REFRESHED MERCEDES C63 REVEALED

It's not due on sale until this autumn, and not set to be officially unveiled until the Geneva show in March, but these pics of the newly tweaked Mercedes C63 AMG have filtered out into web land.

The visual refresh has been kept as light as possible, with a new grille, SL-alike headlamps (now with LED daytime running lights), LED tail lamps and revised alloys.

Thankfully, the magnificent naturally aspirated 6208cc V8, now in the twilight of its years, is still to be found beneath the bonnet of the C63, rather than the new 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 you may remember from such AMGs as the new CLS63 AMG.

That means the C63 remains possessed of 451bhp and 442lb ft of torque (unless you tick the option box that raises output to 481bhp allows the muscle-Merc to run all the way up to 174mph, of course).

The biggest tweak under the skin is a new transmission. Out has gone the old seven-speed auto, and in has come a, er, new seven-speed auto 'box. This does, however, swap out the conventional torque converter for a high-performance clutch pack in the name of smoother, faster changes.