Driven: The Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Won’t Make You Wait

The most shocking thing about the new Mercedes-AMG GT63 4-Door Coupe isn’t its 1475 pound-feet of torque or its 1153 horsepower. Or the estimated 2.0-second run to 60 mph. Or the flat cornering. Or the responsive steering. Or the drive modes that let you change how the GT doles out its three-motor grunt. It isn’t even the polarizing style. It’s that this car charges at at a rate of up to 600 kilowatts.

Mad with Power

That kind of power makes replenishing the battery almost as quick as pumping gas. Mercedes says its new GT will go from 10 to 80 percent in just 11 minutes. In a demonstration we witnessed, the car was still pulling 259 kilowatts at 78 percent state of charge. Impressive stuff.

Of course, finding a 600-kW charger in the U.S. is another story. In Europe, these kinds of high-high-power DC chargers are increasing in popularity thanks to a growing quantity of heavy electric trucks. But even if you can’t find a charger that can provide more than 350 kW of juice, the GT63—and its less powerful sibling, the 805-hp GT55—can max that charger out for much longer than an EV with a 350-kW peak. As you might expect, both GT variants will come to the U.S. with NACS plugs.

More on the AMG GT 4-Door

The 2027 GT 4-Door can do this thanks to a thermal strategy borrowed from Formula 1. The car’s 106-kWh battery pack, which consists of 2660 cells arranged in 18 modules, is oil cooled. The terminals of the individual cells are where the heat really builds during charging, and by using a cooling loop that focuses on those terminals first, engineers can pump more power into the battery without damaging the cells. This method keeps temps stable across the entire battery within a range of about 9 degrees.

EPA ranges are still TBD, but we expect both the GT55 and GT63 to break 300 miles in maximum-range configuration. Wheels and tires will play a role as they always do, but we mention a max-range config because the GT 4-Door packs a couple of optional active aerodynamic elements to boost range. A hidden front panel works in concert with an extendable rear diffuser, because extending the body’s total length reduces drag. (It’s also really interesting when the diffuser extends several inches beyond the rear bumper.) There are also some moving elements under the body work that increase downforce, but those are more for corner carving than for hypermiling. And, of course, the wing out back can adjust to reduce drag or increase downforce, depending on driving behavior.

Careful, That’s a Load-Bearing Frunk

The higher-zoot GT63 also comes packed with all manner of newfangled suspension hardware. Hydraulic anti-roll control and air springs support multilink geometries front and rear. All the suspension components are aluminum, except for the two rear upper links, which are stamped steel. The lower-power 55 gets conventional anti-roll bars instead of the hydraulic ones. Rear-axle steer, which can turn the rear rollers up to 6 degrees in either direction, is standard.

Another clever addition is the use of aramid in the crash structure, a synthetic fiber you might recognize from its use in bulletproof vests. AMG lashes aramid rope (roughly the diameter of a hearty man’s pinkie finger) to the longitudinal chassis rails. In the event that the car hits a pole or a tree, the rope transfers the load to the chassis, and those longitudinal members crumple inward a bit, hopefully preventing the impact from involving the undoubtedly expensive front motor.

“Structural frunk” is a phrase we’re still getting used to saying out loud. The AMG GT 4-Door has a small frunk, yes, but it’s best used to store a charging cable or other small knickknacks you want to keep handy. Unlike your typical plastic frunk, though, this one is made of carbon fiber. The box bolts directly to the chassis, and it’s stiff enough that it boosts the torsional rigidity of the front end by 35 percent. It is also curved to direct airflow under the hood, so it has three purposes. (Serving as an ersatz beverage cooler does not count as a fourth.)

Driving the AMG GT 4-Door

The AMG Dynamic Package, which is standard on the GT63 and optional on the GT55, brings three control knobs labeled Response, Agility, and Traction to the center console. These knobs, called Race Engineer, have a profound effect on the car’s behavior. The Response knob, available in all drive modes, plays with the accelerator calibration. Position one is a very lazy “throttle”; acceleration ramps up almost comically slowly. On the other side, position nine is a light switch. The Agility knob, which is only active in Sport, Sport+, and Race modes with stability control turned off, works in concert with what remains of the stability control, the front-to-rear torque split, and the rear-axle torque vectoring. Position one maintains a tight line, while nine allows for lurid drifts. The Traction knob, also only active in Sport, Sport+, and Race modes with stability control turned off, is pretty self-explanatory; nine almost eliminates the traction assist entirely.

Mercedes-AMG

Tinkering with these three knobs generates vastly different results. If you want to work on your driving line around a track, keep the Agility and Response knobs in positions one through three. The car keeps the body tight and perfectly meters power on corner exit. Crank them to seven or higher, and you’ll meet your new best friend: oversteer. Just mash the throttle and keep the front tires pointed where you want to go, and Race Engineer will handle the rest.

Sport+ is the only mode where fake powertrain sounds are pumped into the cabin. In addition to that synthetic soundtrack, a tachometer appears on the instrument screen, and the steering-wheel paddles change jobs from adjusting brake-regen levels to working virtual gears. The V-8 rumble, which includes shakers in the front seats, is based on the last-gen AMG GT R and manages a solid impersonation. Shifts arrive with an abrupt but brief interruption in torque; sure, the feeling is probably more pronounced than what’s felt from the actual GT R’s dual-clutch, but the theatrics are executed perfectly.

With the Agility and Response knobs set to seven, the GT63 drives much smaller than its 119.7-inch wheelbase and 5500-pound curb weight imply. Turn-in is crisp, and adroit steering corrections result in quick responses. You can even trail-brake this big car deep into corners while the Race Engineer algorithms help with rotation.

Driving around town, the GT55 is limited to 557 horses and the GT63 to 711, but a quick hop over to Race mode will call up all the remaining horses. Should you desire short periods of naughty driving, a boost mode achieves the same full-power blast, albeit in 55- and 63-second bursts (you can guess which model gets which duration). It’s not like you need four figures’ worth of horsepower to make a pass on a mountain road, but passengers will surely love it. Both variants are quiet and smooth riding, though not quite as smooth as an Active Ride–equipped Porsche Taycan.

Figuring out where the AMG lands among other high-power EV sedans will have to wait for a comparison test, but our first sampling indicates that the Merc splits the difference between the more spacious Lucid Air and the smaller Taycan. The GT’s interior is top-spec Mercedes, full of great materials and clever ergonomic touches. There’s a fair amount of customization through the central display, our favorite of which is the ability to rearrange and even hide some of the functions on the steering wheel knobs. Residents of Phoenix, for example, can remove Slipper

Source: www.caranddriver.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.