This has to end. Enough is enough. The new Mercedes C63 AMG, with its twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8, does not sound inferior to the old Mercedes C63, with its naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V8. Listen! The madness has to stop.
This email came in today from the sunny West Coast with the above video and an important message. There’s a lot of talk going around the internet, this C63S owner tells us, that the purveyors of Germanic muscle cars at AMG have lost their way, trading old-school N/A exhaust tone for the efficiency of muffled turbos. But this is not so, says our new W205 owner:
Hey Jalopnik editors,
Please read and consider this.
As an owner of the W205 C63S, I am so tired of the misconception that’s spread around and even exaggerated by the Internet claiming that with the W205, AMG had lost their touch on exhaust noise.
So tired of hearing these (no pun intended), I decided to upload a video of my car I recorded a while ago. More of my reason can be read on the video description, but I’d like to add that not many people (even owners) appreciate the new sound enough. The insulation of the sedan is so damn well that the car sounds so muffled inside even under full throttle. From the outside though, or also could be experienced by folding down the rear seats, the sound becomes totally monstrous.
I am asking you guys, as one of my favorite car blogs to help debunk this misconception I’m really sad about.
P.S. My car’s engine and exhaust are completely stock. There have been no alterations or aftermarket modifications using any non-Mercedes parts.
Our man went on in his YouTube video description:
I hear a lot of misconceptions (especially around the web) of people thinking the new 4.0L biturbo engine being inferior in terms of sound and character. Now, their misconception is probably due to the fact that so many people straight pipe/remove cats from their W204 (6.2L N.A V8) C63s. This gets even worse because many recordings in YouTube couldn’t accurately capture the W205 exhaust note. I tried so using high end microphones with little success until the iPhone X. I think it captures the baritone pretty accurately. Although this video doesn’t justify the super loud pops in real life (for a stock car that is, especially), I invite you to compare this video with other videos of stock W204 C63. Pay attention to the rumble and revs of both generations.
We’re here for you, W205 C63S owner. There’s nothing wrong with a big, naturally-aspirated engine, from ones that warble to ones that wail. But that’s not to say that a turbocharged engine is inherently going to sound like garbage. Turbos will naturally quiet down an exhaust, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still make a turbo engine sound mean as hell.