2027 Mercedes-AMG S 63 Spied Inside and Out With New V8 and Fresh Looks

Tomorrow, the 29th of January, Mercedes-Benz will unveil its heavily revised 2027 S-Class, and with that reveal imminent, engineers are now bringing near-production AMG S 63 prototypes out to play in the Swedish snow. As a refresh rather than an all-new model, much of the bodywork will remain broadly unchanged, with the big changes happening beneath the skin. Mercedes says tomorrow’s new S-Class has changes to over half the car, with some 2,700 parts being changed or improved, including mild styling updates, more advanced interior tech, better safety features, and more luxury. There’s also a new V8 engine, and all of these improvements will come to AMG’s S 63, too. Let’s start with the styling before discussing that new V8 and the tech.

New AMG S 63 Styling Shows Restraint

The bumpers at the front and rear of this prototype look very similar to those of the current S 63, though it’s entirely possible that the center grille between the headlights will be bordered by a fine strip of LED lighting. Speaking of which, the headlights and taillights will add three-sided stars to their daytime running light signatures, following the precedent set by the CLA. The clusters themselves may also be mildly reshaped, but any departure won’t be major. As usual for an AMG model, the front fenders will feature fake accent grilles so that those viewing the car in profile get a hint of the performance the S 63 is capable of. Large drilled and slotted brake discs also warn off challengers, and while these five-spoke wheels look good, we suspect that the production S 63 will get a newer design. The final touch of aggression comes in the form of AMG’s signature squared exhaust tip setup, with four finishers.

New V8 Engine with Bigger Turbos, Plus More Tech

Previously, our spies had reported that the current S 63’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 plug-in hybrid P3 powertrain would be retained, but we now know that this is being phased out in favor of the M177 Evo, an evolution of Merc’s hot-vee twin-turbo V8 that has been in use for over a decade, now with larger turbochargers and a flat-plane crankshaft. These changes will make the engine smoother and more responsive, reports Car Magazine, while simultaneously reducing emissions. Of course, those changes alone are not enough for the engine to meet next year’s Euro 7 emissions regulations, so the S 63 is expected to remain a plug-in hybrid. Whether the S 63 will match or exceed its current 791-hp/1,055-lb-ft rating remains to be seen, but the engine isn’t all that’s worth mentioning.

Inside, the S 63 will have even more luxurious materials and improved quality, and the tech experience will be enhanced by MB.OS, with an expansive Hyperscreen and artificial intelligence features from both Microsoft and Google. MB.OS will also provide the benefit of iDamping, which lets cars send their damping information to a cloud-based server. This information is shared with other iDamping-equipped vehicles, letting them anticipate irregularities in the road. We’ll know more after tomorrow’s debut of the “regular” S-Class, but the S 63 will only be revealed later this year.