Mercedes-AMG GT 63 review: Taking on the 911 Turbo
The previous AMG GT was a bit of a brute. With steroid-pumped styling, a bombastic V8 up front and rear-wheel drive, it embodied AMG at its most ‘OMG’: a muscle car that took a wrong turn off Detroit’s Eight Mile Drive and somehow ended up in Stuttgart.
The new GT is, well… more of a GT. AMG’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo ‘hot vee’ V8 still lurks beneath that long bonnet, but its lines are more flowing, there are two child-sized rear seats and drive goes to all four wheels.
If the recipe sounds familiar, that’s because the GT is now effectively a coupe version of the Mercedes-AMG SL roadster, rather than its estranged and slightly unhinged cousin. Priced at £164,905, the GT 63 Premium Plus has the ultimate do-it-all sports car, the Porsche 911 Turbo S, locked in its crosshairs. Shots fired! Hit or miss?
AMG GT range covers all bases
Longer, wider and taller than the car it replaces, the latest GT has softened around the edges like a gently chamfered bar of soap. It’s both more elegant and less distinctive – not least from the SL that shares its powertrains, cabin architecture and aluminium spaceframe chassis.
Despite a thumping 585hp and 590lb ft of torque – sufficient for 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds and a 196mph maximum – the 63 is only the second rung on the AMG GT ladder. The range kicks off with the ‘purist’ rear-driven 421hp GT 43, powered by the four-cylinder turbocharged engine from the AMG A45 S hot hatch and priced from £101,685.
For Affalterbach’s answer to the new Porsche 911 GT3, you can step up to the track-focused 612hp GT 63 Pro for £176,605. Or for a curious blend of hypercar pace and useful benefit-in-kind tax savings, there’s the plug-in hybrid Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance. Try saying the name of this 816hp, £180,745 flagship in less than the 2.8 seconds it takes to reach 62mph…
Inside the Mercedes-AMG GT 63
Inside, the AMG GT will be instantly familiar to anyone who has driven a modern Mercedes-Benz. On the plus side, that means high quality materials, excellent ergonomics and slick infotainment. However, you might feel short-changed if you’d spent six figures on a cabin that, low-slung driving position aside, looks like a well-specified C-Class.
As you’d expect, the ‘+2’ back seats are for young children only – my 10-year-old was fine, my 14-year-old complained constantly – yet they provide enough practicality to rival the benchmark 911. The boot is exceptionally spacious for a sports car, too: 321 litres, or up to 675 litres with the rear chairs folded down.
Aside from steering, braking and the column-shift auto gearbox, most functions are accessed via a reclining 11.9-inch central touchscreen. The sheer number of modes and sub-menus is bewildering at first, but the graphics are sharp and the heating/air-con controls are permanently on display. The MBUX software syncs effortlessly with your smartphone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, too.
Soft rock to heavy metal
Prod the start button and, instead of a ground-quaking, neighbour-waking AMG V8 of old, the GT 63 woofles into life with an air of mild menace. On the move, some of the soundtrack clearly emanates from the stylish Burmester speakers, but toggle the drive modes into Sport Plus+ or Race and the heavy metal thunder blasts back to the fore, syncopated by turbocharger whoosh and crackles from the quad tailpipes.
The GT 63 is actually slower to 62mph than Porsche’s new hybridised 911 Carrera GTS, let alone the ballistic Turbo S. In the real world, though, it has all the performance you could possibly need. The hand-built V8 pulls energetically from around 2,500rpm, closing in on its 7,000rpm redline with wild abandon. Anyone wondering why the new four-cylinder Mercedes-AMG C 63 has bombed so badly should experience this engine first. There truly is no replacement for displacement.
Such sharpness and flexibility encourage you to take control via the tactile metal shift paddles. The nine-speed multi-clutch transmission can be smooth and unobtrusive, or romp through the ratios without a flicker of hesitation. Adaptive 4Matic+ all-wheel drive and an electronic rear differential also help to relay every horsepower to the road. In full-flight, a GT 63 feels like a force to be reckoned with.
Two tonnes of fun
When it comes to corners, the picture is more mixed. The young adult elephant in the room is a (DIN) kerb weight of 1,895kg – around 250kg more than both the outgoing GT and a 911 Turbo S. Add a passenger and some luggage and this has become a two-tonne sports car.
Attack the road and the GT 63 raises its game to suit, rear axle steering and the Active Ride Control system – with electronic anti-roll actuators at each corner – keeping all that mass firmly in check. It isn’t as flamboyant or ultimately as much fun as its forebear, but the payoff is a more confidence-inspiring chassis, particularly when driving on a damp surface.
At more everyday speeds, the 63 isn’t so well resolved. Despite clever interlinked twin-valve dampers, its ride feels restless, the suspension getting discombobulated by rougher roads. My sense is of a car optimised for smooth German tarmac, rather than broken British bitumen. It seems at odds with the AMG’s new, more relaxed brief, leaving an abiding impression of a sports car trapped in a GT-like body.
Verdict: Mercedes-AMG GT 63
The crucial question, then: is the AMG GT 63 better than that other sporty car from Stuttgart? It’s a nein from me. The Porsche 911 is simply more fluid and incisive to drive, a better all-rounder, with a heritage and competition kudos that are unmatched.
Then again, not everybody wants a 911, no matter how much motoring writers bleat on about them, and the number of other cars in this class has dwindled dramatically. In recent years, we’ve waved goodbye to the Audi R8, Jaguar F-Type, Lexus LC, Nissan GT-R and others.
Unless you go leftfield with a Maserati GranTurismo – or stretch your budget to a fully-paid-up supercar like an Aston Martin Vantage or McLaren Artura – there aren’t many alternatives.
The AMG GT has become a different beast, but while it loses some character and musclebound chutzpah, it ticks more boxes overall. If you love how it looks, value its practicality and appreciate its class-leading tech, there is still much to enjoy here.
Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research
PRICE: £164,905
POWER: 585hp
0-62MPH: 3.2sec
TOP SPEED: 196mph
FUEL ECONOMY: 20.2mpg
CO2 EMISSIONS: 319g/km