary drive mode selectors. Adding an ‘electric’ mode when you spin them up is a rare obvious observation that this is a PHEV rather than a pure ICE car.
As you might expect, this fact is most apparent in motion. My hour-long test started with a nearly dead battery, so I can’t say much about the electric-only drive. But even with a dead battery, the 63 SE still gets some charge during performance braking, which helps curb response.
For a torque archive, this is great. No more fiddling with shift paddles or waiting for turbochargers to spin. At 158 hp per liter, the V8 isn’t overstressed by modern standards, but it still takes a while to wake up. Here, there’s immediate urgency, but it comes with a V8 hum and pop that makes the engine pull first, then follow, then back off.
So the best of all worlds? I’m not so sure. Of course, the ride and handling still maintain an easy-to-rub combination and balance. There’s a firmness to the ride in the bespoke AMG models that you won’t find in the hot CLS or E-Class variants, which is understandable and desirable. But it’s been a while since I’ve driven a standard 4-door GT and I can’t help but feel that this PHEV, with its premium curb weight of 289kg, lacks the ability and drive to allow for a pure V8. The variant earned five stars for ride and handling in our road test (scoring 4.5 stars overall).
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