1,032 lb-ft The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance is quite a name, quite a car Few four-doors eat corners quite like this one. It sounds pretty special, too. Jonathan M. Gitlin Feb 4, 2025 12:13 pm | 19 Credit: Jonathan Gitlin Credit: Jonathan Gitlin Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreMore than ever, automakers are clamoring to be part of Formula 1. Buoyed by Drive to Survive, the sport's reach rivals its popularity at any time in the past, despite having to compete with myriad more demands for our time. The carmakers get cachet from their participation, and just occasionally, something they build for the racetrack trickles down into something you can buy in the showroom. Such is the case with today's car, the (deep breath) Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance four-door.Although the team hasn't had the same amount of success since the introduction of ground effects in 2022, Mercedes-AMG won seven championships on the trot between 2014 and 2020. High Performance Powertrains, based in Brixworth, got the hybrid formula just right, eclipsing the power and drivability of rivals at Ferrari, Renault, and Honda and helping Lewis Hamilton secure more Grands Prix wins than anyone else in history.The boffins at Brixworth got together with their counterparts at Affalterbach, where the AMG gets applied to Mercedes. The result: This plug-in hybrid powertrain uses the same 2170 cylindrical cells in its battery pack as cars like the Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+, albeit slightly more of them, as the road car has a capacity of 6.1 kWh (4.8 kWh net). The pack feeds an electric motor with a nominal 94 hp (70 kW) and 236 lb-ft (310 Nm), but it's capable of 201 hp (150 kW) for 10-second bursts. Mercedes already does an AMG version of the S-Class, but if you want something sportier and less plush, there's the AMG GT four-door coupe. Jonathan Gitlin Mercedes already does an AMG version of the S-Class, but if you want something sportier and less plush, there's the AMG GT four-door coupe. Jonathan Gitlin Pops, bangs, and crackles come out of this end. Jonathan Gitlin Pops, bangs, and crackles come out of this end. Jonathan Gitlin Mercedes already does an AMG version of the S-Class, but if you want something sportier and less plush, there's the AMG GT four-door coupe. Jonathan Gitlin Pops, bangs, and crackles come out of this end. Jonathan Gitlin That's only part of the AMG GT 63 S's powertrain, however. Under the hood is a hand-builtsigned, even4.0 L twin-turbo V8. And what a V8 it is, too, with 630 hp (470 kW) and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm) on tap and a soundtrack that makes you wonder if a World War II warbird is in the vicinity. The combined output of 831 hp (620 kW) and 1,032 lb-ft (1,400 Nm) is prodigious indeed.The powertrain has been tuned for power delivery, not maximum efficiencythat isn't the job of a car wearing the AMG badgeand has an almost-dizzying amount of drive modes, suspension settings, and levels of battery regeneration, all configurable from Mercedes' flat UI infotainment system that can be a little busy to look at but which remains very intuitive (and comes with rather excellent voice recognition). In fact, this might be the least-distracting implementation of MBUX I've encountered so far.When you first start the AMG GT 63 S, it defaults to electric mode, as long as the battery has some charge in it. Top speed is capped at 87 mph (140 km/h), and the electric motor has more than enough torque to make using this mode perfectly pleasant. Your neighbors will appreciate the silence as you leave in the morning, too. There are three levels of lift-off regen, up to the highest setting, which is a one-pedal driving mode. The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S engine bay. Jonathan Gitlin The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S engine bay. Jonathan Gitlin The engine plaque, signed by Roberto Nobile. Jonathan Gitlin The engine plaque, signed by Roberto Nobile. Jonathan Gitlin The front brakes are mighty indeed. Jonathan Gitlin The front brakes are mighty indeed. Jonathan Gitlin The engine plaque, signed by Roberto Nobile. Jonathan Gitlin The front brakes are mighty indeed. Jonathan Gitlin Comfort fires up the V8 as necessary but will defer to the electric motor whenever possible. It upshifts the nine-speed transmission early, and with the dampers set to Comfort as well, this is the mode you'd use with passengers on board. Because the car is meant to be a performance hybrid, the powertrain will use spare engine power to recharge the battery pack whenever it can and will fully charge the pack in about 30 minutes of driving.One mode maintains the battery's state of charge, another is for slippery conditions, and then there's Sport, Sport+, and Race. These offer escalating levels of performance, with more boost from the electric motor supplementing the raucous V8, faster shift times from the transmission, sharper throttle maps, and more regenerative braking. Finally, there's an individual mode for you to pick your own settings.Power delivery is biased toward the rear wheels, but the nine-speed transmission will send some of the V8's power to the front wheels if it detects a loss of traction at the rear.Race mode is probably a little too hardcore for most day-to-day driving, but the ability to decouple the dampers from the powertrain, and thus have the engine in Sport+ but the dampers in comfort, for example, means you don't have to sacrifice the throttle response or the chesty V8 soundtrack on roads with less than perfect tarmac. The interior is extremely red. Other less-red colors are also available. Jonathan Gitlin The interior is extremely red. Other less-red colors are also available. Jonathan Gitlin Rear seat comfort is not quite S-Class levels, but it's not bad. Jonathan Gitlin Rear seat comfort is not quite S-Class levels, but it's not bad. Jonathan Gitlin There's a bit of hump in the trunk for the battery pack Jonathan Gitlin There's a bit of hump in the trunk for the battery pack Jonathan Gitlin Rear seat comfort is not quite S-Class levels, but it's not bad. Jonathan Gitlin There's a bit of hump in the trunk for the battery pack Jonathan Gitlin Turn-in feels immense thanks to the 21-inch front wheels, and this AMG is a car that positively loves to corner. It's so eager to turn in, particularly if there's a little supportive camber, that I started to daydream of finding a banked oval to spend the day lapping. It also proved to be slightly more efficient than the numbers on the Monroney sticker indicatedover a week, I averaged 28 mpg (8.4 L/100 km).With a starting price of $194,900, the AMG GT 63 S E Performance four-door coupe is not a cheap car, but neither are rivals like the Porsche Panamera Turbo S. I was very pleasantly surprised by the AMG four-door, and I fell in love with how supportive its seats are, despite the bright red leather that would not be my first (or even fifth) choice for an interior color. But I do question whether it has sufficient curb appealdespite that F1-derived powertrain, the organizers at the launch of DC's F1 Arcade did not deem it worthy of a parking spot out front. It seems like Mercedes-AMG needs to do some outreach.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 19 Comments