2023 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance four-door track review

We first sampled the new AMG GT 63 S E Performance four-door in April 2022 when Georg Kacher dubbed it the new grandmaster of absolute speed.

In a little over 18 months the world has moved on leaps and bounds yet the prospect of more than one thousand horsepower remains a tantalising one. It's also our first sample of AMG’s allegedly F1-derived ‘P3’ plug-in hybrid powertrain concept on local shores and gives us a preview of the forthcoming C63 S E Performance and E 63 S E Performance.

We can hear the groans from unelectrified AMG V8 lovers, though we’d advise you to try before you judge – especially this eight-cylinder based powertrain.

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With both the twin-turbo petrol V8 and rear electric motor running at full song, the GT 63 S E Performance delivers a staggering 620kW.

The torque figure, though, is the most insane. Over 1400Nm, reads the AMG spec sheet, and local product manager Ross Crabtree confirms that a huge 1800Nm can be felt at 55km/h with the throttle fully open.

Mercedes-AMG isn’t looking to shift a whole load of these $399,900 (before on-road costs) four-door grand tourers, but this is an important car. It symbolises the future of petrol-electric indulgence. We’ve been invited to Sydney Motorsport Park for a sample of what the E-Performance can do.

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JUMP AHEAD

• How much is it, and what do you get?
• What is it like to drive?
• VERDICT
• Specifications

How much is it, and what do you get?

Aside from the tech-packed powertrain that we’ll come back to, the GT 63 S E Performance four-door is suitably equipped for a flagship.

Visually, its five-metre length lends it plenty of road presence with the vertical slats in its Panamericana grille, 21-inch BBS-look forged alloy wheels, extending rear wing, E-Performance badging, and AMG V8 signature trapezoidal exhaust pipes telling onlookers exactly what it is.

Its interior ain’t bad either with luxurious soft-close doors, a glass roof, digital driver’s display, a 12.3-inch central screen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, tri-zone climate control, head-up display, and a 15-speaker Burmester sound system.

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The GT 63 is exclusively a four-seater with chairs trimmed in fine Nappa leather as standard.

Up front are AMG’s active ‘multi-contour’ bucket seats with heating, ventilation and massage functions. They’re aware of G-forces, too, their bolsters inflating to keep driver and passenger in position.

Four interior colourways – paired with real wood trim inserts – are available at no extra cost: all black, Red Pepper and black, Titanium/Pearl, and Saddle Brown/Truffle Brown.

Top-shelf Manufaktur leather is an extra $4690.

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Rolling those extra leather options with the rear-seat Business Console and its touchscreen tablet for controlling functions plus galvanised seat finishers and rear roller blind costs $8990.

The Manufaktur pack also bring 40:40 split folding rear seats. Not ideal for carrying bulky items such as bicycles, but handy for a trip to the snow with your skis in the back, or a trip to Bunnings to pick up some lengths of timber. Mercedes quotes a modest 351L boot capacity and there’s no spare tyre.

Other options include the AMG Night Pack ($3490 and fitted to our tester) that brings matte black paint to the alloys, and black highlights on trim pieces (including the sinister grille), as well as rear privacy glass.

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The performance-oriented Carbon Pack ($18,490) can be paired with the Night Pack for extra menace.

It adds a fixed carbon-fibre rear wing, carbon mirror caps and other exterior trims. Meanwhile, the racy AMG Performance Pack swaps the heavy active ventilated seats for thinner front buckets without the active side bolsters and massage facility.

Despite pushing $500K when fully optioned on the road, the GT 63 S E Performance four-door strikes ‘good’ value next to rivals. The BMW M8 Gran Coupe, for example, starts at $377,000 before on-road costs yet its 750Nm is barely half that of the AMG. And it can’t travel up to 12km on electric power alone.

Another foe is the Audi RS7 Sportback. It gets a little closer thanks to a starting price under $250K and 850Nm. But rather than an angry sedan, the AMG GT 63 S E Performance is a supercar masquerading as a liftback.

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What is it like to drive?

Before we arrive at the sheer pace, it’s time to drink in the S-Class cabin quality.

It’s no hardcore brawler; the GT 63 four-door’s cabin is lovingly lined with soft leather from where the dash meets the window to the bottom of the front doors.

The seating position is low – though not too much so – and you sink into the standard non-bucket seats. At 188cm though, I struggled to fit inside with a helmet in my ideal position, having to electrically recline the backrest more than I’d like.

Rear seat passengers are relatively well-served for leg and headroom, though toe room is a little constricted. The view out is pretty good and the two individual rear buckets look to have enough bolstering to hold occupants in place during vicious cornering scenarios.

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With the hand-assembled ‘M177’ 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 adequately warmed through, the driver’s seat beckons.

Ahead of you sits a five-spoke AMG Performance steering wheel which is covered in a bewildering array of drive mode settings and touch capactive buttons. As we’ll only be driving on Sydney Motorsport Park’s GP circuit today, there are only two real settings of interest: Race or Sport Plus for the drive modes, and Manual for the nine-speed dual-clutch.

The conditions aren’t ideal, with clearing rain and overcast skies leaving wet patches and small rivers running across the track. After having some warm-up laps in an outgoing C63 Coupe, deference was applied to the GT 63’s throttle – even with all-wheel drive, 1400Nm is a lot of twisting force.

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That first full-throttle experience is visceral. The rear-mounted electric motor adds violence to the equation above and beyond what the 470kW/900Nm V8 could dream of.

It seems ridiculous that the GT 63 S E performance could weigh nearly 2.4 tonnes.

Yet looking at the complex drivetrain, it makes a bit more sense. The V8 is mounted up front and drives a nine-speed dual-clutch transmission that can handle about 1000Nm. To save the cogs, the electric motor drives the electronically-controlled limited-slip differential.

The 89kg e-motor normally produces up to 70kW and 320Nm but in certain circumstances, it’ll kick 150kW into the equation for up to 10 seconds. The torque number is multiplied through a two-speed transmission, which is how the AMG’s outputs get so high on paper with the ratio changeover happening at about 55km/h.

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Giving power to the motor is a 6.1kWh battery that’s made in-house with cylindrical lithium-ion cells.

It’s small for a plug-in hybrid because the P3 powertrain isn’t designed for fuel-saving (though its ADR combined fuel consumption is pretty stellar at just 7.7L/100km). This is all about maximum performance and for that, the battery needs to be at an optimum 45º temperature – 14 litres of cooling liquid keeps heat at bay.

In some cases, you can notice the grunt levels of the e-motor dropping in relation to what the combustion engine offers but it’s rare. The powertrain is mostly seamless in its operation and, thanks to scavenging extra power from the V8, you could drive the GT 63 S E Performance for your entire ownership without plugging it into a mains socket to charge the battery.

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The resulting 0-100km/h sprint is vicious, AMG claiming 2.9 seconds, three-tenths faster than its predecessor.

It also makes the GT 63 S E Performance Mercedes-AMG’s fastest accelerating car, so far tied with the limited AMG One hypercar.

All this adds up to an experience dominated by stomach-churning acceleration, which is thankfully matched by incredibly fade-resistant ceramic brakes featuring six-piston front calipers and single-piston sliding rear calipers. They’re capable enough to put your stomach contents back in the right spot after a hit of the loud pedal and feel confident underfoot.

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With all that lunacy on tap, the GT four-door sounds like a wild ride. Once you’re accustomed to the sheer speed and mass, though, it’s a very friendly creature.

It turns in obediently and carries a neutral stance through medium to high-speed bends.

In lower-speed corners like turn two, the GT four-door’s four-wheel steering (that can rotate the rear tyres by up to 1.3º) helps the nose dive towards the second apex while the clever ESC system measures out the power effectively on exit. Heavy it may be, but this all-wheel drive AMG flatters the driver.

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But sprightlier rivals can’t ferry four occupants across continents in such comfort

Owing to a combination of the GT four-door’s weight and air springs (which have different roll characteristics at the limit to coil springs) this big grand tourer’s 275/35R21 and 315/30R21 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres don’t key into the racetrack’s surface and let the chassis communicate like lighter supercars and sports cars do.

But sprightlier rivals can’t ferry four occupants across continents in such comfort, and few of them can breeze so easily up to 250km/h down Sydney Motorsport Park’s main straight – just 20km/h shy of a V8 Supercar’s V-max.

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VERDICT

Mercedes-AMG’s flagship grand tourer has not been ruined by a hybrid system. Far from it.

Thanks to electric assistance, the woofly V8 can live on for at least another generation. An extra 200kg may be hanging around, though the old four-door wasn’t exactly a flyweight.

Although AMG let us loose on a racetrack, the GT four-door is not a track car which makes what it did all the more impressive. Especially those carbon ceramics that stayed fresh and punchy lap after lap.

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The front Michelins definitely started to fall off toward the end of the sessions but that’s to be expected.

All that combined with air suspension that can be slackened off for extra comfort and the ability to slink around the city in electric mode make this the most well-rounded GT four-door yet.

An iron fist in a velvet glove is what Mercedes’ in-house tuning brand has always stood for and the GT 63 S E Performance is perhaps the ultimate contemporary expression of AMG’s ethos.

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