Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance

The C63 S E Performance is a quieter kind of statement than most AMGs. The badge promises a thunderous V8, and Mercedes instead fitted a hand-built 2.0 litre turbo four paired with a rear-axle electric motor. Together they make 671 horsepower, sent to all four wheels through AMG Performance 4MATIC+. It covers 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds and runs to an electronically limited 280 km/h. The technology comes directly from the company's Formula 1 thinking.

What it is actually like is a car you can underestimate from the outside. In its calm settings it slips through Downtown traffic on electric power, restrained and well finished. Then the road opens and the hybrid system delivers its full reserve in one shove. The point of this car lives in the gap between how it looks and what it does, and that gap is wider here than in almost anything else with four doors.

This is the AMG you can live with for a full week in Dubai. Commute through Dubai Marina during the working days, take the long way home past JBR at night, then load the family and head out to Hatta at the weekend. The active rear-axle steering keeps the body tucked into corners that would unsettle a bigger saloon, and the cabin stays comfortable through long stints on Sheikh Zayed Road in the heat.

We keep it on AMG Performance specification, with the higher top speed and the complete hybrid drivetrain. Renting it for a few days is a clean way to experience this generation of C63 without taking on registration, insurance admin, and AMG servicing in the UAE. The quoted price already includes insurance and delivery. We bring it to your door fuelled and detailed, and collect it when you are done.