SALES of luxurious and high-performance European cars continue to gain momentum in Australia and Mercedes' muscular AMG range is no exception, with more uptake on local soil per capita than anywhere else in the world.

While recent additions such as the A45 small hatch and related variants are maintaining the popularity of the brand, AMG's stalwart – the C63 – has never been stronger.

The highly anticipated second-generation C-Class-based C63 has now arrived and, in a vote of Australian performance enthusiasm, will only be available with the highest power output and an additional S on its boot badge.

The German car-maker chose its annual Festival of AMG at the iconic Mount Panorama circuit as the venue to officially launch the car locally, coinciding with some particularly wintry weather.

We rugged-up and climbed aboard for a few laps of Mount Panorama to see how the latest iteration of the C63 stacks up against arch rivals BMW M3 and the Audi RS4 in some unforgiving conditions.



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