The most famous AMG racing car, the Red Pig, couldn’t have asked for more appropriate offspring. Meet the most powerful E-class ever.

Left foot on the brake, right one full throttle. The wide rubbers on 20inch wheels claw into the tarmac. Together with the all-wheel drive, the four-door limousine is catapulted forward in an orgy of glorious sound and spectacular acceleration. I am pressed deeply into the beautifully stitched leather seats. In a sports car you expect this kind of raw performance, in a 2-ton luxury sedan it almost blows your mind.
The 3.4 seconds it takes to get from 0 to 100km/h puts a grin to your face, that has to be surgically removed. Especially after a couple of hot laps on Kyalami race track.
And the new E 63 AMG not only features launch control, but something else, that clearly proves German engineers have a brilliant sense of humour: drift mode.
Select race mode, switch ESP off, go into manual gearbox mode and then pull both paddles towards you. When you’re sure, give it one more tug of the right paddle. A clutch in the transmission decouples drive to the front wheels and all 850Nm of torque are now send backwards, to the rear axle. And it’s cheers rubbers! The new E 63 AMG is conclusive proof, that genius is wonderfully close to insanity.

Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG S 4MATIC+
Engine 4.0-l.-V8 paired with a 9-speed auto & all-wheel drive
Power 450kW and 850Nm
Top Speed 250 km/h (electronically limited), 300 km/h (with AMG driver training)
0-100km/h 4.3 seconds
Price R1 868 400
mercedes.co.za