MERCEDES-AMG GT 4DR COUPE
This is not a tarted-up CLS – it’s a much more exotic beast than that...
To dismiss AMG’s new GT four-door coupe as a CLS 63 in all but name – which, let’s face it, you’re doing right now – is to do it a massive disservice. Given that AMG isn’t going to ‘63’ the new CLS, this thing will efectively occupy that space in Merc’s line-up when it goes on sale in September. A four-door coupe with many horsepowers, designed to give the best eforts of Audi, Porsche and BMW debilitating migraines.
In the vein of the SLS and AMG GT, what we’re looking at here is a car “independently developed by Mercedes-AMG”, not a hotted-up version of an existing Mercedes. So while it may look like the CLS, study the two side-by-side and you’ll easily spot the diferences. You’ll see the GT has diferent headlights, that there’s a kink in the GT’s beltline where the CLS’s is fat, and that the GT’s roofine tapers more smoothly because it – unlike the CLS – is a hatchback. Underneath, this, the CLS and E-Class share a platform, but under the GT lies much bespokery. Its track is wider than the CLS’s, its wheelbase is shorter and there’s much in the way of, erm, suspension. Air or conventional springs, depending on which engine you go for... Ah yes, engines. The twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, 4Matic AWD and 9spd automatic gearbox are borrowed from the E63. Like the E63 there will be S and non-S versions of the ‘GT 63’ – the former gets more power (630bhp/664lb ft plays 577bhp/590lb ft) and Drift Mode as standard. There’s also an inline 6cyl ‘GT 53’, which uses 48V electrics and an electric compressor to support a conventional turbo for 429bhp. Brits are only getting the V8s for now, and that’s just fne with us…
The most potent GT four-door – the AMG GT 63S – claims 0–62mph in 3.2 seconds and a faintly ridiculous 196mph, despite its more-than-two-tonne heft. Hopefully the fourwheel steering will keep it pointy. Prices are TBC, but expect six fairly large fgures. Panamera Turbo S E nutter Hybrid thingy – your nemesis has arrived.