By Anagh BhaskarMercedes-AMG is all prepped to launch the GT 63 S E Performance in India. This is the top-most variant available on the GT four-door. The E Performance tag means that this is a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid infact, which might make AMG fanboys quite unhappy, but this car has access to 843bhp and 1,470Nm of torque. This makes it the most powerful car to come out of Affalterbach, well armed against even the current crop of middle weight supercars.
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance exterior –
Now the car is instantly recognizable as an AMG, courtesy of the large Panamericana grille with vertical struts. The lower section of the nose houses three wide openings, to feed air to the engine. The headlamps are Multibeam LEDs, standard on this car. The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance has the classic aggressive look that has made AMGs so sought after.
The long hood has three contoured lines, lending it a very muscular look. There are four options for alloys, with this one being fitted with the AMG forged 21-inch alloys wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres. The body follows the same design as the GT four-door coupe, with the long hood, four doors and the sloping roofline at the rear. The car measures, 5,054mm in length, 1,953mm in width and 1,447mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2,951mm.
Mercedes offers certain exterior accessory packs such as a night pack, a carbon fiber pack and an aero pack with the GT 63. This particular example comes with the Carbon Fibre pack, which can be seen on the front splitter, the side skirts, the rear diffuser and even the headlamp inserts. There are seventeen exterior color options, including Copper Orange Magno you see in these images.
The rear end houses the retractable wing, which is manually adjustable. The taillamps are long and wrap around the sides of the car. The lower section has the diffuser and twin-pipe trapezoidal exhausts. Overall the GT 63 S E Performance has a very sporty look which blends very nicely with the carbon fiber and the aggressive look of the grand tourer.
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance powertrain –
What makes this car unique and different to many other full-fat AMGs is that the powertrain doesn’t just employ a V8 but for the first time in an AMG, an electric motor. The V8 is the same M177 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 found in the GT 63 S 4MATIC+, and it produces 639bhp. The electric motor is mounted at the rear, and makes 204bhp. Total power output is 843bhp and a staggering 1,470Nm of torque.
While we have seen high-performance hybrids in the past, this GT 63 S E Performance is a bit more clever than that. AMG’s engineers have mounted the electric motor onto the rear axle, below the 6.1kWh battery pack. Which also gives the car the sought after 50:50 weight balance. The motor sends its power to the rear axle through a two-speed gearbox, enabling it to function at higher speeds as well. The rear axle also gets an electronically controlled differential, and with the 4MATIC+ AWD system, power from the motor can even be routed to the front axle.
All this means that the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance can launch from 0 to 100kmph in just 2.9 seconds, putting it in supercar territory. This is despite it’s 2.4 ton mass. Top speed is limited to 316kmph.
A 6.1kWh battery pack is tiny by modern hybrid standards, and can power the car for a total of 12km and up to a speed of 130kmph. While traditional hybrids use the battery and the motor to remove the strain from the engine and hence improve fuel efficiency, this one, called the HPB (High-performance battery) has been developed by AMG using technologies from Formula 1. The HPB has twice the power density of a normal PHEV battery, and is capable of sending a massive amount of energy to the motor in no time and it charges up just that quick. There is a charging flap too, which can be used to boost up the battery pack if you ever feel the need to. There are multiple regen modes in the car, to juice up the battery as you go along.
This full-fat AMG comes with a number of performance enhancing tech such as AMG Ride Control+ air suspension with adaptive dampers, AMG rear-axle steering, AMG ceramic brakes, 4MATIC+ AWD, electronically controlled limited-slip differential etc.
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance interior –
The cabin like the exterior gets a host of sporty and AMG-specific bits such as the AMG seats, which are electrically adjustable as well as ventilated and heated, AMG-steering, AMG scuff plates, AMG floor mats, AMG embossed on the seats and even the twin-display setup, both of which come with AMG-specific screens. The displays come with hybrid specific displays, which show the energy flow and the rate of charging while driving.
In terms of features, the car gets a long list of goodies such as three-zone climate control, Burmester Audio system, ADAS, glass roof, rear-passenger display, soft-close doors, 64-colour ambient lighting, acoustic comfort package to name a few.
Customers can spec their car in as many as fourteen interior trim options for the seats and four trim options for the dashboard and door inserts. The particular example you see in these images comes with the AMG matt carbon fiber trim, adding a very sporty feel to the cabin.
The MBUX setup comprises the 12.3-inch infotainment display and a fully-digital instrument display. Both of these displays come with AMG specific screens as well as hybrid specific screens, allowing one to check the power, temperature, battery temperature, battery charge, powertrain output and other telematics.
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance price & competition –
The only natural rival to the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance is the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. This too uses a 4.0-litre V8 in tandem with an electric motor for a combined output of 700bhp and 870Nm of torque. However in terms of performance, the Porsche falls behind, with a 0-100kmph sprint time of 5.3 seconds. The Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is priced at Rs 2.75 crore (ex-showroom).
Mercedes will launch the car on April 11. Expect the pricing to be marginally above the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ which is priced at Rs 2.7 crore (ex-showroom)
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