FOUR-FRONT(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 46

With this Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door 63 4MATIC+ model, the Three Pointed Star maker's Affalterbach sub-brand produced its first unique four-door design - and it's quite an achievement. Let's check out this hugely impressive flagship AMG contender, now also offered in even faster PHEV 'E Performance' form.

Background word count: 193

Once merely a tuning specialist, AMG, the sporting division of Mercedes-Benz, is now increasingly turning its hand to its own unique cars. Back in 2018, we were introduced to the third of these, the rare, desirable GT 4-Door Coupe. The AMG brand is scattered liberally around the Mercedes range these days, variously designating either a sporty trim level or, if you've gone further, a bespoke-engined hot version of whichever of the Stuttgart maker's products you've settled on. But AMG has only ever developed four cars that are uniquely its own - and all have been very special indeed, most recently the collectors' item AMG One hypercar. The gullwing-door SLS of 2008 was the first bespoke AMG design; the Mercedes-AMG GT 2-Door Coupe of 2014 was the second. This third design though, represented arguably the Affalterbach maker's biggest challenge. It's one thing to make a sportscar handle engagingly. It's quite another to achieve the same thing with a 5-metre-long, 2.1-tonne luxury 4-door model. Particularly when it must channel at least 639hp to the tarmac. Welcome, to the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 4MATIC+ 4-Door Coupe, updated in 2023 with an additional 'E Performance' PHEV flagship variant.

Driving Experience word count: 534

It's savagely quick of course. The 639hp '63S 4MATIC+' model's 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 generates 900Nm of torque and gets to 62mph in just 3.2s en route to 196mph. The alternative is the '63S E Performance' version, which uses the same engine, but gains an extra 204hp from an electric motor mounted on the rear axle, creating a total output of 843hp. Only the AMG One Hypercar is faster. The 'E Performance' moniker means that the top variant is a plug-in hybrid, but don't get your hopes up on EV range because the 6.1kWh electric motor provides just 7.5 miles of it. Mercedes says it's there to aid performance rather than frugality. Though it doesn't have much impact on that to be honest, perhaps because the PHEV tech adds 289kg to the kerb weight (necessitating Mercedes-AMG to standardise carbon-ceramic brakes to stop it more easily). The 'E Performance' variant of this car is just 0.3s faster than the standard 63S version (at 2.9s) and its 196mph top speed is exactly the same. With both GT 63 4-Door Coupe models, the acceleration times assume you're using the provided 'RACE START' mode in the 9-speed SPEEDSHIFT MCT AMG auto gearbox, which comes with perfectly-sited steering wheel paddleshifters and software that blips the throttle on downshifts to the evocative accompaniment of popping and banging from the switchable AMG Performance exhaust system. What's even more impressive than the straight line speed though, is the way that the various chassis and drivetrain systems have been developed to interact in such a sophisticated manner. There are plenty of these, including torque vectoring and handling features developed specifically to improve the cornering stability and traction of this car, including an actively locking rear axle differential and rear wheel steering that turns the back wheels slightly in the same direction as the fronts at higher speeds. Another thing you don't get on a GT 2-Door is this car's 4MATIC+ 4WD system, which usually channels drive to the rear wheels, with those at the front called into action on the occasions (which will be frequent if you're pushing on) when all that torque twist is too much for the rears to handle on their own. The 'S' variant also features an extra 'Drift' mode for track use that disconnects the clutch from the front wheels to allow for lurid, power-sliding circuit drifts. 'Drift Mode' only works in the most extreme setting that this model's incorporated 'AMG DYNAMIC SELECT' drive programme system can offer, a 'RACE' mode that's also exclusive to the 'S' variant as part of an 'AMG DYNAMIC PLUS' package that additionally includes dynamic engine mounts. The other selectable 'DYNAMIC SELECT' options - 'Comfort', 'Slippery', 'Sport' and 'Sport+' - are common to both GT 4-Door models and as you would expect, influence throttle response, gearshift timings, steering, exhaust note and stability settings. Plus they include integrated 'AMG DYNAMICS' handling programmes, which have a lot to do with this car's sublime chassis and drivetrain interaction. The balance here has clearly been chosen to favour track behaviour rather than ordinary urban or highway use. But this model is still an eminently usable commuting tool or trans-continental luxury GT when you need it to be.