Does the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT63 Reignite the AMG Torch?

Mercedes-Benz has built its AMG subdivision into quite the business, with offerings ranging from hot-rodded SUVs to real-live track scorchers. While the bulk of the business is in SUVs and sedans, heavy lies the crown on the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT63. As the performance leader (at least until the even hotter versions arrive), it’s charged with lighting up the halo that other AMG models wear, establishing true world-class supercar performance.

Basically, if the GT63 doesn’t have the goods, then neither does the AMG brand. Can the latest-generation GT hold up that standard? We strapped on the timing gear to find out. 

First, a quick recap: This is the second generation of the AMG GT and effectively a closed-roof version of the Mercedes-AMG SL convertible that made its debut last year. The first-gen GT, in 63 S form, was our 2015 Best Driver’s Car (predecessor to the current-day Performance Vehicle of the Year). Compared to the original, the new GT coupe—which, truth be told, some staffers had trouble telling apart from the old GT coupe—is a bigger car that adds optional rear seats, which work best if your passengers are grocery bags, and an extra set of driven wheels (the fronts). It’s also about 550 pounds heavier than the 2016 GT S that won BDC. Per Mercedes’ marketing brief, it’s meant to be more livable at customer request, a change that, in our experience, can be the kiss of death for some of our favorite performance cars. 

Good news, AMG enthusiasts: Our track-test results say, “Nothin’ doin’.”

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More Power, Put To Good Use

With 577 hp from its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, the new GT63 is the most powerful we’ve tested, save the 2021 GT Black Series, a track-tuned race car in a box. And while the new GT63 trails the Black’s 720 hp, it matches the racer’s 590 lb-ft of torque. For comparison, the rear-drive ’16 GT63 S delivered 503 hp and 479 lb-ft. 

As opposed to the seven-speed twin-clutch transmission in the first-gen GT, there’s a nine-speed automatic using a wet clutch in place of a torque converter. This gets the new GT63 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds—identical to Mercedes’ own prediction, by the way—beating the first-gen 63 S by 0.1 second and trailing the Black Series by 0.2 second. Its quarter-mile time of 11.2 seconds beat all but the Black, though the 123.7-mph trap speed was toward the back of the pack of several GTs we’ve tested. The new car has an out-of-gear rev limiter at 3,500 rpm, but we got our best results by launching just a little over 3,000 rpm. 

Sixty-to-zero braking took 102 feet, which is an impressive number by any standard except that set by the first-gen GT, a sure sign of the extra weight the new car carries. We tested a few copies of the original GT63 S, and they yielded distances between 95 and 102 feet, while the Black Series pulled up in 93. Still, we loved the feel of new GT’s pedal action, which is rock solid like a true racing car. Very little movement gives you a whole lot of stopping power, and we barely triggered the antilock system.

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Better Behavior Than Numbers

Out on the skidpad, the new GT delivered numbers in line with the first-gen car: 1.05 g on the pad and 23.4 seconds through the figure eight, tying the slowest of three 2016 GT63 S models we tested last in the decade. (The quickest did it in 23.2 seconds.) But as is the case with instrumented testing, numbers don’t tell the whole story; the question is, how did it behave?

Beautifully. Even with the ESC-off “Master” mode selected, the car is mostly neutral with a slight oversteer bias, but we found we could get aggressive without spinning it and easily pull off some beautiful drifts. It’s easy to forget the GT was delivering power to all four wheels and not just the rears—though that’s intentional, as the GT sends the bulk of its torque to the rear, particularly when the stability control system is in Sport or full-off mode. (There’s also a Drift mode, which sends all power rearward, not that we needed it.) 

Several staffers took the new Mercedes-AMG GT63 for a hot laps around the track, and our subjective opinions were largely in line with what our objective testing revealed: The GT63 presents as a brutal track monster, but when you get on it, it turns out to be exceptionally approachable and tractable. Yeah, we felt the weight; the seemingly limitless surge of power of the engine makes it easy to forget that one must be prompt and deliberate with the brakes to arrest the GT’s speed. Still, not a single one of us who drove the new Mercedes-AMG GT failed to enjoy it.

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More Livable Turns Out To Be a Good Thing 

And that whole thing about making the GT more livable? Yeah, turns out we liked that, too. One of our issues with successive versions of the first-gen GT was that Mercedes kept making it more and more hardcore at the expense of comfort. The new GT makes a nice reversal, restoring that combination of sizzling performance and day-to-day livability that helped it win BDC all those years ago. We don’t love the GT’s weight gain, but it’s not like most of us haven’t packed on a few pounds ourselves in the last decade. If the GT is guilty of anything, it’s living in the past: Several of our crew had trouble accepting that this really is an all-new version of the GT.

As we look to conclude this First Test, 1,000 car-review cliches explode in our minds: You can have it all, best of both worlds, no compromises, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. You can buy a lot of amazing cars for the just-under-$178K base price of the AMG GT63 (let alone the $212,000 as-tested price), many of them sexier and/or quicker, but the GT63 is a compelling and accomplished package—and let’s not forget it’ll soon get better with the GT63 S, sequel to the car that won BDC all those years ago. Yep, Mercedes-AMG has the goods, and the new GT63 proves it.