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Geneva International Motor Show 2018: Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé

When your tuner department starts making cars for their own model lineup and outdoes what they usually do for you. That’s what AMG has done to Mercedes-Benz with their latest production spec creation, the 4-door coupe version of their beast from the green hell – the new Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S. Or to mention its full name, the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ 4-Door Coupé, which is a mouthful and then some.

The AMG folks first showcased the GT Concept at Geneva last year, we were pretty excited about the prospect of an AMG built 4-Door coupé especially with the red colour and gold accents on the wheels and no ORVMs. This production-spec version looks quite similar to that concept taking into account the legal requirements but doesn’t have that same wow factor. The ‘brilliant blue magno’ paint job is nowhere near as cool, the headlights and taillamps aren’t as impressive, there’s no gold on the rims, a relatively mild-looking diffuser and comparatively dull quad-tailpipes. It’s all of those things. That and the fact that it does look quite similar to the brand new Mercedes-Benz CLS 53 AMG 4-door coupé despite having a hatch-shaped rear.

Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ 4-Türer Coupé

The design is still quite impressive and keeps the identifiable features from its sportscar sibling the AMG GT with the Panamericana grille and hatchback design at the rear. The proportions are striking and the convex surfaces make it look buff, especially with the long bonnet out front. They’ve added a spoiler integrated into the trunk that deploys at speed while the maxed out variant gets a fixed rear wing. The aggressive, enlarged front splitter is part of the aerodynamics package.

Onto the engines, and yes, plural because there are two completely different kinds of engines being offered with the new AMG GT 4-Door Coupé. First and rather surprisingly is the AMG GT 53 which gets the new 3.0-litre inline 6-cylinder turbo engine that debuted in the CLS AMG 53 with the EQ boost tech. It’s got the same figures too with 429bhp and 520Nm while the EQ adds 21bhp and 250Nm when needed to the 4MATIC+ all-wheel-drive system with fully variable torque distribution. The engine is mated to the 9-speed AMG Speedshift gearbox for a 0-100kph time of 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 285kph.

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With that out of the way comes the bread and butter for AMG – their 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8, available in two states of tune. The AMG GT 63 S is the max-attack variant which has 630bhp and 900Nm of twist sent to all wheels via the same 9-speed AMG Speedshift box. More importantly, this is the model that comes with the drift mode, exactly like in the E63 S which will allow you to send all that power and torque to the rear-wheels only for slides-equal-smiles action. It can launch from 0-100kph in 3.2 seconds and will top out at 315kph. Meanwhile, the AMG GT 63 variant gets 577bhp and 800Nm, no drift mode, adds 0.2 seconds to the 0-100kph time and shaves 5kph off the top speed. All variants will feature rear-wheel steering for stability at high speeds and ease of manoeuvrability at city speeds.

Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ 4-Türer Coupé

It is based on the same platform as the E-Class and the new CLS but with unrestricted AMG bespokery to make it quite a different animal in terms of proportions and driving abilities. Inside, it’s a very nice place to be with luxury and comfort all around. The central V8-style console from the AMG GT sportscar makes its way into the 4-door coupé as well which is a nice touch. It gets the seamless twin high-res displays dominating the dash, 12.3-inches each standard in the V8 cars and optional in the GT 53. The interface is familiar from modern Mercedes cars but with AMG tweaks while the back seats are available in two configs – 4 seats and 5 seats. It also gets the complete Mercedes-Benz technology package and boasts the connectivity and Intelligent Drive functions from an S-Class. This is pretty much the nightmare that Porsche’s Panamera even in the latest Turbo S E Hybrid will have to deal with. The stupidly fast luxury 4-door game got even more intense. *rubbing hands gleefully*

But here’s the thing. I can’t understand why anyone would opt for an E63 S AMG instead of an AMG GT 4-Door Coupé and anyone who just bought an E63 AMG would probably be feeling a bit ripped-off. Same for the CLS 53 AMG. What do you think of the new AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ 4-Door Coupé? Do you agree that Mercedes has filled just about every niché they could and need to clear up the nomenclature a bit to stop confusing everyone? Share your thoughts in the comments below the gallery and subscribe for more news about the coolest cars.

 

Photos by Manufacturer

2 replies on “Geneva International Motor Show 2018: Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé”

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