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Mercedes-AMG GT PHEV is the quickest AMG ever!

Blimey! AMG’s new sportscar is quicker than its hypercar, the multi-million dollar AMG One

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Crikey, Mercedes-AMG has unleashed yet another ludicrously powerful, hybrid monster.

Only this time it’s crammed the company’s petrol/electric nuclear bomb into the rather pretty body of the new, second-generation AMG GT.

Welcome, internet, to the (deep breath) Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance.

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First thing you need to know is it’s incredibly quick. In fact, in the time it took you to read its rather long name, this new hybridised GT will have already hit 0-100km/h.

Officially AMG says it’ll hit three digits in 2.8 seconds which isn’t only quicker than the Mercedes-AMG One hypercar (2.9sec) but is quicker than any other AMG ever. Top speed is 320km/h.

To achieve such a rapid turn of pace — it’s a full second quicker to 100km/h than the first-gen AMG GT R — AMG’s new hybrid hero is fiendishly complex.

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The easiest bit to wrap your head around is the big 4.0-litre ‘hot vee’ twin-turbo V8, which is still nestled front mid-ships and produces a stoic 450kW/850Nm.

Incredibly, the big V8 drives the front axle with propulsion for the rear wheels instead coming from a high-tech electric motor and integrated electric drive unit.

The motor is fed by a small 6.1kWh battery pack and channels its grunt through its own two-speed gearbox and electronic limited slip differential, all of which is packaged on the rear axle.

Total system outputs are rated at 600kW and 1080-1420Nm.

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To keep everything cool and ensure the small battery can dump and recoup its energy for long periods of time, each of the 560 cells is individually cooled, just as they are in the new Mercedes-AMG C63.

The electric sub-system can send drive to the front axle, too, and AMG says it’s capable of producing 70kW of continuous power and up to 150kW of peak power. Torque from the e-motor is 320Nm. Should you feel the need, the new AMG GT hybrid will also travel 13km purely on electric power.

As you’d expect, AMG has thrown pretty much every piece of chassis hardware it has at its new flagship.

There’s four-wheel steering, standard hydraulic active roll control with adaptive dampers, an active rear spoiler, four stages of energy recuperation and there’s even an active aero underbody at the front of the car which extends by 40mm to help reduce lift.

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Big complexity brings big speeds and also big weight, so to help harness all of that performance are enormous standard carbon brakes that measure 420mm up front and are clamped by 6-piston, bronze-coloured front callipers. The rear brake discs are equally ginormous, at 380mm with single-piston callipers.

Wheels are staggered 20-inch alloys, which AMG says have been aero optimised, shod in tyres that measure 295/35 R20 up front and 205/35 R20 out back.

Around the back, trainspotters will notice the addition of a charging plug in the rear bumper, with charging taken care of by the integrated 3.7kW on-board charging cable.

Inside, the new-gen GT has the welcome advantage over its predecessor of been a 2+2 rather than a 2-seater only and there’s a host of interior finishes and materials available through Mercedes’ Manufaktur department should you consider the standard mix of leather and Alcantara a touch too ordinary.

No word yet on when the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance will reach Australia, or how much it’ll cost, but we’ll update this story when we know more. Speaking of more, spare a thought for the upcoming Black Series and GT R models for this generation of AMG GT. They’ll need to be something special to outgun this one…

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