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When we are young we learn that some animals are expected to sink or swim immediately after birth.

Others, like humans, are given more time to be set up for success and survival.

Cars tend to be more like the former.

I’ve been observing the industry for near 40 years and working in it for about 30.

And seemingly not a week goes by that a car isn’t released into the world without the proper support it needs from those who have one job: to bring it to market and market it.

In this series we will discuss cars that aren’t quite given what they need by their makers to succeed, and so are immediately lambasted by the public and the press.

Unexplained and therefore unappreciated.

Here we will attempt to right history.

…

The most recent example is the Mercedes Benz C63S revealed to the world yesterday, after months to years of forewarning that it would be powered by half the cylinders and would likely be some form of Hybrid (to achieve even higher outputs.)

The internet did not take well to the news, even if the news wasn’t exactly new.

Now don’t get me wrong; I was a huge fan of the huge V8 they shoehorned in the W204 C63. And I too did not take well to the news a generation ago that that V8 had been replaced by a one with a third of the capacity lopped off and two turbochargers plopped on.

But in usual fashion, Mercedes did the hard work, engineering the system well enough that the response and even the sound did a good impression of the former motor and made a good impression overall. Once I drove the W205 I was pleasantly surprised at how it felt consistent. And I think they’ll aim to achieve that best they can where they can, and aim for something compelling in exchange if they’re making a gamble such as this.

I’m no fan of the inline 4, but I think it helps to remember that the performance Benz didn’t start with the AMG Hammer, but rather the 190E 2.3 -16. This performance C class precursor was powered by an I4 not a I6 or V8. A high winding one. While that shifted to I6 and V8 as the cars got larger the precedent is there.

When it comes down to it, yes the next C63 will sound disappointing to those outside. But that may be a welcome relief, given how obnoxiously loud the last ones could get. In fact Mercedes was quick to point out the car can be started silently and move on EV alone if you’re leaving the house early. So while the car in the videos was meek, European models tend to have different exhaust components and tuning and noise pollution standards are a consideration. And we have yet to experience what the car will sound like to the driver and occupants, even if they sound ends up having to be enhanced artificially and again, electrically.

This is a hybrid. Which could be one to stick around for quite some time. If so, it could be a pattern for what the car is to become. And even if it doesn’t, that just means it could be one of the most singular cars ever done, whether you like how it goes about its business or not.

But it’s not a hybrid in the perjorative sense. This is how Corvette is going to do it. How Porsche is going to do it. How F1 has been doing it for years. That’s right; while they’re not using the KERS, that’s what this is looking more like, because kinetic energy recovery is a decidedly hybrid thing.

It’s also important to look not at just the weight but where the weight is carried. And not just the outputs but where they are deployed.

The trade off for not being able to hear the V8 is not having the mass of a V8 under the hood. As heavy as the next car is, it looks set to be better balanced, and have that mass shifted from where you don’t want it to where you do. On the rear wheels rather than the fronts. The current 5 series is an interesting steer in hybrid form for this reason. Perhaps more so even than the vaunted I6 cars. Because it has a slightly rear bias to its distribution of 51:49. (Update: the distribution on the C63S is an even more promising 48:52.)

Combine that with the immediacy of electric drive at the rear and an electric turbocharger feeding the 4 pot and things are looking good that it won’t exactly have slow reflexes or responses.

And then there’s the addition of the rear wheel steering. You can see how the car bends around corners already. And I’m sure the system will shrink the sense of size and mass.

In the end I think the car will be vindicated by those who take the time to drive it , even if it’s not likely to be validated by those who don’t.

It’s an entirely different approach than the one they’ve taken, and while it’s not on paper my cup of tea I applaud the bravery of throwing away the successful recipe and starting nearly from scratch. We doubted they could do an AMG worthy 4 cylinder and they did. Then we doubted they could do an AMG worthy A class and they did.

What’s more troubling to me than the C63S is that just as the W204 acknowledged a trend to the V8 up front, others may follow suit as tends to happen. Another thing that tends to happen: not all engineers approach the problem with the same attitude or budget.

Remember too that the C63 comes at a time when AMG has been engineering the One, a hybridized F1 motored hypercar. What they’ve been struggling with there and learning from their struggles has to have affected where they netted out here.

Let’s just hope that the final result is more compelling than the One and more compelling than the C43, which also has a 4 pot, 4 wheel steering, and 4 wheels driven. The C63 needs to punch hard with that rear motor to differentiate itself from the C43. It needs to show why AMG built it, and didn’t just apply the C63 label to a C43 with the power and magic applied more emphatically.

To wear the AMG badge, it needs to. And to be let out as an AMG after their recent string of hits I think there’s a good chance it will.

“With the Detroit auto show in full swing, a US-based analyst talks to DW about the changes that have enabled German carmakers to secure a bigger slice of the North American market.

DW: What sort of factors are coming together right now to bring some more success to German carmakers in the US market – a market that used to be a very niche thing for them?

CarCounsel: I think part of it is the recent ability of German manufacturers to build toward the American market specifically. For a long time the German makers were kind of set in their own ways, saying this is the way we do it, because it’s the best way to do it. But although they were probably right about that, it didn’t necessarily translate into the North American market. So, a lot of what’s going on right now is the product of studying the American buyer and seeing what’s working for other manufacturers. I think they’re more willing now to follow trends.

You’re also seeing a proliferation of all-wheel drive, which European makers agree is not a necessity. They say winter tires are just as good, if not better. But American buyers want to have all-wheel drive for their convertibles and sports cars. German makers have now gotten round to including all-wheel drive across their model range.

DW: Let us bring things around to Volkswagen. The company announced this week that it had sold over 8 million units worldwide in 2011. While the company is a large and influential carmaker, it has always been a bit frustrated by the US market. But it looks as though in 2011 they may well have cracked the nut. They experienced a 25 percent year-on-year increase in sales. So what exactly is making it the right time to sell a non-luxury German car in America?

CarCounsel: Again, they were designing for the European market. They were designing a car as well as they knew how, and they were designing to a performance standard and then setting their prices accordingly. This is a contrast to a lot of the Japanese and domestic makers that VW was having to compete with. The real change that we’ve seen with Volkswagen in the last year or two is that it’s decided that American buyers aren’t interested necessarily in the highest level of technology or how the car is made. They’re more interested in the value, meaning getting more car for their buck.

And even without trying to be a baby BMW or a baby Audi, the experience of driving a Volkswagen is a lot more relaxed, a lot more domestic or even Japanese. Critics and analysts like myself have decried the fact that the brand has gone afoul. But those very changes that seem so offensive to us seem to be resonating with the consumers at large.

DW: On the other end of the scale, German luxury makers are also doing rather well in the United States, especially BMW. In fact, last year they led the luxury sector there for the first time ever. What is it that BMW is doing right in terms of getting more high-end consumers in the US to go into the showrooms and buy cars?

CarCounsel: As discussed earlier, the two things that BMW did that toppled some of the barriers in the marketplace were the free scheduled maintenance and the inclusion of all-wheel drive. People wouldn’t think about a BMW, but then did after those changes. But BMW has also led the charge in a couple of other ways. Some things hadn’t really been received very well at first, but a spin-off car from an existing car for instance doesn’t cost a whole lot of money, and it can really fill the hole in your product line-up. There’s a general shift in the kind of cars BMW is conceiving and inventing. They’re still fine automobiles, but they aren’t placing driving as the number-one priority. The positive thing there is that they’re able to cannibalize from other makers.

Design is a big aspect as well. If you look at Audi or BMW, they both brought in designers who really shook up they way German car companies are doing things. But while diluting a little bit of what they do, on the mass scale they’ve become a little more focused in their products in the performance divisions.”

I am still sore and deaf but must say it was one of the more thrilling drives of my life if only because like on a Segway you’re pretty much at the limit whenever you’re in motion.

The sounds it makes evoke what it must be like to find an old 911 turbo in a barn that you try to nurse home – I never heard so many grunts, moans, pops and hisses from a single motor.

The squat under acceleration was addictive, reminding me of something that was lost when trailing arm rear suspensions went extinct and making the car feel far more powerful than it was. In fact I never wanted for more power, and was shocked to find it felt better on the highway than around town.

If it had a different tranny (impossible to get a smooth shift out of and eons between ratios) and brakes (truly binary) it would be fun but as it is I’m fairly convinced the people who own them kick themselves each time they send in the payment check.