We have high expectations for an AMG GT. The first car, successor to the utterly awesome, gullwinged SLS AMG, took aim at a neighbor from Stuttgart and was such a revelation we named it 2015's Best Driver's Car over memorable peers including the Porsche Cayman GT4 and Cadillac CTS-V. We commended that car's confidence-inspiring poise, marvelous engine, and tenacious traction.
With that in mind, we shared the probable skepticism among fans when the new model was announced. Four seats, standard AWD, and a schnitzel indulgence that meant nearly 600 pounds added to the curb weight.
Now that we've spent time behind the wheel of AMG's porkier but still seductive, long-nosed sports car we can answer the question: Has the AMG GT gone soft, or is it even better than its wunderkind predecessor? The answer is neither, it's both—it's a story of how AMG is doing something different.
Buyers had feedback for the folks in Affalterbach based on their experiences with the first-gen AMG GT. Although critics like us lauded its performance focus and confident dynamics, loud voices from the customer base informed engineers they may have gone too far. Feedback asked for an AMG that was more livable, more practical—a sports car they could drive every day without fatigue.
This reincarnation of the AMG brand's pinnacle performance machine is a direct response. Developed alongside the droptop SL, itself now an AMG model and essentially the convertible version of this car, the 2024 AMG GT aims to provide more to the keeper of its keys than just terrific performance on a back road or track.
Proportionally, the 2024 car is almost identical to its predecessor. Mercedes-Benz Group design lead Gorden Wagener maintained the extended hood, rearward cab, and short overhangs we've come to expect from AMG-developed vehicles, but compared to the first-gen GT, the new model is a hulking monster. The wheelbase is nearly 3 inches longer, and overall length has jumped more than half a foot. Width grows by 1.8 inches and height by a bit more.
Part of that growth means buyers can now order their AMG GT as a 2+2. Like the rear seats of an obvious competitor, the area behind the AMG's primary chairs is best occupied by duffel bags, but the Mercedes folks claim it will accommodate passengers up to just under 5 feet tall.
Sports car purists may be tempted to order the two-seater, but there's zero functional detriment to the extra capacity. René Szczepek, AMG's head of vehicle dynamics, told us the added weight is negligible, and there's no discernible difference from behind the wheel. And folding down the bench is the only way to open the bulkhead between cargo area and cabin to fit bigger cargo.
An AMG dynamics engineer even told us they fit their mountain bike in the back and only had to take off the front wheel. No comparable sports car comes close to the GT's continent-crossing, stuff-carrying capability in this regard, and there's easily enough space for a week's worth of gear.
Mercedes-AMG's 4Matic+ is now standard, which sounds like a dramatic change from its RWD-only predecessor. The functional difference is smaller than you'd think. AMG's take on AWD routes 100 percent of engine torque to the rear axle under typical operating conditions and only ever drives the front wheels when it detects slip. In theory, that means it can retain a rear-drive feel and still provide superior traction when things get slick—northerners and ski bums can drive it year round without worry.
The cost of that growth and additional practicality? A curb weight of around 4,300 pounds, or about the same as an E-Class, or close to 600 pounds more than a previous-gen GT. That number also means the AMG GT is roughly 700 pounds thicker than a Porsche 911 Turbo S.
AMG has used clever suspension tricks and smart software to keep the drive engaging, it says, despite the dynamic consequence of additional mass.
In the face of all that change, AMG's twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 and nine-speed wet-clutch automatic are familiar. The new GT's handcrafted powerplant is a version of the V-8 that made its debut in the 2016 GT, but the AMG decided against that engine's dry-sump oiling system, instead opting for the less hardcore wet-sump variant (code M177) with wider applications across nearly all 63-badged AMG products since 2015.
Here, it produces 577 hp and 590 lb-ft of twist, the same power as the old GT R but a significantly higher torque figure that matches that of the GT Black Series. Buyers who opt for the GT55 get a 469-hp, 516-lb-ft variant of the same engine that differs only by software. AMG says the GT63 reaches 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, the AWD system more than adequately compensating for extra weight at launch.
The nine-speed auto's wet clutch removes the need for a torque converter, saves a bit of weight, and drops rotational inertia to, in theory, provide the throttle response of a manual with the convenience of an automatic and shift speed of a dual-clutch. Easily accessible controls on the steering wheel or in the touchscreen's AMG menu will lock in a manual shift mode, allowing you to dictate gear changes with responsive—but a bit unsatisfying—buttonlike paddles at your fingertips.
AMG Active Ride Control suspension helps press that power to the pavement, a complex setup we had previously experienced in the SL63. Instead of traditional anti-roll bars, AMG hydraulically links opposite corners of its sports car not unlike McLaren and Rivian. That way, the engineers can combat physics and quell body roll without overly stiffening the ride. Plus, it enables every GT to use a 1.2-inch nose lift and avoid scraping over speed bumps or steep driveway entries.
As you can imagine, AMG has even more wizardry in its repertoire to wrangle extra pounds. Rear-axle steering is now standard, capable of angling the rear tires the same way as the front rubber to rotate the car at lower speeds or in the opposite direction to add stability above 60 mph.
All that tech can be adjusted with a twirl of a knob on the steering wheel or a few taps on the 11.9-inch panel of glass between the front seats. Drivetrain modes for Slippery, Comfort, Sport, Sport+, and Race alter throttle response, transmission mapping, and shift harshness. Suspension stiffness can be adjusted between Comfort, Sport, and Sport+ independently from the powertrain mode.
The most powerful tool in transforming the cornering character of the vehicle is AMG Dynamic Select—Basic, Advanced, Pro, or Master, any of which is independent of the engine and transmission setting. Swapping between these alters the AWD torque split, traction/stability control, rear steer aggression, torque vectoring, and anti-roll characteristics.
Departing the narrow streets of Granada, we were immediately struck by the civility of this beast. In its most subdued settings, the 2024 AMG GT exhibits behavior closer to the coddling and quietude of a standard E-Class than the persistent tire hum, stiff ride, and light engine drone of a Porsche 911.
If you want it, the GT will do a passable impression of a semi-self-driving S-Class, confidently centering between boundaries and carefully maintaining a gap between its front bumper and the car ahead. It'll even change lanes for you. (CEO Michael Schiebe says that although AMG anticipates most drivers will drive themselves, it doesn't hurt to provide the option to use the latest tech to assist on the highway.)
This AMG GT leans hard on the latter half of its name, and a grand tour highlights its newfound strengths. As folks who have recently covered hundreds of miles in Porsche 911s and Corvette Z06s, we can tell you the GT's Comfort mode isolation allows the low-slung two-door to consume highway or back-road miles with considerably less fatigue to its occupants. There's even a digital tour guide that can tell you about the sights passing through your windshield and a route recorder so you can remember and share memorable drives.
We also need to note the GT is way more compliant than its SL stablemate. Our team described the convertible as too stiff and abusive even in Comfort mode, but the GT addresses that. Szczepek he told us the hardtop's huge structural rigidity advantage means the suspension doesn't need to be as stiff to achieve AMG's standards for body control.
And as you take your first corner in the new AMG GT, you'll find it just doesn't roll. Similar to what we've experienced in those McLaren and Rivian vehicles with the same suspension concept, AMG's cross-linked hydraulic anti-roll strategy tends to break your brain's expectations. The body refuses to keel over no matter how much stick you demand from the outside tires.
Steering is one aspect of the driving experience you can't change; it's tied to the drivetrain setting. In each, the steering is hyperaccurate but a bit heavy for our liking, and not especially talkative.
Aside from cruising comfort, the top AMG's limit handling behavior marks the furthest departure from its predecessor. According to Szczepek, driving the old car on the same steep mountain pass would have been "a ride on a knife, as we say in Germany." We found the original GT instilled tremendous confidence when we drove it in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, but still found ourselves breathless getting out. (Our time in 2024's rendition brought us to a Spanish national park of the same name.)
AMG had a different goal this time around. Over long Spanish dinners and countryside sopa de pollo with Szczepek, he explained the new ethos. When an AMG GT driver out on a brisk morning drive stops for coffee, they shouldn't be sweating and exhausted. AMG wants to make the limit more accessible, providing rotation without instilling the fear brought on by loose rear ends or squealing tires. The dynamics lead told us an auditory signal like the screech of rubber is important, but like a DTM or an F1 car, he wants the change in rapidity of climbing revs to be that indicator to the driver.
"We're controlling the balance and the rotation, using software to make it feel natural. When you're at the limit, you don't necessarily know because the car is hiding it to keep your confidence and safety."
That comes across. Driving AMG's latest, you're not always sure when you're approaching that limit of adhesion until the car angles the rear wheels to point the nose toward your apex. Szczepek's team succeeded in that we never feared the GT's limit even as the car began to rotate while we turned a tight blind corner to find a VW van hugging the inside line of the opposite lane. Confident and safe, yes, but not as natural or predictable as we had hoped. We look forward to the variants that loosen those reins a bit without forcing the driver to engage AMG's ECS-off, RWD drift mode.
That said, drivers can transform cornering behavior with the different AMG Dynamic settings. Driving in Race and adjusting the Dynamics mode between Basic, Advanced, and Pro—we didn't try the TC-off Master mode on ultra-narrow countryside roads with poor sightlines—the turn-in alacrity transitions from soft and approachable to eager and direct. Different settings can make it feel like totally different front-end setups.
Of course, AMG's twin-turbo V-8 is every bit the responsive, thrusty powerplant we've come to love. The vehicle dynamics folks tell us the most linear throttle response is in Sport and Race, reserving Sport+ for aggressive throttle tip-in and emotion when you want your main character moment. Our only other note? Drop the "One Man, One Engine" line and acknowledge the other folks hand-building your V-8s. Driving quickly, the transmission succeeds in supplying that characteristic torque interruption of a gearchange but not slowing down or upsetting the chassis.
We were also grateful the exhaust's louder setting could be deactivated even in Sport+ or Race; most of our time was spent in the standard mode. It's a purr and a slight snarl that hint at potential to roar without getting shouty or ostentatious. We just wish this sound quality was available with more volume, to enhance that auditory indicator without fabricated pops and bangs; in other words, a third, middle-ground mode would be perfect.
The new GT should arrive in the States sometime next year, and we're told its price should undercut that of the SL convertible. That means the GT63 will cost less than $180,000.
As stated, this is a dramatically different car than that which came before. AMG delivered on its goal to build a vehicle capable of daily commutes and extensive road trips with considerably less fatigue than its louder, stiffer obvious competition. You'll still be grateful for the sporting credibility if that trip happens upon a twisted bit of tarmac, even if we found this AMG GT better at flowing through corners at great speed as we probed its limits.
This is no longer a hardcore sports car trying to beat Porsche at its own game. Buyers who will frequently push its boundaries may want to wait for the inevitable GT C and GT R, but the GT63 is a gorgeous, luxurious, indulgent grand tourer with appeal all its own.
