MERCEDES-BENZ sells proportionately more AMG cars per standard model in Australia than anywhere else in the world, so when a new model launches here it attracts a lot of interest.

Arriving hot on the heels of the regular, facelifted E-Class range launched in June, the E63 AMG S brings to the table a 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 with the grunt to tame high-end Germanic rivals.

At $249,900, it may be nearly $10,000 more expensive than the previous E63, but the new ‘S’ version includes, amongst other goodies, a 44kW power boost and sports differential which would have blown the final price out to over $270,000 previously.

But that’s not all, because while the top performing 430kW/800Nm ‘S’ is only available in the rest of the world with 4MATIC all-wheel-drive, Australia gets the world’s first specially built 430kW ‘S’ version with rear-wheel drive instead.

For the competitive, these outputs outgun the 423kW/690Nm BMW M5, but then again, the Benz is about $20k more expensive.

And, intriguingly, the purist’s rear-drive version has caused such global interest that right-hand-drive South Africa and the UK have also put their hand up for the Aussie-inspired AMG.

We got behind the wheel of one of the first arrivals here to find out if just two wheels can handle the gigantic output on a typically rain saturated Victorian road.

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