2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Coupe: The Bahn Burner Gets Tamped Down

“I don’t really understand why he’s testing this car,” said our editor-in-chief, Larry Webster, when I showed up to the office in a 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Coupe. Call it a glitch in the Matrix. More qualified reviewers weren’t available, so somehow this 577-horsepower supercar, freshly redesigned for 2024, ended up in the hands of a dirtbag with a mullet who prefers Pabst to Pinot noir.

Junior automotive journalists like myself should salivate at the prospect of being thrown the keys to a German sports car. And, indeed, I was thrilled, but I also felt a sense of foreboding. I’ve driven fast cars, I’ve driven German cars, and hell, I’ve driven fast German cars. But this is a 577-hp supercar with a sticker price well north of the Zillow estimate on the house I rent.

“Make sure you use the front axle lift coming into the driveway,” the friendly rep who dropped off the Merc warned, “Otherwise the nose will scrape.” I made sure to heed his warning during my weeklong stint with the GT 63. Damaging a press car, especially an expensive one, is a great way to end a career in automotive journalism.

Despite my reservations, I settled into the car. Literally. The interior was a fantastic place to spend on my hour-long commute to the office. The Sienna Brown Napa leather seats split the difference between racing buckets and an Eames lounger—laterally supportive and comfortable with sculptural design flourishes. The Burmester sound system has enough dynamic range to faithfully reproduce classical music or live albums, but if you just want to bump hip hop, it’s great at that too. Less great is the 11.9-inch touchscreen display driving the Burmester. I found the UX (User eXperience) part of the MBUX infotainment system to be lacking. There aren’t dedicated physical controls for HVAC or the stereo. Changing the vent airflow requires a menu-dive, and the volume is tied to a capacitive slider way on the passenger side that provides no haptic feedback. The steering wheel controls are likewise feedbackless capacitive “buttons”.

Specs: 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Coupe

• Price: $178,750/$199,060 (Base/as-tested)
• Powertrain: 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8, 9-speed automatic transmission
• Output: 577 hp, 590 lb-ft of torque
• Layout: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, two-door, two-passenger coupe
• Weight: 4245 pounds
• EPA Fuel Economy: 13/20/16 (city/highway/combined)
• Competitors: Porsche 911, BMW M8, Lexus LC, Aston Martin Vantage

Perhaps to make up for the amount of time you will spend looking away from the road to fiddle with the infotainment system, Mercedes equipped the GT 63 with all sorts of driver aids. Forward-collision and rear cross-traffic warnings, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot alerts, and pedestrian detection all come standard. Our test car came with the Driver Assistance Package ($1950) that adds adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency steering, and lane-keeping assistance. I’m personally not a fan of driver aids, but I found myself feeling grateful for the forward-collision and blind-spot warnings when nudging the GT 63’s long nose into traffic.

Of course, to harp on interior controls and driver aids would be missing the point of this car. A Mercedes-AMG coupe is for showing off, and the stunning GT 63 is great for that. Like the horse on contemporary Polo Ralph Lauren shirts, the three-pointed star on the schnoz of the Merc is almost comically large. So, too, are the optional 21-inch forged wheels ($3300), although they look proportional and fill the wheel wells nicely. The matte Moonlight White Magno paint ($3250) complements the car’s uncluttered and understated surfacing. Mercedes designers subtly reigned in the car’s shall we say, exaggerated, proportions for this redesign, but fear not, they’re still dramatic.

A Mercedes-AMG coupe is also for going fast. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 in the nose of the Merc puts out 577 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque—up from the previous cars’ 523 hp and 494 lb-ft—through a 9-speed automatic. And whereas the last GT channeled all its power to the rear wheels, this one comes with AMG’s 4MATIC+ all-wheel-drive system. The added power and traction result in a 0–60 time of 3.1 seconds, six-tenths faster than the old car. Go-to-jail speeds come a few moments later. (A fellow staffer who shall not be named found that out the hard way, earning a hefty speeding ticket on Woodward Avenue.)

Although it’s more rapid than its predecessor, it is not necessarily more fun. I threw the keys to my colleague Cameron Neveu, who did an extensive track review of the first-generation car, and he came back disappointed. “Man, the last car was a hot rod. This one, not so much.” Perhaps it’s the all-wheel-drive system and its attendant heft—the new car is nearly 550-pounds heavier than the one it replaces. Neveu also reports that the 9-speed automatic feels less immediate than the old car’s 7-speed automated dual-clutch.

One suspects all-wheel drive will increase the GT’s cornering limits. But in truth, it’s impossible (or at least extremely inadvisable) to test those limits on the street. Within the bounds of responsibility, the Mercedes is a little boring. It sticks well—as it should with massive 295/30/R21 front and 305/30R21 rear Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires—and doesn’t roll. The steering is accurate and appropriately hefty, but not particularly communicative. Hey, at least the notes from the exhaust are still good, giving an anti-social pop-pop-pop on deceleration in Sport and Race modes.

In many respects, I shouldn’t have worried about driving this car. Its looks and power figures notwithstanding, it simply isn’t the sort of machine that seduces you into making career-ending choices. That probably also suits the desires of AMG’s intended end-users, wealthy folk who want attention and horsepower but not at the expense of comfort. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if a $199,060 supercar shouldn’t feel a bit more, well, super.

2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Coupe

Highs: Silly fast; more grip than you could ever legally use; excellent Burmester sound system; classic long-hood-short-deck looks.
Lows: The price; the transmission isn’t very snappy compared to the previous generation; the long nose and high beltline aren’t great for visibility; capacitive-touch-only steering wheel, climate, and volume controls.
Takeaway: The GT 63 gains extra drive wheels and power, but loses some of the character of its predecessor.