VIDEO: 630BHP MERCEDES-AMG GT 4-DOOR COUPé IS SUBLIME!
Ooooh! Shots fired! Mercedes filled in this gap perfectly with their all-new AMG GT 4-door Coupé which rivals Porsche's Panamera.
The top-of-the-line GT63 S 4Matic+ pictured here is powered by a 630bhp twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine, which is capable of propelling the car to 100km/h from rest in just 3.2sec and on to a top speed of 315km/h.
The Porsche Panamera rival was unveiled at the Geneva motor show and will go sale in the UK in September, with deliveries starting during the first quarter of 2019. Official pricing has yet to be revealed but a starting price of about £85 000 is likely.
The GT 4-door Coupé follows the SLS Coupé and Roadster and the GT Coupé and Roadster as the fifth dedicated model from Mercedes-AMG.
The ‘4-door Coupé’ component of its name suggests that it is a saloon-coupé model in the mould of the mechanically similar Mercedes CLS. However, it does, in fact, take inspiration from the existing GT Coupé by featuring a fastback-style tailgate. That design is integral to providing the new AMG model with the sort of practicality that the company’s chairman, Tobias Moers, says allows it to deliver a “high level of day-to-day suitability”.
The GT 4-door Coupé will be offered with the choice of two petrol engines from the outset. One is Mercedes’ new 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder unit with a mild-hybrid system in the GT53 4Matic+. The other is AMG’s 4.0-litre V8, which, in line with other AMG models, will be available in two separate states of tune in the GT63 4Matic+ and GT63 S 4Matic+.
As their names suggest, all three models in the launch line-up feature as standard a fully variable four-wheel-drive system, as revealed on the latest E63 4Matic+, along with a nine-speed automatic gearbox.
The basis for the first-ever four-door fastback from AMG is Mercedes-Benz’s MRA platform. A large proportion of its underpinnings, including its chassis, as well as its electrical architecture, is shared directly with the recently unveiled third-generation CLS and the latest E-Class.
Despite the GT 4-door Coupé’s mechanical similarities to the CLS and E-Class, AMG has brought its own unique touches to it. For instance, it has a longer front end with a larger engine bay to house a range of different powerplants, including the company’s signature V8 petrol unit, which has been denied the new CLS due to what AMG’s engineers cite as packaging reasons.
In the GT53 4Matic+, the new model receives a 48V electrical system. This is used to operate an electric motor that recovers kinetic energy under braking and during periods of off-throttle coasting as part of a range of so-called EQ Boost powertrains.
The recuperated energy is stored in a lithium-ion battery and can be used to enhance performance through an electric boost function, as on the CLS53 4Matic. However, unlike the more advanced plug-in hybrid EQ Power system recently introduced to the S560e, it cannot propel the new AMG model on electric power alone.
The well-received styling of the GT 4-door concept car revealed at last year’s Geneva motor show has been brought over to the production version of the new GT 4-door Coupé with only minor changes.
Certain cues are borrowed from the GT Coupé and Roadster in order to establish an AMG family look, most notably around the front and rear ends. However, the body of the new car is described as being unique, sharing no panel or element with any another existing Mercedes-AMG model.
Design boss Gordon Wagener said: “The GT 4-door Coupé embodies the most extreme expression of our design idiom and underlines the autonomous profile of AMG as a performance brand.”
The car’s silhouette is dominated by a long bonnet that’s set low and extends well aft of prominent front wheel housings in what Wagner calls the “most aggressive dashboard-to-wheel” treatment yet seen on a four-seat Mercedes model.
In a reflection of their common platform and similar underpinnings, the GT 4-door Coupé and CLS share the same 2939mm wheelbase. However, the new AMG model is longer, lower and wider than the CLS.
The interior has its own unique styling touches and four-seat layout. Among its main features is a new interpretation of Mercedes’ Widescreen Cockpit, with dual high-definition displays for the instruments and infotainment functions housed within a single panel set in a high-positioned dashboard.
In a move that provides clear links to the GT Coupé and Roadster, the GT 4-door Coupé also receives a wide centre console and high-set central tunnel that runs back through its luxuriously trimmed cabin.
As well as being mooted for the range-topping GT 4-door Coupé model, the new petrol-electric driveline is also being considered for future versions of AMG-engineered E-Class, S-Class, GLE, GLS and G-Class models.