Pretty much since the second Mercedes-AMG decided to put a turbocharged four-cylinder plug-in hybrid powertrain in its C63, people have almost unilaterally been displeased with it. I mean, I get it. While the 671 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of torque that little powerplant makes far exceeds even the most powerful V8 C63s of the past, it’s hardly an inspiring engine. Well, there’s no need to complain about it any longer, because AMG is ditching it altogether, and in its place will be a brand-new model: the C53, powered by a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six.
Specifically, it’s the same motor that’s currently found in the AMG CLE53, and while it’s not the full-fat V8 some (read: I) were hoping for, it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Mercedes-AMG boss Michael Schiebe confirmed the news to Edmunds during an interview earlier this week, saying that it won’t be a hybrid, either. That means it’s not the same setup as the plug-in-hybrid AMG E53, which makes up to 604 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. The new AMG C53 will have to make do with just 443 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque, so power will be down considerably over the old car. However, this does make me think that there’s going to be some sort of C63 coming down the pipeline eventually, especially given all the rumors of the CLE getting a V8 soon. I cannot imagine a world where Mercedes-AMG just leaves that kind of performance on the table. After all, the numbers are supposed to go up every year, not down.
While it’s true that enthusiasts weren’t the biggest fans of AMG’s little engine, a main driver behind AMG’s decision to kill off the PHEV four-popper was actually environmental regulations. I know it sounds counterintuitive to replace a smaller hybrid motor with a bigger, non-hybrid one, but that’s how it worked out.
“Under the regulations of EU7, it’s quite difficult to carry [the four-cylinder engine] into the future,” Schiebe told Edmunds. “That’s why we will stop offering the M139 and in the midsize segment we will replace it with the inline six-cylinder.”
This motor seems more a replacement for the C43 (which uses the same four-cylinder sans hybrid stuff) than the C63, because it really just doesn’t have the juice to keep up with the far more powerful BMW M3 Competition, which pumps 523 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque out of its twin-turbocharged inline-6, but it’ll definitely do for now. It’s still not clear if a hypothetical C63 will see the return of a V8 or perhaps the plug-in-hybrid version of the C53’s engine, but one thing is for sure: it’s going to have more than four cylinders.