This hot-vee V8 has been AMG’s stalwart for a decade, variously appearing in everything from the G-Class luxury off-roader to the workaday C-Class Estate.
However, it is perhaps at its most evocative when nestled in the nose of a low-slung coupé with a steam-punk-flavoured, cab-rear silhouette.
We will get into the numbers shortly, but they are almost moot. Take it as read that, at any given moment, the driver can fling their GT down the road as fast as they dare. In fact, it’s the character and manner of the V8 that really matters.
For one thing, it remains more satisfyingly responsive than you might expect, given the deep, lazy exhaust note and generous forced induction. It also has phenomenal breadth, turning its forged crank from implausibly low down in the rev range and thereafter gathering momentum smoothly.
You begin to feel the effects of fully 590lb ft from only around 2500rpm, at which point this engine starts to make very light work of what has become quite a heavy car. From then on the V8 exhibits an impressive linearity, its exhaust note hardening then culminating at the 7000rpm redline with a crisp, popping upshift from the dual-clutch ’box.
The ferocity of the shift, along with the sharpness of the throttle pedal, the rortiness of the exhaust note and the presence of theatrical rattle-bangs on the overrun can, as ever, all be varied via drive modes, which range from Eco to Race.
It’s unfiltered fun, with loads of old-school, internal-combustion aural charm. The numbers aren’t half bad, either (see above). Our GT 63’s launch control function fired it to 60mph in 3.1sec – half a second faster than we achieved with the extra-special GT R of the rear-driven Mk1 generation.
On the move, performance is abundant. The dash from 40-60mph in third gear takes just 1.5sec; 30-70mph a mere 2.7sec.
The AMG is not the quickest car in the class – you never are when that class also includes the Porsche 911 Turbo S – but this is senior-grade speed. The peakier Porsche, by the way, rattles off the sprint to 60mph in 2.5sec. In fourth, 40-60mph takes 1.4sec – a smidge faster than the Merc. But in second? A scant 1.0sec.
Special mention should also go to the AMG’s braking system. The pedal is linear and firm, and the ABS intervention almost indiscernible at times. Note also that brake distances were taken after a sprinkling of rain.
Despite the power and torque increase on the Pro being relatively limited (27bhp and 37lb ft), you can certainly feel the extra grunt: it’s noticeably quicker, more responsive and generally sharper while accelerating through the gears than the regular GT 63. With an authentic baritone exhaust note under load and excited crackles of burnt fuel on the overrun, it sounds the part too.
On the GT 63 E Performance hybrid, meanwhile, there is a bewildering array of driving modes, including Electric, Battery Hold, Comfort, Slippery, Sport, Sport+ and Individual.
The default mode is Comfort, in which the new AMG model starts silently and is initially propelled via the electric motor when there are sufficient battery energy stores. On top of this, there are four levels of energy recuperation, controlled via a button on the right-hand spoke of the steering wheel.
