Mercedes-AMG GT 63 - Outstanding performance

Once simply a tuning specialist, AMG's sports division of Mercedes-Benz is now increasingly turning to its own unique cars and here's the third one we've seen so far, the GT 4-door coupe, and the AMG brand is generously distributed throughout the world. Today, the Mercedes range variously designates a sporty trim level or, if you've gone further, a bespoke-engined hot version of whatever manufacturer's product you've chosen, but AMG has only developed three cars that are exclusively theirs and they have all been very special, in fact, the 2008 gold-winged SLS was the first of them, the 2014 Mercedes AMG GT two-door coupe was the second, this third design, although it represented the creators' greatest challenge of events, but it is one thing to make a A sports car drives attractively, but quite another to achieve the same with a luxurious four-door model that is 5 meters long and 2.1 tons, especially when it must channel up to 639 horsepower to the asphalt.

Welcome to the Mercedes AMG GT 63 4matic + four-door coupe. That's a great name, isn't it? You can't help but think that this design is the internal development code label car is actually a hatchback and the second in the way that suggests that what we're looking at in this case is simply a longer version of the AMG GT two-door coupe. Hey? It is not the lightweight construction of the space frame that improves the handling of the 2-door sports car. rear cab silhouette; instead, it's very much its own design, a four-seat luxury high-

performance

GT that comes complete with all the engineering power AMG can muster all-wheel drive adaptive air suspension all-wheel steering plus a differential electronic and that's just the beginning, as it turns out, these twin-turbo v8 versions are ready to trample the sales terrain of anything from a Porsche Panamera to a Bentley Continental GT, our initial impression when we first learned about this car may have been quite similar to yours if this model interests you, that is, it is simply a v8 AMG version of the Mercedes CLS 4-door coupe.

With some additional visual tweaks from Affalterbach to justify a big price increase, in this movie you'll get the details on how it's actually so much more than that and why it's one of the best luxury

performance

cars we've ever tested in its guise. faster. It's the most powerful car Mercedes sells and the second most powerful of all time after the old SL65 AMG Black Series, but that's just one of the important things you need to know about this GT Ford. The others await your reading in the other five sections of this article. movie, we have now tested AMG's legendary biturbo v8 in all types of Mercedes models, saloons, convertible sports cars and SUVs, but never with as much power as this one.

How is? Press the big start button on the console of the AMG power unit and it comes to life with a thunderous roar. The first Mercedes was a racer and the company says that motorsport is part of its brand's DNA, it feels like the AMG engine in the front part it was built by hand by specialized artisan engineers in the company's Alfa TOEIC factory. but until the arrival of this 4-door GT, the best state of tune you could have was the 585 horsepower model that is installed in the Nurburgring GTR supercar, which is basically the model that acts as the race car. safety in the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

In racing, when you know that this power is simply the starting point in the GT 4-door 63 range, most will opt for this upgraded GTS model with 639 horsepower, you will gain some perspective when Let's tell you that this car is very fast, in fact the most powerful mainstream production model in the company's history in this S variant, the benchmark of 62 miles per hour is reached savagely in just 3.2 seconds in route to a top speed that tantalizingly reaches 4 miles per hour from 200 miles and for the standard GT dog the The figures do not differ much despite a turbo change from 1.5 to 1.3 bar, they have a power of 3.4 seconds and 310 kilometers per hour, the enormous amount of torque that all this momentum produces 800 neutral meters in the standard model and 900 Newton meters in this one.

This has meant the need to replace the 7-speed Speedshift DCT AMG dual-clutch automatic gearbox used in the GT sports car with a nine-speed wet-clutch AMG Speedshift MCT automatic here, but you still get paddle shifters. on the steering wheel perfectly located. launch control function and software that presses the accelerator on downshifts with the evocative pop-and-kick accompaniment of the switchable AMG performance exhaust system to make it go very fast in a straight line, but the Mercedes AMG models They always have until now, although I've never tried a big one that could really dominate the corners when we first tested the current generation East 62.

That car came close to feeling like a sports car in the corners, but underneath it was still being a big bully and sometimes it felt like that on paper, this GT. in fact, its curb weight of 2.1 tonnes is actually 63 kilos heavier than an East 63rd, unlike that car, although you don't really feel that weight either when you brake or when you throw the car into a corner thanks to the way for the chassis and powertrain systems to interact in a more sophisticated way, there are many of them, including handling and torque vectoring features developed specifically to improve the cornering stability and traction of this car, including a differential of the active locking rear axle and rear-wheel steering that turns the rear wheels slightly in the same direction as the front at higher speeds.

Thanks to all this, once you commit to a series of corners, it's easy to forget that There's an extra set of seats behind you, so the turn-in is reassuring and there's plenty of bite there. Through electromechanical steering, this rack doesn't communicate as directly as the electric steering setup in a rival Porsche Panamera Turbo Wood, but enough feedback is provided here so you can feel in full control when testing this prodigious car. limits of retraction and grip at speed through tighter corners through these corners body roll is negligible understeer virtually non-existent unless you've really rushed into the corner somehow it's actually a better experience than the one you would have in the rear Drive GT2 Door because even in the dry you can exit a corner much faster and with more stability thanks to the 4matic plus all-wheel drive system.

The drive to the rear wheels is permanent and the front wheels call into action on occasions that will be frequent if you continue forward when all that turning of conversation is too much for the rear wheels to handle on their own, since with the e63 s variants On this 4-door GT you get an additional drift mode for track use which disengages the clutch from the front wheels to allow hair-raising drifts on the circuit, it's fun but pretty silly and we're not going to try it here because we'll get locked in and therefore Of course, that's the ongoing problem with such a powerful street racer, it's intoxicating but on the road.

Even if you are brave enough to test the wildest limits of the performance on offer, you can only do so for a few seconds if you don't want to attract unwanted attention from the local police. Drift mode only works in the more extreme environment than this model. The built-in AMG Dynamic Select driving program system can offer a race mode that is also exclusive to the S variant as part of an AMG Dynamic Plus package that also includes dynamic engine mounts that improve performance by reducing drivetrain vibrations. . The other dynamic selection options selectable slippery comfort Sport. and Sport Plus are common to both four-door GT models and, as you would expect, influence throttle response, gear shift times, steering exhaust note and stability settings, as is typical in For this type of setting, there is also an individual section on the center screen that allows you to set your own personalized driving settings, just as a DTM champion would tune his racing car, which is useful.

You can be like us, for example, favoring sharp throttle response and those exhaust fireworks, but seeing that those attributes are combined with a little less. heavy steering and a supple ride, well, a more supple ride anyway, this 4-door GT is never less than firmly damped no matter how much you tinker with the individual section menus, the rival Panamera model offers a more subtle ride, These rather cheap feeling little controllers added to the bottom of the steering wheel allow you to easily switch between driving modes on the move and assign an individual pre-programmed setting for even more modes.

That individual section includes access to the car's integrated AMG dynamic handling programs which have a lot to do with the Sublime Chassis and Powertrain Interaction we mentioned earlier, there are four basic Advanced Professional and Master, normally these are automatically pre-assigned to the five modes AMG dynamic select driving system that we just mentioned, the basic offers additional stability in comfort and the advanced slippery settings are activated in the sport program and adds lower damping, a lower steering angle requirement and improved agility support for Give the car faster reactions on winding country roads. The abbreviation for professional belongs to the Sport Plus program and provides the driver with even more assistance for dynamic maneuvers while maintaining agility and steering feedback is further improved and finally, Master is a track-only option that works exclusively with the mode racing style we referenced earlier and adds even more precise steering and a slight element of oversteer to the vehicle's balance, making it easier to get the rear end out and engage.

The tire smoke drift mode behavior we were talking about, the master mode in the race settings, can only be activated once you've used the separate button on the center console to switch the ESP stability system into its mode. of provisional sport handling or if you're feeling really brave if you're going to buy this car, it would be a criminal waste not to at least test it out on a circuit and, in the case of this model, see what these drift and master racing modes can do. Part of the purchase price actually gets you a session with an instructor on the test track at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands in Surrey, although you may need more professional instruction if you want to make full use of what is possibly our favorite feature. on this model: AMG Track Racing Package – This is a lap timer and telemetry system that can not only record your circuit times but also analyze data and help you improve them;

You can quickly learn any new track you try and already know a variety of famous tracks like the Nürburgring. The Nordschleife er Laguna Seca and Spa Franco shops offer you braking and cornering tips that can also be replicated on the head-up display so you can improve your technique as you complete the laps and a built-in drag race function allows you to analyze acceleration and braking values ​​while monitoring data on tire pressures, transmission temperatures and steering angles - even for fast highway driving, there's a lot to address if you want to get the most out of the driving package. that this car has to offer, adding to the race-ready feeling. the custom graphics AMG added to the futuristic dual copic screens that dominated the cabin the virtual instrument clusters AMG's performance section tells you about engine power and torque in real time, plus the display will also let you select a layout Super Sport single dial that offers grand tourer-style flashing bar graphs that show how much throttle and conversation you're using, plus there's a lateral force indicator to show you how hard you're cornering.

Graphics like these are fun, but the only time they show any real interest is The moments when your eyes should be firmly glued to the road, easiest to use without distracting attention, are the individual buttons on the lower center console. that allow you to choose theManual panel shift operation for gears, changing stability settings and modifying suspension feel. AMG ride control adaptive dampers and a multi-link air suspension setup at the rear. There is also a manual button for the electrically extended rear aerofoil which normally operates automatically and rises up to 182 millimeters in height to increase downforce at speed.

An optional fixed rear wing can replace this appendage to press the car even more firmly against the track. Apparently it can add thirty extra pounds of downforce when you hit 187 miles per hour. There's another button that will mute the sound of that AMG Performance exhaust. but rarely will the soundtrack be so glorious and intoxicating that it makes even a trip to the city an event worth savoring, which is as good as it gets in other ways. City trips with this car can be a bit challenging. Maneuvers at low speeds can be uncomfortable because the car tends to lurch forward even with small movements of the accelerator.

I can make parking a pain at a time when you feel the body working with enormous width, but integral sensors and a standard 360-degree around-view camera help the huge Lee thanks to this and better visibility panorama. It's certainly much easier to maneuver around spaces than its two-door GT stablemate. Unsurprisingly, it's also a better road-going cruiser than that alternative sports car model, although you'll get more positive handling and significantly better refinement on long journeys with this one. cars to closer rivals, which are the Panamera Turbo and the BMW m8 grand coupé, one tire poses a particular problem, so this Mercedes is not the perfect grand tourer, but for us that difficult balance between tearing on the track and GT on road has been achieved better here than in any other car.

We have still tested AMG Supremo Tobias lawnmowers of this type and I think that in this form the four-liter V8 is practically at the limit of its performance potential, which makes it even more impressive for this car. It allows you to convey much of that talk. usefully to the asphalt, it's notable, but perhaps that's what we should expect from a brand that dominates the top level of motorsport largely in the modern era to understand why you only need to drive. Just one look at this car is enough to convince you of the seriousness of its intentions.

The Vitalis stylists end up eager to convince us of what he calls his athletic beauty, but his Mercedes described another of their four-door A coupes, the current third-generation CLS. That way, we'll just comment that this 4-door AMG GT fits that description much better. Most observers seem to think that the blunt street racer-style shape is better resolved than that of its closest rival, the Porsche Panamera, and we tend to agree. Since this is the most powerful Mercedes model ever made, if you're an enthusiast you won't be able to help but lift up the heavily contoured power, don't go under the hood to inspect the four-liter Biturbo V8 that sits beneath an engine basically the same as the one used by other models of the upper half of the rear, but carefully renovated for this car, as usual with the brand, the engine witnesses the unique approach of this engine of a tuning division, adorned with a plaque with the signature of the engineer. whoever worked on it, hats off to you Hare Rodriguez, the front end certainly offers the required level of passing presence, courtesy of a wide shark nose that sees carbon fiber trimmed multi-beam LED headlights flanked by a slatted AMG grille Pan-style verticals lower down like in A 2-door AMG GT sports car, this Jet wing centerpiece curves between two huge corner intakes.

The chrome finish for this lower splitter identifies the upgraded status of this particular variant and, in profile, it is certainly much more of a four-door coupe. What helps the CLS to some extent is the fact that, despite its name, this car is actually a hatchback rather than a saloon, the roofline slopes back more aggressively than the sister model and The glass house is longer and wider, the wheels are larger, 20 inches. equipped as standard with 21-inch wheels available on request multi-spoke alloys yellow brake calipers will also inform AMG experts about this model v8s more powerful state designer Vitalis ends up saying that his favorite part of this car is its rear section to To be exact his exact words were That it has a fantastic edge, we think it's an acquired taste, but the wide, flat lines grow into the super slim LED taillights with dynamic turn indicators that define the line of the loading threshold just above which is the automatically extending spoiler which can be raised up to 182 millimeters high to increase downforce at speed, an optional fixed rear wing can replace this appendage to press the car even more firmly against the track, although only when kind of speed that would leave you locked in for an extended period if you tried.

On a public road, the side air vents add highlight to the pavement and the twin chrome tailpipes are integrated into the powerful, ribbed lower diffuser under the skin. The AMG GT two-door sports car's spaceframe is replaced by the MRA platform underpinnings shared with the CLS and E-Class, although substantially revised for this design, great effort has been made to keep weight under the hood and The front wings are made of aluminum and there is also a lot of carbon fiber in the structure, but much of this hard work has been This was canceled out by the amount of chassis reinforcement that Affalterbach decided this model would need for that purpose and was inserted an aluminum plate under the engine and there's substantial steel and aluminum reinforcement at the bottom, which helps explain why this car still manages to tip the scales on top. 2.1 tons, is it time to get behind the wheel?

Will the cabin of this very individual AMG design be as unique as the exterior? Well, no, actually it's not and it certainly doesn't look much like a two-door AMG GT, although potential buyers of this car would probably think that's a good thing rather than a low seating position that sees you staring. through the windshield of a mailbox like a hood stretching into the distance; It really feels more like a sporty CLS or E-Class here. the key differences lie in this AMG Performance 3-spoke flat-bottom wheel which even a faulty backrest accepts will be for some an acquired taste and perhaps more significantly what is grandly called the AMG drive unit, this bespoke lower console you get the same kind of things. in the two-door AMG GT with key control buttons arranged in a V shape in a nod to the V8 engine at the front, but here the effect is somewhat less striking square controls instead of round function with buttons for the transmission suspension ESP stability exhaust and start/stop that color change as you activate them and drive the rocker switches for drive program selection and volume regulation, at least you get a proper gear lever, a long abandoned contraption On regular Mercedes models, even on quite a few AMG models, as in that too, GT dog, this raised selector is small and should also function as a palm rest for the touchpad located right in front.

We've never particularly liked the infotainment touch panels on anything other than a super smooth road - they're harder to operate than a rotary bottom controller. which is the kind of thing you'd get in the CLS AMG 53 model that would give you much of this car's capability for almost half as much. Regardless, we found that Cells prefer to use the small touch sensors on the steering wheel or the lingual tronic voice control to operate the main infotainment functions, presumably the touch panels needed for the latest version of the cockpit's widescreen display. What this four-door GT model should have Yes, it's the same thing you'd find in your grandfather's Class II with two twelve point three inch screens with a resolution of twelve point three inches together under a bonded glass cover, but the AMG designers have manipulated this configuration, like almost everything else borrowed from the usual Sindelfingen production line.

Let's start with a virtual instrument display that can be configured with a bespoke AMG Super Sport single dial designs that focus on a large rev counter incorporating a digital speedometer. You'll probably want to pair it with the selectable AMG performance readout that can also be selected with the two most common dual-dial instrument designs, blue-tinted, classic, and yellow. themed sports car, the AMG Performance menu gives you engine data such as increasing power, torque and temperatures, plus a G-force meter and AMG Dynamic Select driving mode settings chosen at a glance, the Inline infotainment with central command appears to be more standard equipment with the usual navigation, radio, multimedia phone, Mercedes me connect in-car office and vehicle sections that you would normally find in this interface, but dig deeper into the menus and you will find that it also has Some unique touches on the vehicle portion of the screen.

You'll find the individual section that will allow you to individually customize your preferred AMG Dynamic Select driving mode settings, just as a DTM champion would tune his racing car, and you'll also find what is possibly our favorite feature on this model: the AMG package. of pace on the track. This is a lap timer and telemetry system that can not only record your course times, but also analyze data and help you improve them. It can quickly learn any new track you try and already knows a variety of famous tracks like the Nürburgring Nordschleife and Laguna Seca. and Spa Francorchamps, giving you braking and cornering tips that can also be replicated on the head-up display so you can improve your technique as you clock laps.

A built-in drag race function allows you to analyze acceleration and braking values ​​while monitoring data on tire pressures, transmission temperatures, and steering angles. Sufficient controls and connectivity are available. What else do you need to know about this cabin? It will absolutely live up to the expectations of someone willing to pay Bentley money for a truly great high-performance transcontinental GT model of this type. Depending on how high your expectations are, some of the controls here are a grade lower than what you'd get in a Continental GT or even a Panamera. Take the clever row of small silver vents that dominate the mid-section of the dashboard.

The multi-color backlight is lovely, but if you pick one up you'll get the brittle feel of painted plastic, which is even worse. Other cheap little controllers have been added to the bottom of the steering wheel, allowing you to switch between driving modes and assign your choice of dynamic settings. You could also object. to fascia seams that don't quite line up where the doors meet the dash, and possibly the fact that the top of the cabin console is upholstered in faux arctic leather, although you can swap these out for proper nappa leather at an exorbitant additional cost.

Be fair, an extra spend on carbon fiber interior trim or, if you have more mature tastes, open poor gray ash wood inlays can go a long way toward offering a more upscale interior here once you've configured this cabin to your satisfaction. of this car. Feel truly high-end with the atmosphere further embellished by a standard S-Class energizing comfort package that coordinates climate control, frame dispenser, music and interior lighting with seat heating, cooling and massage in five programs configured by experts. The optional AMG Performance seats are raised. the feel is a little better, although you'll only want to live with them if you're happy with a super firm, race-ready feel.

We would prefer these multi-adjustable standard seats which position you perfectly and combine with the high driving position for Excellent forward visibility, as with all coupe-style designs like Gran Turismo, over-the-shoulder vision is much more compromised, so You'll be glad for the rear-view camera and integral parking sensors, as for the practicality of the cabin, there's obviously a lot more. than you'd find in one of AMG's sports cars, a deep linen compartment at the base of the center console incorporates twocup holders, USB and 12-volt ports and a wireless charging base. Two more USBs can be found in this double-lidded box. between the seats along with an SD card slot, plus there is an overhead sunglasses compartment, a storage net in the front passenger footwell, money clips under the sun visors and full-size door pockets.

Decent, the divine box is reasonably shaped and incorporates a pen clip. If you specify the fragrance dispenser that can circulate a personalized AMG candy, it smells more like aftershave, much of the space in this compartment will be taken up with this perfume reservoir. It's time to take a look at the rear access through these wide frameless doors, now this GT four-door model may be 58 millimeters longer than a Mercedes CLS, but it has exactly the same wheelbase and, as we said Before, a rather more overtly sloping rear roofline, in short, it seems unlikely that rear passengers will be granted the kind of space in the back seat.

Normally you would expect from a luxury segment model more than five meters long once you are in the place back here, it is actually not that bad in terms of space to expand the legroom with the help of the seats particularly slim fronts with scalloped cuts at knee height. There are caveats, of course, headroom is better than we expected, but if you're particularly tall you'll find the top of your head quite close to the roofline, especially if you've paid extra for the panoramic glass roof. . A few words about the seat formats are It is appropriate here because three quite different designs are available as standard;

You get two chairs separated by a storage receptacle and a pair of cup holders, but that's not ideal, possibly because it might leave you a little stuck when it's the weekend to have the grandkids and probably because you might object to the fact. Note that the sports chairs provided do not fold, so when necessary you can extend the boot, so we recommend that you pay Mercedes the small extra amount required to get this three-person rear bench seat in a central position. additional. It's not very comfortable and requires the occupant to sit with their legs spread around the prominent transmission tunnel needed to accommodate the 4matic hardware, but when, as will become more common, there are only two passengers in the City, there is the comfort of having this armrest central.

With its lidded storage tray and stylish removable cupholders, the third available seating option is the devilishly expensive rear luxury lounge package that gives the rear of this car the kind of ambiance you'd get in an executive, but here There are two separate and folding seats. by a wide, exquisitely trimmed center console that houses an infotainment screen, switches for two separate climate zones, temperature-controlled cupholders and a wireless charging mat. What else? Well, the fancy glass house might make some feel a little claustrophobic. There is no option with the standard two or three. seat designs for a third climate zone and we were hoping for vents in the B-pillar, otherwise you just get these twin centrepieces, although it's hard to fault the quality and attention to detail here, elite class double-stitched edge door cards with its intricate Burmester speaker vents. are a highlight incorporating stylish red warning lights for safer nighttime trips off the road and large velvet lined storage compartments with bottle holders, a small removable center compartment including 12 volt and USB ports and seat back pockets, B-pillar coat hooks and standard heated upholstery.

Move towards the tailgate. Yes, despite this car's 4-door moniker, there is the type of rear hatch not found on a CLS. Presumably it's there to make this car more directly comparable to its two most obvious Grand Turismo segment rivals, the Porsche. Panamera Turbo and the BMW m8 grand coupe, as expected, lifts electrically and of course it will do so with a movement of the foot under the bumper, if necessary, a large, although rather shallow, cargo area is revealed, 456 liters in size to give you a perspective that 16 liters more than you would get in an m8 grand coupe and up to 56 liters more than you would get in a Panamera, it is even bigger than the area you would get in a Panamera Sport tour It is a van with enough space for seven carry-on suitcases, but you may have to back up a bit to get them in because the hatch doesn't open to bumper level.

AMG's insistence on strengthening the chassis has meant the need for this excessively high loading lip. In fact, it's so tall that there's room for a storage net inside. If you mess with small items or lose small items in the near section of the cargo area, you'll find yourself leaning over and getting your clothes dirty. If the car is dirty, a little more space is provided under the boot floor, although only because a spare wheel is not provided. This is where the supplied cargo net and the rather cheap looking but surprisingly useful folding cargo box are stored in the boot.

In the main boot area you get belly down points for bag hooks and a 12 volt point plus a very high quality parcel shelf, as mentioned above you won't be able to extend the load area with the standard seat configuration back of two chairs, but Assuming you've taken our advice and opted for this rear bench, you'll get a useful 40/20/40 split that allows longer items, such as skis, to be slid between a couple of people sitting in the back if You need more space for the buttons on the loading side walls. By folding the backrests of this bench you obtain 1,324 liters of storage space, as you will have seen if you have seen other sections of this film.

There are two versions available of this four-door Mercedes AMG GT 63 4matic plus, the 585 horsepower standard model which from launch was priced at just under one hundred and twenty-two thousand pounds, but ideally you would prefer the more s variant. The speedy car we're testing here, which offers six hundred and thirty-nine horsepower and has long been priced at just under one hundred and thirty-six thousand pounds is an enormous amount of money, but there's no doubt that a change you will get a lot of car. Let's position this contender for you within the Mercedes AMG line. You could say that the engineering format here is closer to that of a Mercedes AMG c63s 4matic plus saloon or a state that uses a 612 horsepower version of the same v8 engine and in saloon form costs around ninety-five thousand pounds but lacks four-wheel steering and other dynamic elements of this car. configurability and in any case, of course, it is not a coupe, but an Affalterbach-designed contender closer to the type of car that is the Mercedes AMG CLS 53 4matic, which gives it a very similar and is powered by a three-liter 6-cylinder EQ boost biturbo engine that develops 435 miles of power for around £75,000 or it could have the same 53 series engine with the Mercedes E-Class coupe with a two-door body style by around 65,000 pounds either way.

Get yourself a car that would take just a fraction of a second longer than this four-door GT 63 4matic + S to lift you from rest at 100 kilometers per hour, which might give you pause for thought given that an AMG 53 CLS or eClass coupe costs basically half, if this is what you really want, take solace that it appears to offer better value than the Mercedes AMG GT 63 two-door sports car model, that contender can be had with the 585 horsepower engine than the base version. of this four-door model is used, but only in the race-ready GTR Proform, which costs almost £190,000, certainly can't be had with the quicker 639 horsepower version of AMG's 4-liter twin-turbo V8 engine that we are testing in this four. -Peru's s variant is one of the more standard versions of the two-door AMG GT sports car and you will find that the closest variant to this four-door model in terms of power is the GT c which uses a 557 horsepower version of that same v8. but that still costs around 133 thousand pounds.

Other Affalterbach coupe options that would open up with the kind of money you're looking at here include the S60 3 version of the S-class coupe that offers 612 horsepower and costs around 128 grand and the SL 63 version of the SL roadster that offers 571 horsepower and costs about 119 grand, but both are only rear-wheel drive in our market and aren't as dynamically sophisticated or as stylish as the car we're looking at here. While I get the idea, the bottom line is that Mercedes covers all aspects of the luxury coupe segment more thoroughly than any other brand, especially in other markets where lesser six-cylinder versions of the 43 and 53 series of this GT model are also offered. four doors.

At the time of this test in the summer of 2019, no decision had been made about whether variant 53 could arrive here. A wider choice of engines would certainly make this car a more pressing threat to its closest rival on the market, the Porsche Panamera, as the v8 version of this 4-door GT is only really comparable to the variants in the top of the Panamera range. A Panamera Turbo offers enough power 504 two horsepower to compete with the standard four-door GT 63. It costs around £120,000 to compare with Porsche. With this four-door GT model you would need a Panamera Turbo S e-hybrid which offers 670 horsepower and costs around £140,000.

The other obvious rival to what's on offer here is the BMW m8 grand coupe, a model from Munich that costs about the same as a standard 4-door GT 63, around 120mm, but offers a power output of 625 closer horsepower than you get in this upgraded 63-rated 4-door GT variant, but its 4.4-liter v8 produces 150 Newton meters less conversation, so it won an m8. It doesn't feel as urgent in the mid-range nor does a BMW or Panamera feel as exclusive as this Merc, not as long as sales in our market are limited to this 63 v8 variant anyway, so what other 4-door GTs equally powerful luxury performance cars?

Could you buy it? It would feel as exotic as this rank-and-file AMG contender. Well, how deep are your pockets at the time of this test. Aston Martin was still selling its high-performance four-door GT, the fast one, but only in five-hundred and ninety-five horsepower AMR form. priced at £195k isn't tempting, we're not really convinced that a Bentley Continental GT coupe is a much more credible option for this Mercedes, or the Conti seems to have the necessary firepower, the top 626 w12 model horsepower and costs around a hundred and sixty thousand pounds, but that Bentley is much heavier than this 4-door GT and lacks much of the dynamic engineering that makes it such an agile model.

A Ferrari GT c4 would be better in that regard, but it costs around two. hundred thousand pounds it only has two passenger doors and in Lusso t form it produces 37 horsepower less than the top version of this 4-door GT, what else is it a Lamborghini heiress with 650 horsepower and​​ a professional stack of 160,000? Well, possibly, but that's an SUV, so those are your options now, if after consideration we would understand that you came to the conclusion that a four-door AMG GT was indeed the appropriate reward for your lifelong effort and , if you come to that conclusion, then you'll want to know. how generous the brand has been with the standard kit, well let's see, we should start by pointing out that a lot of what you're paying for here is tied up in intricate performance engineering if all you want to do is go very fast in a straight line. cause with every executive device under the sun.

You'd be better off choosing the Mercedes AMG s63 coupe, a model we mentioned earlier, but then you'd have to do without all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering and an electronically controlled rear axle. differential lock and the AMG dynamic handling system that contributes so much to the agility of this car. If you are convinced by the proposition of the 4-door GT, choosing this v8-powered Mercedes AMG 63 series contender is your key decision, as we said at the beginning. lies in deciding whether this 639-horsepower Model S is worth it. That's a fourteen thousand pound premium over the standard 585 horsepower version.

Visually, the two variants are separated only by subtle differences. This S version has silver chrome trim tothe front splitter and the rear diffuser. It features these more complex 20-inch AMG multi-spoke alloy wheels with yellow brake calipers instead of the 20-inch five-twin-spoke alloy wheels fitted on the base variant. Both derivatives get the same AMG body styling package for the front and rear aprons and the side skirts along with a bespoke AMG front grille and an electrically extended rear aerofoil. Additionally, both v8 models use the same AMG Speedshift automatic gearbox with 9-speed paddle shifters that incorporates a race launch control function for Grand Prix-style getaways, other features you may take for granted on both v8 versions of this The car includes AMG ride control, adaptive damping, a switchable AMG performance exhaust system, multi-beam LED headlights with ultra-high beams, keyless entry and an active parking assist package that includes all-round sensors and a rear-view camera. 360 degrees.

Additionally, there's an AMG Dynamic Select driving mode system with slick Comfort Sport Sport+ settings plus an individual display that allows you to tailor the various transmission, suspension and exhaust dynamic parameters to suit your preferences. Inside, in both v8 variants, you will find nappa leather upholstery. AMG Performance steering wheel upholstered in nappa leather and top upholstered in stitched artificial leather, stainless steel sports pedals and illuminated AMG door sills, as well as alarm + luxury touches such as wireless phone charging, 2-zone automatic themed climate control and heating. Power front seats with lumbar support The rear seats are also heated, but keep in mind that unless you pay extra you will have to have two separate non-reclining rear seats, we should cover the connectivity and media features;

As standard, all four-door GT variants have the latest Mercedes Dual-Link Widescreen Package which combines a 12-point, 3-inch instrument cluster display with a central monitor of the same size. The instrument cluster features a couple of AMG-specific touches, a selectable single-dial supercar layout or, if you stick with the more common twin. Classic or sport dial formats an AMG performance readout between the two main virtual gauges that tells you about things like engine data g-force readings and AMG dynamic select driving mode settings the sensor - monitor is your spot access to the command line infotainment package which has been combined here with a multimedia interface, a touch panel and an impressive 14-speaker, 10-channel, 640-watt Burmaster surround sound system, as in the rest of the Mercedes range, Command Online gives you a hard drive, 3D navigation, lingua tronic voice control, a 10 gigabyte music record, Bluetooth and Apple carplay or Android smartphone auto reflect our favorite inclusion here, although it's the AMG track rhythm function, It's a lap timer, but it's also much more than that, when you're on the track, the system can learn a new circuit and help you analyze driving data and quickly improve your lap times and well-known tracks like the Nürburgring Nordschleife and Laguna Seca and Spa Francorchamps are already stored in your memory.

A built-in drag race function allows you to analyze acceleration and braking values ​​and can analyze telemetry data such as tire pressure, transmission temperatures and steering angles. If you're ever going to take this car to track days and you really should, you're going to love all of this, it's simply the best track telemetry setup we've found, plus all of this as you'd expect. Command Online gives you all the luxury executive connectivity features we've recently become accustomed to in Mercedes' top models. You get the usual connections to various Mercedes apps. Of course, there are ports for USB sticks and SD cards and there is built-in Wi-Fi with links to Facebook Google Maps and weather updates There is a one-year subscription to the Mercedes concierge service that provides connection to an operator at the push of a button to provide you with virtually any travel information you may need.

Additionally, there are three years of live traffic usage from the brand. service and its in-car office feature that gives you in-car access to your emails and calendar. The Command package also incorporates another feature we really like, what Mercedes calls 2x in-car communication. This is a mobile phone compatible information sharing system that will see or the gt4 door send data about driving conditions to a central hub which then shares it with other Mercedes drivers, which will mean that, in an almost magical way, Your car will know things like icy conditions and traffic jams in advance. It's very smart to talk.

Featuring cutting-edge information technology like most premium brands, Mercedes has developed systems that allow you to monitor many aspects of your car from your smartphone. This four-door GT model of course comes standard with the Mercedes me connect service package which works through a free app that reminds you when a service is due and can automatically detect and share with you details about wear items. of your car. Additionally, the app provides you with a OneTouch button for quick breakdown recovery. An alarm function that will tell you when the parking meters run out. about to expire and an emergency call system that automatically alerts rescue services in the event of an accident.

Buyers also get the additional package of Mercedes me online remote features that allow you to lock or unlock your car from wherever you are and locate the position of your vehicle. If you forget where you parked it, if you recklessly lend your 4-door GT, a geofencing feature will alert you if it leaves a pre-set geographic boundary, and if your car is ever stolen, a vehicle tracker will show its location anywhere in the world. that is covered. Standard kit installed on both V8 models. We have already mentioned some of the features that distinguish this 639 horsepower S version from the standard V8 model.

Let's finish by informing you that, apart from the additional power, the faster variant gives you more tools to use it in extreme situations, mainly at via the additional AMG Dynamic Plus package, which gives you dynamic engine mounts that improve performance by reducing powertrain vibrations and additional AMG. Dynamics selects the driving mode that configures the race, which configures the track handling and includes a selectable drift mode for track use for those who can afford the necessary tire wear and who feel confident sliding backwards on a £150k luxury GT interior. The S model includes dynamic DTM-style microfiber inserts on the AMG performance steering wheel and embossed branding on the AMG sports seats in two options.

Now there are a number of priorities you could have here, but if we were buying the first thing we would consider in this car. is the type of rear seat format we wanted, there are actually three, you may remember we mentioned earlier, the standard two-seat rear format that can't be folded to extend the trunk another 750 pounds, giving you the rear bench of three seats that we have. here, which folds into a useful 40/20/40 split or if you're a CEO with almost £4,000 more to spend, you can opt for the rear luxury lounge package which gives the rear of this car the ambiance comment you'd get in an executive jet with two rear seats separated by a center console that houses an infotainment screen, switches for a separate climate zone, temperature-controlled cupholders and a wireless charging map, plus you get rear side airbags, continuing the theme. seats for the front chairs, you may be tempted to pay more for the optional racing-style AMG Performance bucket seats, but try before you buy because they are very firmly upholstered, ideal for Monza, maybe not so good for the m4 Otherwise, when it comes to options, the first thing your dealer will notice is the extra-cost Premium Plus Equipment Line package we have here for £3,600 more, which adds a head-up display and balance pack air that includes a fragrance generator with an active oxygen ionizer.

Multi-contour massaging front seats with Comfort ventilation and a soft-close door feature that automatically locks the door if it is not fully closed. There's also an Energizing Comfort Package that coordinates climate control, fragrance dispenser, music and interior lighting with seat heating, cooling and massage in five expertly configured programs - it's a OneTouch route to complete serenity. inside. You might also be tempted to find the extra £1,500 needed to get the optional panoramic glass sunroof, but what if your priorities with this car lie more on track performance than luxury? The dealer will first direct you to the fearsomely expensive AMG high-performance ceramic composite braking system which, for an extra £7,000, gives you a set of upgraded anti-fade discs topped by unique bronze calipers; then they'll also point you to the AMG aerodynamic package. which adds a huge AMG fixed rear wing that at 187 miles per hour is supposed to add an extra thirty kilos of downforce.

Autobahn users who routinely drive 187 miles per hour will love it. The package also includes a large front splitter and a matte black finished wheel. accessories for fixing the arch and side skirts and, if you specify it, you can also add the so-called AMG carbon fiber package, which adorns the rear spoiler and the exterior mirrors in carbon fiber. Mention that takes us to all paths. You can pay more to improve the aesthetics of your four-door AMG, both inside and out. Sticking with a carbon fiber theme will tell you about the AMG Carbon Fiber package, one that uses that material to trim the front splitter, side skirt inserts, rear diffuser, and various front spoiler inserts.

Alternatively, an optional AMG exterior chrome package coats these elements in Chrome. You may also want to look at the set of larger 21-inch wheels. You will be offered the option of forged alloy cross spokes in silver or black. designs, we should also mention that unless you want this car to be finished in Polar White or Jupiter Red, the only standard colors, you'll have to pay your dealer extra for your paint choice, there are several metallic shades for just under a grand pounds more. but you will pay more than double if you want a special design. Oh, a shade like the selenite gray finish on this particular car.

What about the interior? Well, if it is understandable that you really don't want the top of the dashboard to be trimmed with fake leather. You'll need one of the exclusive Nappa leather packages which offer full map leather throughout for around £2,300 more. These packages offer the option of an all-black or black finish with red-brown highlights or, as here, in gray, a stylish and dynamic microfiber headliner as well. It comes as part of this package or you can pay even more for the exclusive Nappa leather package we have here which offers the option of brown and black upholstery or, as here, beige and gray upholstery, you may also want to vary the interior finish later.

If you are willing to pay more, you can choose between AMG carbon fiber or matte carbon fiber or, if you prefer a more club style, there is open-pore gray ash wood in the equipment and options, let's take a look at safety. It provides something we were critical about when we first tested the AMG GT two-door coupe. Today, AMG equips its A sports coupe much better in this regard. Active brake assist, autonomous braking is standard and, like most of these systems, scans the road while facing forward. for potential collision hazards while driving and, if one is detected, will automatically apply the brakes if you don't respond to warnings.

There's also blind spot assist that warns you if you're about to veer dangerously in front of another vehicle. Stay active in the lane. The assistance will warn you if you drift out of lane on the road and gently guide you back to where you should be. There is also a care assist that monitors your reactions for drowsiness. Crosswind assist stabilizes the car with internal wind and there is a pre-security system that'll automatically close the windows and roof whileWe pretension seat belts to better prepare you for an impact if the car feels that an accident is inevitable.

We will continue with standard safety measures. Troll's misdirection assist helps you keep the steering wheel straight when cruising. At high speeds, there is also an active bonnet to protect pedestrians and the usual twin front side and curtain airbags, plus a knee bag for the driver, as expected, tire pressure monitoring on the Rear child seats with ISOFIX and all the usual electronic aids for traction, braking and stability. Controls are included - traffic sign recognition is integrated into the Command infotainment system, an auto-dip function is integrated into the multi-beam LED headlights and, as mentioned above, an emergency assist function is part of the Mercedes me connect app which will alert emergency services with your exact GPS Location if the airbags deploy in an accident, if you want extra safety features you'll need to pay Mercedes around £1,700 more for the package optional driving assistance, which also includes some of the brand's latest semi-autonomous driving technologies to experience this.

You will have to be on a highway and have activated two of the elements of the driving assistance package, the active distance assistant Distronic and the active steering assistant. The Distronic function is basically a super advanced adaptive cruise control that automatically regulates your distance to the car in front. and, if necessary, we can slow the car remotely with up to 50 percent braking. Active Steering Assist keeps you in the center of your designated lane and, if necessary, will apply subtle steering correction to make it easier for you to get back to where you should be if you are testing the self-driving capability, you'll also want to experience another interesting feature that is part of this optional package: the intelligent active lane change assist system on a highway with the active distance assist Distronic cruise control and the active steering assist that operates the car will overtake yes, really just hold Press the indicator for a couple of seconds and it will pull out to pass a slower vehicle and then move back into the lane as soon as it is safe to do so.

Another included element of the Driving Assistance Package plus the Evasive Steering Assist feature that scans the road ahead for pedestrians and helps you make sudden steering maneuvers to avoid them. Pedestrians are also targeted by an improved active braking assist system, further enhanced to keep an eye out for unexpected backups and cross traffic. There is more to driving. Assist Plus Package Two Active Blind Spot Assist not only warns you if you are about to stop dangerously in front of another vehicle, but also applies gentle steering wheel talk to correct the maneuver and route-based speed adaptation uses navigation data to automatically adapt your speed before cornering.

Roundabouts, junctions and toll roads, the package also includes a Pre-Safe Plus feature that specifically helps with vehicles colliding behind you, if necessary, locking the brakes when stationary to prevent your car from being in danger. It's all very reassuring given that the four-door GT model weighs 400 kilos more than its two-door GT showmates, one would expect it to be considerably more expensive to run, but if it had been, this car would have finished well behind the fuel and CO2 figures of its most direct rivals in the segment, so an enormous amount of work put into the efficiency of this car measures how much becomes obvious when you learn that this GT 63 S WL TP combined cycle model performs up to 20 2.1 mpg, which matches that of a much less powerful GT2. door and this NEDC co2 four-door design showing 257 grams per kilometer in S form is considerably better, as you would expect the figures for the standard 585 horsepower version of this car are virtually the same up to twenty-two, six mpg and 256 grams per kilometer, the most obvious rivals for both variants, the BMW m8 grand coupe and the Porsche and Panamera Turbo, do slightly better, but there's not much to it and it won't be unless you expect the Porsche in its faster version, a Turbo S e. -plug-in hybrid form that costs 4000 pounds more and is also much heavier, so how come our engineers, because of us, kept the running costs of this car within reasonable limits?

There are certainly a lot of detailed little details that help active grids. On the front panel, for example, when cars are working hard, these vents open to send cold air to the radiators, but when you're driving normally, they close to help aerodynamics and save fuel. The relatively efficient electromechanical steering also inevitably helps, although the biggest contributor to efficiency lies in In the ingenious design of the four-liter twin-turbo V8 engine developed as part of the Mercedes A Blue Direct engine family, the interesting element here lies in the fact that the two turbos have been moved from their usual position on the outside of the cylinder banks. and placed in said inside the V cylinder, meaning this engine can be smaller, lighter, more responsive and cleaner for this installation.

This engine also features ball bearings installed in the compressor and turbine wheels, these are there to reduce mechanical friction and therefore increase efficiency. It also features an AMG Cylinder Management Cylinder Deactivation System which, under medium acceleration loads, automatically deactivates cylinders two, three, five and eight, meaning much of your travel in this car will be done with a V4 engine instead of V8. A special icon in the instrument cluster. indicates whether the disable system is in use, of course, as a driver, you will need to do your part here. The figures quoted assume that the AMG Speedshift MCT transmission is operating in its most relaxed comfort mode which activates the engine start-stop system giving it smoother operation. shifts gears and offers a more restrained engine sound at cruising speeds.

This setup will also activate a slip function that temporarily decouples the engine from the transmission when you lift off the accelerator, which is all well and good, but let's be real. If you're a typical owner, you won't drive your Ford AMG GT or in a way that returns numbers remotely close to what Mercedes quotes. In our time, with this car in mixed motorization, we found an average of between 15 and 20 miles per gallon, a more typical figure that would probably give it a range of around 350 miles with the 80-liter fuel tank. If you take this car to the track, you could expect to see mileage drop by as much as 10 miles per gallon, in other words, no matter how you slice it. drive it and cut it, a super-fast luxury GT like this will always be expensive to run and it's also not just a matter of accepting the fact that you'll quickly be on a first-name basis with the cashier at your local gas station.

The CO2 figures we mentioned above mean that drivers will face the highest possible company car benefit rate of 37%. Road tax will also be raised to two thousand and seventy pounds for the first year along with a surcharge of three hundred and ten pounds for the next four years, your insurance premiums will also be terrifying, courtesy of a rating of fifty in the top group of the workshop for both models of the sixty-three series, which remain definitely the same regardless of the choice you make in this segment, and at least this Mercedes will hold its value relatively well, which is refreshing because in the past the great Mercedes models AMG v8s have tended to lose value at an alarming rate;

Relative rarity is expected to help here, although industry experts don't expect class-leading residuals, you'll probably be on safer ground for your money. than an e63, but now what about other financial considerations? This AMG comes with a three-year unlimited mileage warranty and Mercedes' three-year roadside assistance breakdown cover service will be required annually or every 12,500 miles, which is more frequent than rival models from BMW and Porsche we mentioned and workshop visits won't be cheap nor will consumable parts, but it's worth knowing that your servicing spend can be kept somewhat under control by opting for the optional service care package, which spreads the cost of servicing regular. shop visits that guarantee parts and labor pricing for up to four services and cover the cost of all recommended service items, such as brake fluid, spark plugs, air filters, fuel filters and windshield washers.

There is also an assist dashboard, a service indicator that monitors engine usage and tells you. It is also worth mentioning that the included Mercedes me connected services package includes remote self-diagnosis capability and that allows your daughter's GT to monitor the wear of the elements and alert your local dealer to inform you if anything needs to be repaired. Remember that custom-made Michelin tires will be hugely expensive to replace, so keep in mind that before you go out on track, if AMG had simply added weight, size, power and complexity to its GT sports car to create this model four-door top, the results could have done it.

It's been impressive, but ultimately it would have been unsatisfying. This car's name suggests that approach, but thankfully the sublime execution here is very different for us. This is simply the most impressive piece of design that has brought us back so far than other manufacturers. I've tried before to combine all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, torque vectoring and advanced chassis electronics into an engaging driving experience with limited success. This car does it in a way that makes you feel integrated into the process and it also does it in a way that gives us a huge luxury GT, the balance of agility and body control of something much lighter and smaller, Even if you don't particularly like what this car is like, once you get used to what it can do, you'll love what it does, which is just as good.

Given the price proposition we are talking about in this case, will you really get here double what the Mercedes AMG brand already offers from a CLS 53 model of very similar size and with a stylistic configuration that is almost as fast And it costs half what it would cost? It would be hard to argue that and if you really have to have a v8 and that much power, you could also argue that a BMW m8 Gran Coupe offers it in such a car for less and that a Porsche Panamera Turbo S e-hybrid provides it with plug-in capability. additional, but despite everything, we feel quite in love with this four-door GT model.

It may not have the lottery-winning looks of its two-door sports car show companion, but it will be a lot easier to look at. Not only is it more comfortable to live with, it will also take better care of you when you're pushing or when conditions might be slippery, but it can still reward your inner F1 fantasies better than any other rival if you ever take it to the track. It is simply an immense achievement and a remarkable piece of engineering.