THE SUPERCAR THAT’S A SEDAN
The four-door packs a wallop — and as much tech as Mercedes can fit
Demand the most powerful car in a Mercedes showroom and you will get a swoopy four-door coupe with more wallop than supercars or twin-turbo V12 flagships. Its thunderous exhaust note is followed by a muffled turbo snort, crackling volleys from quad tailpipes and naughty giggles inside the cabin.
Benz calls this the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4Matic+ 4-Door Coupe.
Unpack the complex name and you discover this is a high-performance AMG powered by a development of the same V8 found in the C63 stablemate, helped by the
addition of “4Matic” all-wheel drive and stylish coupe-slash-sedan looks to rival Audi’s RS7 and the Porsche Panamera.
The manufacturer’s go-fast department says this in-house job follows in the wheel tracks of the discontinued SLS “gullwing” and the Porsche 911-fighting AMG GT.
As with its two-door cousins, the experience in the GT is dominated by its engine, in this case a thumping 4.0-litre twin-turbo with outputs of 470kW/900Nm. Those are serious numbers.
Mercedes says it will do 0-100km/h in 3.2 seconds — a supercar-rivalling claim quicker than any sedan except Tesla’s Model S — and it’s good for 315km/h, a top end the electric car can’t match.
This is the fastest four-seater to lap the Nurburgring circuit in Germany, which may prove cold comfort for owners trapped in the daily reality of inner-city traffic. Then again, commuting isn’t a chore in a $349,900 Mercedes with driver aids that can shoulder some of the load in the right circumstances.
The GT is loaded with just about all of the tech Mercedes can fit, including adaptive cruise control with steering assistance and clever apps that analyse driver performance.
In the opulent cabin, luxury touches include heated and cooled leather sports seats, softclose doors and twin high-resolution displays in the widescreen dash. Finishes throughout are suede-like microfibre and perforated leather.
Key options include lashings of carbon-fibre (get the lot for $30,000), 25-speaker audio ($10,400) and luxury rear seat package that swaps the conventional bench for a pair of heated business-class chairs with climatecontrolled cupholders, wireless phone charging, retractable sunblinds and more for an almost-sensible $4600.
Enthusiasts can add high-downforce aero kit ($7300), carbon ceramic brakes ($17,900) and track-ready sports tyres ($1600) for maximum bragging rights.
But you don’t need all of that — its sophisticated standard gear includes adjustable air suspension, four-wheel steering, active rear diff and nine-speed automatic transmission, all of which do a great job keeping its two-tonne bulk in check.
It feels like a much smaller car when pressing on, imbuing drivers with far more confidence than the exhilarating — if edgy — C63 familiar to many enthusiasts.
You use the power with impunity, relying on impressive purchase from all-wheel drive and sophisticated stability control. It steers well, too, with meaty weight and decent feedback to keep you in the loop.
Air suspension serves up an impressively plush ride in comfort mode and excellent body control when you twist the steering wheel’s driving mode dial to more aggressive settings.
We sampled the car with optional (and impressive) ceramic brakes, which stopped the car without fuss. AMG recommends this option for drivers determined to push the car to its limits.