You’re hardly going to feel short-changed considering the prodigious levels of Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG performance on offer.

The engine is a twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8 which develops 577bhp and a mammoth 900Nm of torque between 2,250 and 3,750rpm.

What those figures mean is a frankly ludicrous turn of speed. It’ll cover 0-62mph in just 4.4 seconds, but that’s only scratching the surface. It really comes alive when moving, where all that power can be fed through the rear wheels without the traction control kicking in and dialling back the engine’s ferocity.

Its top speed is a largely academic 155mph, but if you pay a little more and attend an AMG driver training day then you can have this electronically enforced limit lifted to 186mph. Perfect for that run to the supermarket.

What you’ll certainly notice is that this is a car which is deceptively quick. You rarely notice how fast you’re travelling, and at motorway speeds it’s easy to edge into licence-threatening territory if you’re not paying attention.

Over-taking is simply nothing to worry about. A quick push of the throttle is all it takes and then the might of the engine takes over and you’ve passed whatever you were behind.

The seven-speed automatic gearbox is brilliant, too. It’s smooth and nearly seamless during normal driving, but lightning-quick and confident when you want to make real progress.

You have a trio of modes for the gearbox’s character. Controlled Efficiency (C) mode is for everyday use, while Sport (S) sharpens up both the gear-change and the throttle response for better performance. Manual (M) mode simply allows you to change gear with the paddles behind the steering wheel.

This is another area where the S63 AMG excels. Considering the sheer size and weight of this car, it’s almost spooky just how well Mercedes has managed to get it to go around a corner.

It’s beautifully balanced and body-roll is kept completely in check. This is largely thanks to a new feature called Magic Body Control. It actually scans the road in front of you and adjusts the suspension to suit, with absolutely microscopic precision. This means it can adjust to take undulations or bumps into account and ensure the car is ready for whatever the road throws at it.

The net effect of this is deeply impressive. No matter if you’re in softer Comfort mode or more taught Sport mode, the S63 handles extremely well, fooling you into thinking you’re driving something far smaller.

Mercedes chose to fit a speed-sensitive sports steering system to the S63 and this, again, is excellent. Flicking the car into Comfort mode means lighter, more heavily assisted steering and Sports mode unlocks more feedback through heavier weighting.

There’s a huge amount of safety systems installed to help keep you on the road and pointing in the right direction, but should you feel particularly brave you can turn all of these off. What you’re then left with is a seriously tail-happy machine which won’t fail to make you smile – if you like that sort of thing. Again, it belies its bulk more than anything of this size has any right to. If the car does begin to slide, it’s progressive and easy to control. In this aspect it feels very sporty indeed – a true AMG machine.