I’ll put my hand up and say it: When the brand new AMG GT debuted with out its razor-sharp SLS AMG-derived devoted sports activities automobile platform, I rang the alarm bells. It was the downfall of an establishment, the start of the tip for a beloved, twin-turbocharged V8 brute of a German sports activities automobile.
There was no approach this might be the sports activities automobile that the earlier GT was, I assumed—4,827 kilos shouldn’t be a sports-car quantity. That’s extra akin to the load of a small county. However the Desert Sand Metallic GT63 S E Performance Coupe in my driveway challenged my notions moderately powerfully.
| Fast Specs | 2026 Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Efficiency |
| Engine | Twin-turbocharged 4.0-Liter V8 Hybrid |
| Output | 805 Horsepower / 1,047 Pound-Ft |
| 0-60 MPH | 2.5 Seconds (est.) |
| Weight | 4,827 Kilos |
| Value / As Examined | $195,900 / $221,299 |
In saying farewell to the outdated SLS platform (C190 for the nerds), the GT grew to become a a lot totally different automobile. On paper, the GT is extra of a… GT, whereas the previous C190 was extra sports activities automobile in soul and execution than something, unabashedly so.
The GT now not has a dual-clutch transmission; AMG’s nine-speed planetary-gear automated with a multiplate clutch, as a substitute of a torque converter, lives instead. As a substitute of straightforward twin wishbones throughout, multi-link preparations exist on the entrance and rear. Its dry-sump oiling system is ditched for a wet-sump system, which is much less track-friendly.
Most significantly, although, the GT’s physique is now not an aluminum spaceframe with a rear-mounted transmission; it’s now a mixture of aluminum and metal with a standard, front-mounted gearbox. AMG calls the brand new chassis C192.
With the top-flight GT63 S E Efficiency trim, it additionally good points the last word type of blasphemy: hybridization. AMG’s P3 hybrid system locations a 201-horsepower electrical motor throughout the rear differential housing, sending energy ahead by way of the central driveshaft and on to the rear wheels with the half-shafts. With the well-known 630-horsepower 4.0-liter V8 up entrance, the GT63 S E is sweet for a complete of 805 horsepower and a colossal 1,047 pound-feet of torque.
If you are able to do fundamental math, you’ll acknowledge that 630 plus 201 is 831, although AMG claims 805 whole. 805 is probably going the whole most output it may well do frequently. A lot of its toolbox of methods is identical because the C63 S E, which incorporates the identical high-discharge 6.1-kilowatt-hour battery and two-speed rear motor. It additionally comes with that automobile’s quirks, however extra on that later.
Picture by: Chris Rosales / Motor1
The outside appears good to my eyes. Lovers of dash-to-axle will miss the lengthy and beautiful nostril of the earlier automobile, however this one has nice highway presence. It appears even higher on this Desert Sand coloration. Its inside, even with the exhausting AMG bucket seats, is dazzling, with stainless-steel accents and over-the-top animations all over the place you look.
The waterfall-mounted 11.9-inch MBUX show is disappointing, per standard, eradicating a number of the tactility of the outdated automobile. There’s additionally a preposterously vast choice of gauge clusters, from the standard Benz look, to an understated one, and a handful of various decisions for the sporty cluster—all of that are totally ineffective. The velocity and crispness of that and the 12.3-inch gauge cluster show made up for a few of it. Nonetheless, all the automobile’s capabilities are relegated to the touch, which isn’t befitting of a $221,299 automobile.
The automobile begins silently, with only a slight whirr because the high-voltage electrics come to life. With the only rear motor and completely geared all-wheel drive, the electrical motor can be utilized to govern dealing with steadiness on entry and exit, serving to stabilize the GT.
It additionally deploys the total fashionable suite of physics-bending stuff: rear-wheel steering, energetic sway bars, adaptive dampers, brake vectoring, and yaw-manipulating electronics. Finishing the impact is a set of Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tires in MO Mercedes spec, that are Michelin’s latest compound.
Picture by: Chris Rosales / Motor1
Crucial factor to know is the driving modes, of which there are seven: Consolation, Sport, Sport+, Battery Maintain, Electrical, Ice, and Race. Most of those are superfluous, and albeit, Sport and Sport+ are price skipping for Race. That, and Consolation, are the place my AMG spent probably the most time.
That’s as a result of in Consolation, Sport, and Sport+, the GT63 S E nonetheless depends on hybrid energy greater than it ought to, depleting its battery. Solely in Race does it regenerate cost meaningfully. And, to my ass dyno, Race dampers are the candy spot and should even be barely softer than Sport+.
Then there are the modes for the digital stability program, three in whole: On, Sport, and Off. Sport is the naked minimal, as a result of the massive AMG tries too exhausting to intervene with all its techniques on and cowers at a touch of coccyx-activating yaw.
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Supply: Chris Rosales / Motor1
However with all of that, frankly, bullshit out of the way in which, I may lastly drive the factor. Instantly, the hybridity of this automobile is obvious. It makes use of nearly pure electrical energy for the primary few seconds of any throttle utility, thrusting its appreciable weight ahead instantaneously.
The handoff between electrical energy and inside combustion could be sleek, however is usually fraught with confusion. For no good motive, the AMG generally fully dumps electrical energy because the V8 builds increase, inflicting a lurching discount in torque whereas the engine catches up.
Nevertheless it solely ever occurs when you’re driving it, nicely, usually. The transient responses are unfinished in some ways, with the electrical motor by no means fairly syncing to the V8 except you might be completely regular with the throttle. Any deviation, like rolling into the throttle, causes no matter algorithm buried deep in its many ECUs to lose its shit.
Mercifully, there’s a easy answer to this: Drive more durable.
The way in which the GT63 S E accepts the modulation of brake strain is addictive. Paired with extremely quick, weighty, and shockingly talkative steering, it makes for a sleek dance. On preliminary braking, the automobile hunkers down exhausting on its tires and wags its tail reassuringly to speak its intent. These of lesser bravery could again down and launch brake strain too early. However they’ll discover a automobile that isn’t significantly focused on cornering. The GT virtually depends on you to show it.
However nail the roll of strain to apex, and it rewards you with probably the most scrumptious carve, an exquisite dance the place the wagging rear settles and digs into its tires, steering together with the entrance. The complete course of murmurs up from the steering column, and after each apex, its colossal acceleration hardly challenges the tires.
God, the acceleration. The GT strikes with the swiftness of a supercar, unchallenged by air resistance or gravity. With each nook, the image of this automobile and its colossal potential turns into clearer. Its suspension, which feels barely harsh however not terribly so on the road, involves life with sophistication on a canyon highway. The gearbox, which doesn’t have the sharpness of the outdated DCT, nonetheless shifts ferociously, with theatrically simulated torque interruptions.
Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Efficiency Verdict
Picture by: Chris Rosales / Motor1
Dynamic masterpiece? I’d warning tremendously in opposition to saying that about any automobile as heavy because the GT. However, even months later, I consider the dance that it choreographs. In that approach, the brand new GT hasn’t misplaced an oz of its outdated character.
That stated, at $195,900 to begin and $221,299 as examined, this automobile is in rarefied air at that worth level, amongst opponents just like the sensible Aston Martin Vantage S and Porsche 911 Turbo S. It’s definitely extra thrilling than the 911, positively extra playful, and virtually as competent. Frankly, it’s solely troubled by the Aston Martin, which has equally unbelievable dealing with and a genuinely particular inside house.
Splitting hairs, the AMG has nicer, extra talkative steering, crisper tech, and is genuinely faster. It’s each ounce of a driver’s automobile, too, however you’ll be able to’t beat the sensation of (relative) light-weight. However as an train in road efficiency, no different GT has achieved what this automobile has. And for that, it’s unbelievable and memorable. A real AMG, this automobile is.
2026 Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Efficiency
Engine
Twin-Turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 Hybrid
Output
805 Horsepower / 1,047 Pound-Ft
Transmission
9-Velocity Automated
Drive Sort
All-Wheel Drive
Velocity 0-60 MPH
2.5 Seconds (est.)
Most velocity
199 Miles Per Hour
Weight
4,827 Kilos
Effectivity
16 Metropolis / 22 Freeway / 19 Mixed
Seating Capability
2
Base Value
$195,900
As-Examined Value
$221,299
On Sale
Now
