A week after the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class had its first public showing at the Detroit show, its fire-breathing AMG variant has been spotted testing in Germany by the UK’s AutoExpress website.
A heavily-disguised test mule was first seen testing at the Nurburgring in October last year, but now a version has been spotted with far less body cladding. More info on the upcoming car has also come to light…
We know that under the hood will be Merc’s new twin-turbo 4,0-litre V8 – what we don’t know, though, is the power output. We’re expecting somewhere in the region of 335 kW (more than the new BMW M3 & M4’s 317 kW) giving a 0-100 km/h time of 4,0 seconds. BMW quote 4,1 secs for their new M siblings.
Game on then… or at least it will be. According to AMG’s product chief Tobias Moers, we will have to wait 12 months before the new C63 is officially launched.
And its looks? Well there’s still a fair amount of cladding on this test mule, but there are some telltale design cues none-the-less – some more subtle than others. The flared wheel arches, more aggressive grill, wider air intakes on the front bumper, and muscled bonnet are the more overt signatures. A little more subtle are the quad exhausts peek out the rear bumper and larger brake calipers are tucked behind the alloys.
Given the CLA45 AMG/A45 AMG’s 4-matic all-wheel drive system, the big question is whether this new direction will include the new C63. Again, no official word, but the unofficial rumours suggest tyre smokers can rest easy – the new car will retain rear-wheel drive status.
Source: AutoExpress
