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Perhaps the most notable engine option is Mercedes’ new 3-litre in-line six, badged GT53. It develops 429bhp and 519Nm, but as with the new CLS53 it also utilises hybrid technology, an electric motor capable of adding up to 21bhp and 249Nm when required. The GT53’s 0-100kmph dash takes 4.5sec; top speed is 285kmph.
From there, the range steps up to the GT63, which uses a 577bhp variant of the ‘hot vee’ 4-litre V8, with no hybrid assistance. This slashes the 0-100kmph time to 3.4sec and lifts top speed to 311kmph. The range tops out (for now) with the GT63 S, which has 630bhp and 900Nm at its disposal, trimming a further 0.2sec from the 0-100kmph sprint and adding 5kmph flat-out. A V8 hybrid, like the 800bhp GT Concept, is due in around two years.
All GT 4-Doors send their power to all four wheels, though each takes a slightly different approach. The 53’s system isn’t permanent, but can fully vary torque split between front and rear axles, and drive is first sent through a nine-speed twin-clutch transmission. Both 63s use a permanent system with a variable split, while the GT63 S adds the drift mode found in the E63 S. Both V8s use a nine-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox.
Like the two-door GT and the SLS before it, the 4-Door Coupe has been developed entirely by AMG, but unlike the two-door GT, the new car doesn’t use a unique platform. AMG boss Tobias Moers has confirmed that the 4-Door instead sits on a revised E63 S platform, as the two-door’s front-mid-engined, transaxle layout precluded its expansion to a four-door, four-seat model. The 4-Door has had work to improve its torsional stiffness, however, and also gets the rear-wheel steering set-up from the two-door GT, which Moers says gives the car a completely different feel to more mainstream AMGs. We’re told it’ll also be a better cruiser than other AMGs and that an even more hardcore model hasn’t been ruled out.
“Rear-wheel steering from the GT coupe should give the car a completely different feel to more mainstream AMGs”
So the GT 4-Door isn’t merely a stretched version of the low-slung GT coupe, and one look at the cabin confirms this – the vibe is much closer to that of the E-class’s interior than it is to the two-door GT’s. It’s not identical to the E-class’s cabin, of course, with the biggest difference sitting prominently between the driver and front passenger: a large centre console, with a gear selector located in the same slightly awkward place as it is in the coupe. The driver-centric layout melds surprisingly well with the wide TFT display in front of the driver, and the jet-style air vents are classier than those of the coupe. And there are those rear seats, of course, accessed through frameless doors.
If we’ve learned anything about four-door coupes since their widespread adoption by the industry, it’s that opinion is split on their styling. For what it’s worth, the GT 4-Door is a reasonable effort in translating the GT coupe’s styling onto a longer form. It’s far from perfect, though, being perhaps too bulbous around the rump and losing some of the appealing long-nose, short-tail proportions that give the coupe such a dramatic presence on the road. From the side it’s better, but there are shades of both Panamera and Audi A7 to the car’s flanks and window-line. It’s better in the metal, but lacks real distinction compared with the CLS, at least under the glow of motor show lights.
As a styling exercise, the 4-Door Coupe leaves us a little cold, lacking the dramatic presence of the earlier concept and the low and sleek GT coupe. But while it may look like little more than a stylised CLS, AMG’s other characteristics are present and correct. A chat with Moers suggests that a shooting brake version (sorry, Panamera Sport Turismo fans) has been ruled out and that it’s a little too early for a full-electric model, but a brutal hybridised V8 version looks likely. In the meantime it sounds like the three launch versions could make an interesting bridge between the brand’s dedicated sports cars and the more practical sledgehammer saloons and estates we’re used to seeing from AMG.
