The world of performance cars is changing. Just look at the Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ to see in which direction things are moving. The clue’s in its name – that word ‘hybrid’. There was a time when all a manufacturer needed to do to make a performance car was stick a whacking great big engine into a regular saloon or estate car and Bob’s your uncle.

With ever more pressure on producing cars that are kinder to the environment, though, you’ll be seeing a lot more electrification in performance cars over the next few years.

Like this E53, the BMW M5 is a plug-in hybrid and that’s great news for trimming CO2 emissions, at least as far as the official figures are concerned. It also means you can potter about the city without spewing out fumes, but it creates other issues. One of them is carrying around all the extra electrical gubbins: a biggish battery and an electric motor. It adds a lot of weight.

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Now, weight is a killer when it comes to performance cars. It affects the handling, braking, and the acceleration. And the E53 tips the scales at a mighty 2,300kg. To put that into context, the lightest E53 is as heavy as the fully electric Porsche Taycan. So, you might say the E53 is fighting the old-guard rivals – cars like the Audi RS6 and BMW M3 – with one hand tied behind its back.

It also has to take on the mantle of top AMG E-Class for the time being, as the full-fat E63 version isn’t out yet. 

The good news is it’s basically the current-generation E-Class underneath, which means the same high-grade, high-tech interior. For example, it has the option of the Mercedes MBUX Superscreen Package for the delectation of both driver and passenger. Basically, it’s an array of screens across the full width of the dashboard.

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Is that what the next breed of performance saloons is all about, then? On-board tech rather than outright driving pleasure? We’ve now driven in both Germany and the UK to find out – and to find out how we evaluated it read our how we test cars page.

What’s it like inside?

It’s an E-Class, and if you like screens, you’ll like it a lot. They’re all very high-res, starting with the 12.3-inch driver display. Next to that is a 14.4-inch infotainment screen with all the latest MBUX features – including natural speech voice control and Mercedes Me on-board connectivity.

The software is generally responsive but, with so many features available, it takes some learning to find your way around the menus. One of the biggest issues we found was the voice control automatically assuming you were talking to it and then trying to direct you to random locations, despite us never saying ‘Hey Mercedes’. We’ve never found it to be an issue in other Mercs, so maybe it was a quirk of our test car.

The E53 gets some AMG-specific features, too, including the (optional) AMG Track Pace app. This is a race-car-style datalogger, plus it has features designed to improve your lap times on track. Mind you, even Mercedes admits few E53s will end up on track. Part of the Superscreen pack is a third screen in the front, allowing a passenger to stream online content like YouTube – a handy distraction, perhaps, if you’re attempting to better your lap times.

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Despite the tech overload, there are a few useful shortcut buttons on the dashboard. One takes you straight to the screen that turns off all the annoying safety features. Another directs you to a section where you can fine-tune the many AMG drive-mode settings. You can recall these or make further changes using physical rotary controllers on the steering wheel. They’re easy to use but the other steering wheel buttons aren’t; they are touch-sensitive and infuriating – and best avoided.

As you’d expect with all those screens, it feels very modern but also very plush. Depending on the trim there’s lots of leather (or man-made alternatives), carbon fibre and chrome. For a Mercedes, it’s screwed together well, too. It feels more solid than an Alfa Romeo Giulia QV, but not quite a match for the RSJ-like solidity of an RS6. And some of the piano black plastic feels quite flimsy.

The E53’s driving position is great – especially with the optional AMG Performance front seats. These are electrically adjustable and hug you in all the right places. Indeed, they’re supremely comfortable for long stints of motorway driving and keep you propped up when you’re carving hard through canyons.

If there is an issue it’s visibility. The high-window lines and big pillars – especially at the rear – certainly get the heart pumping when you’re threading the E53 through tight roads with high kerbs. It’s the same when parking, but at least you get some help from the standard parking sensors and 360-degree camera.

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Whether you go for saloon or estate, there’s plenty of legroom for four tall adults. There’s lots of headroom, too, and cabin storage space, but the boot isn’t great. Both the saloon and estate lose luggage volume compared with regular petrol or diesel models because the hybrid battery lives under the boot floor. You get just 370 litres of space in the saloon and 460 litres in the estate. For reference, the Audi RS6 Avant has 565 litres.

What’s it like to drive?

The first thing you notice is how light it feels. Really, we’re not joking. It might weigh more than Jupiter but, by the way it deals with twisty roads, you’d never know it. There’s a lightness of touch that you wouldn’t expect given both the size of the car and the luxury on offer. Take the steering, for example. It’s quick-witted, precise and light, and thanks to standard rear-wheel steering the E53 feels nimble at slow speeds.

The car is incredibly eager to turn in when you’re approaching a corner on a B-road. We quite often found ourselves having to make smaller steering inputs than we thought we’d need, because the E53 is so sharp at the nose.

If you want, you can also provoke mighty slides out of hairpin bends – yes, we know that’s a bit silly but it’s also jolly good fun. Press on along a sweeping A-road and you’ll also revel in the way it flows along, leaving you to pick your apexes easily.

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That sense of the E53 flowing comes from the suspension as well. It sits on steel springs but has fancy two-valve electronically adjustable dampers that keep the car settled over peaks and troughs. It occasionally gets unsettled with high frequency bumps but overall it has a lovely compliance, managing to balance comfort and connection as well as any Mercedes we’ve sat in recently.

For sure, it’s firmer than regular E-Classes, but in the softest (Comfort) setting it brushes off battered roads with ease. As you ramp up the driving modes, with the dampers’ stiffness increasing through Sport and Sport+, you get ever more control. Yet, importantly, while retaining enough suppleness for the road.

Having said that, the best mode is Individual, allowing you to select ‘dynamic drive, comfort suspension and pro dynamics’. This keeps the car handling sharp but without the annoyance of a fidgety ride. It’s also easy to select this, thanks to the rotary dial on the steering wheel.

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What about the brakes? These can often be snatchy because hybrids recoup electrical energy under braking. Happily, the E53 mostly avoids that issue. When you first try them out the pedal is perhaps a touch abrupt and wooden. But then, with a few miles under your belt, you adjust to them, after which you’ll find them easy to modulate and powerful.

Mercedes-AMG E53 engines

With the six-cylinder turbocharged petrol and electric motor working together, the E53 has 585hp – enough for 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds and a limited top speed of 155mph. In fact, option the AMG Pro Performance Package (£7500) and you get a Race Start mode for even more oomph. It temporarily pushes the peak power to 604hp, dropping the 0-62mph dash to just 3.8 seconds, and raises the top speed to 168mph.

That’s quick acceleration in anyone’s book, besting (by a tenth) a standard M3. You can go quicker, though.

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How? By opting for the much lighter and even more powerful RS6. But what’s lovely about the E53 is how easily you can deploy all that performance. The electric motor fills in gaps in the turbocharged petrol engine’s shove, while the nine-speed auto picks the right gear adeptly. It’s not always so adept when you’re using the paddles behind the steering wheel, though. Try changing gear manually and, at times, it refuses to do your bidding.

The noise of the six-cylinder petrol arguably isn’t as evocative as the RS6’s burbling V8, but it’s ultra smooth and sounds lovely in its own way, getting better the harder you go. Well, as long as you turn off the synthetic sound it makes in Sport+ mode – that’s as fake as a six-pound note. It’s eerily quiet from the off, mind, because the E53 always defaults to EV mode when you switch on.

What else should I know?

The electric motor alone has enough poke to get you up to the national speed limit. And, officially, it’ll keep going for 59 miles before the petrol cuts in. The battery takes around 20 minutes to get from 10 to 80% at the car’s maximum charging speed of 60kW. To go from empty to fully charged using a home charger takes around 3.5 hours.

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So, it’s moved on the game compared with the previous-generation Mercedes-AMG E-Class – but is this evolutionary step enough to push it up to the top of the class? Read on for our full verdict.