2026 Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro First Test: A Mega Driver’s Car

When we last had some fun with a Mercedes-AMG GT63, it was by putting the GT63 S E Performance plug-in hybrid all-wheel-drive sport coupe through our battery of MotorTrend track tests. The results were exceptional, as it threw down the marker of being the quickest Mercedes-AMG model we had ever tested. But there’s a lot more to performance than raw acceleration, as the 2026 Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro demonstrated on its way to becoming one of our wish list’s top items.

Results and Context

The AMG GT63 S E Performance, with its 6.1-kWh (4.8 kWh usable) battery and 201-horsepower, 236-lb-ft permanent-magnet rear motor supplementing its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, brags its way through gated communities with total peak outputs of 805 hp and 1,047 lb-ft of torque. Along with its 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive traction, it was all good for a 2.4-second 0–60-mph time as it ravaged its way through the quarter mile in 10.4 seconds at 135.5 mph. But the hybrid system makes an already heavy car heavier, as the S E Performance came in at 4,784 pounds on our scales.

Enter the Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro, which features no electrification to its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 and produces peak figures of 603 hp and 627 lb-ft. But it weighs 4,256 pounds, a 528-pound advantage. That’s huge in performance car terms, and with the same 4Matic+ system doing its thing through stickier Michelin Cup 2 R tires (the S E Performance we tested rode on Pilot Sport S 5 rubber), the GT63 Pro arrived at 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. That’s still a big-time marker, even if it’s a good chunk slower than the new, staggeringly quick 2026 Porsche 911 Turbo S we also tested recently. But the fact we’re often now talking about production cars capable of smashing the 3.0-second-to-60 barrier is beyond wild in itself.

The Pro covered the quarter mile in 11.0 seconds at 125.5 mph. A likewise impressive run but one that was never going to match the hybrid 63’s, thanks to the latter’s pure, big horsepower and torque advantages, which are made for the quarter mile’s elongated acceleration zone. But indeed, the dragstrip is where the electrified version’s victory began and ended.

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With its track-focused personality due to more aggressive aerodynamics and grippier Michelins, the GT63 Pro bettered its sibling in braking (96 feet stopping from 60 mph versus 102 feet), in lateral acceleration on our skidpad (1.14 g average versus 1.04), and on a lap of our figure-eight track (22.2 seconds at 0.98 g average versus 22.5 seconds at the same 0.98 g). Compared to the Porsche? The 911 Turbo S bettered its braking distance by a single foot, trailed it in steady-state lateral acceleration by 0.03 g, and bested it by just 0.2 second around the figure eight with a miniscule 0.05 g average advantage. Consider the fact the big-boy hybrid 911 holds a 436-pound weight advantage over the Mercedes, plus an additional 98 hp—though it trails in the torque department by 37 lb-ft—and you begin to get the big picture.

Best put, the AMG 63 Pro is much more than a big-power sledgehammer, delivering a mouth-watering mix of precision and drama that belies its heft.

We tested its acceleration with everything set to Race mode and using launch control, naturally. With 4Matic+ putting the power down at all four corners, the car pulls hard immediately, and then even harder. You’re treated to magnificent engine and exhaust noises, and the precise nine-speed gearbox snaps off shifts in a hurry if not as seemingly instantaneous as Porsche’s twin-clutch PDK transmission. The standard carbon-ceramic brakes (huge 16.5 inchers up front, the largest fit to an AMG sports car) provide good feel through an easily modulated pedal, and they offer loads of bite and confident, repeatable stops from 100 mph.

Trail-braking into corners works beautifully, and the chassis overall is easy to dance between grip and slip before putting the power down well on corner exits. As one of our drivers noted at the test track, this car keeps you on your toes with a perhaps surprisingly high and amusing engagement level. In other words, it’s fun and rewarding to drive in a grand variety of scenarios and not built solely for smoking most other cars at dragstrips or from stoplight to stoplight.

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No One Trick Monster

Outright performance bona fides are usually the first thing performance car enthusiasts focus on, and numbers are fun, fine, and dandy to compare and debate. But you might look at the Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro’s specs and rightly wonder about its weight and ride compliance as a real-world driver. By a quirk of our test-fleet timing, I previously drove the same car we tested from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back. The mostly freeway route is mundane, other than some nice views through the windows; any notably irritating characteristics that are reasonably common in large, hot-rodded GT coupes are sure to rear their heads.
Initially, you’re certainly aware of the Pro’s footprint and heft, but the car quickly feels much smaller from the driver’s seat. As for those seats, they’re aggressively bolstered, firm, and not generously padded, yet they are superbly comfortable, though this always comes down to a person’s body type and proportions. Regardless, they’re ergonomically excellent for a sport seat design and deliver a great driving position, something you appreciate even more when hustling this car.

Its steering is finely weighted, neither too heavy nor too light, and it provides a lot of feel for the chassis balance front and rear. That said—and this applies far more on the track than it does on all but the tightest, twisty roads—weight is weight, and physics is undefeated. If you’re a dedicated track-day type obsessed with lap times and/or ultra-nimble responses, you’ll want to look elsewhere.

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For everyone else, it more than ticks the box. The standard rear-wheel steering makes negotiating everything from parking lots to sweeping curves an effortless affair, and the carbon-ceramic brakes are as intuitive on the street as they are on the track, with a bit of initial travel when you push into the pedal before firming up nicely and without ever crossing into a “grabby” zone. This latter characteristic lends itself to using the brakes to influence the chassis’ rotational behavior into corners. No doubt the rear-wheel steering comes into play here, as well, making for a rewarding handling package that doesn’t demand a closed course to exploit it.

Likewise, the V-8’s powerband and the Pro’s various traction/stability control settings make what may at first blush seem like an intimidating formula an easy thing to get your head, hands, and feet around. You’ll rarely if ever use anywhere near all the power and torque on country or canyon roads, but you also never feel like you’re just along for the ride in a car that is just too much for those streets. The throttle response and the engine and exhaust sounds are first-rate, contributing to the fact you always walk away from the car with the sensation you got something out of it as opposed to having the impression you’re the numbers-obsessed dweeb who brought overkill to the party.

As for the ride quality, AMG’s Active Ride Control suspension with active roll stabilization of course gives you options for adjusting its damping. Sport+ is no problem on smooth roads, but the freeway run to Vegas and home again, and some tours around L.A.’s concrete nightmare, made Comfort mode the one to live with most of the time, but the same applies to every vehicle of this ilk, 911s included. One minor complaint, and it’s not new with Mercedes vehicles: The user interface used to navigate through all the various available settings quickly on the fly when traveling at speed can be mildly cumbersome, but that’s also not unique to this automaker.

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Verdict

By dint of the MotorTrend staff’s collective time both on and off the test track, the Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro has claimed a spot as one of our favorite contemporary performance/driver’s cars. Everyone who wheeled it came back saying something along the lines of, “Damn, what a badass!” Driving experience aside, it’s reasonably practical, too—between the trunk and storage area behind the driver and passenger, I loaded the two-seater with two medium-size hard suitcases, multiple computer and duffel bags, plus additional bags of snacks and drinks for the three-day round trip to Vegas.

Like all such cars, it’s certainly a pricey proposition, but the upshot is you needn’t load it with options to get the full experience. Our test car stickers for $216,210, with $14,010 of that number composed of optional equipment. Out of that latter amount, the only must-have extra is the $1,800 front-axle lift system; go without it, and be prepared to scrape the nose at the intersection of most driveways and flat ground.

Mercedes-AMG boss Michael Schiebe says the division is working toward getting even edgier and more extreme as a performance brand, and we’ve already seen glimpses of that near-future road. The GT63 Pro is a strong baseline as the company moves in that direction, as it’s easily the best enthusiast car AMG builds right now and a legitimate contender against things like various 911s and Aston Martin’s much-lauded Vantage. It makes you not only revel in your driving but also think about how to get the best out of it and yourself without requiring you to have pro-level skills to do so.

Speaking of which and presuming that if you’re reading about a car like this, you’re interested in performance driving, we just chatted with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 driver George Russell about that very topic. You can read the full interview here.