Yahoo Autos 2019 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe: A Pure-Blooded Sports Sedan
When political theorist Jacques Mallet du Pan wrote, in 1793, that revolution “devours its children,” he was speaking from personal experience, having seen the fate of many who had early roles in the French Revolution but who had been brutally purged in the so-called Reign of Terror for their antirevolution leanings. More than 200 years later, the same principles are at play in the imminent arrival of the four-door version of the AMG GT.
This is the servant trying to become the master. One-time tuner AMG is no longer happy to make breathed-on versions of mainstream Mercedes models. Now it wants to become a full-fledged player in its own right. We’ve already become familiar with the AMG GT and SLS coupes and roadsters, two-seaters on their own platforms and with no direct equivalents within the Mercedes hierarchy. Mercedes’ original four-door coupe, the CLS, won’t come as a CLS63 this time around, leaving a space above the mightily impressive E63 S to be occupied by the new four-door AMG GT.
The pure-blooded AMG will be, as the Germans like to put it, schportier than the Mercedes-based E63 S, in the same way that the E63 is a couple of notches hairier than its V-6–powered E43 understudy. The GT sedan will share many of the two-doors’ curvaceous styling cues but will sit on a different architecture. The two-seaters use a bespoke aluminum structure that wouldn’t stretch far enough for a car this size, so the new AMG will use the MRA platform that underpins the E-class. It will also share the same heart as the top AMG cars, with power coming from the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8, familiar from the upper reaches of the clan but tuned to deliver an even higher 630 horsepower in the range-topping GT63 S. A non-S version will be offered with 577 horsepower. Both models will have the E63’s nine-speed MCT automatic trans and all-wheel drive, and the S comes standard with that all-important Drift mode. Unlike the E63, the GT63 will feature four-wheel steering.
Because our gleaming future is electric, there will also be more than one hybrid version. The first of these is the only one confirmed so far, but we can confidently predict it will be the least exciting. The base version of the GT four-door line will be the inline-six–powered GT53. The GT53 will use AMG’s 48-volt system, combining a 429-hp turbocharged 3.0-liter with up to 21 horsepower of electric boost. But beyond that, AMG is working on another hybrid, one that will be able to match the performance claims that were made for the GT concept shown at the 2017 Geneva show: a car with a peak output of at least 805 horsepower from a V-8-plus-e-motor combo and a zero-to-60 time of under three seconds.
AMG boss Tobias Moers has always been open about his ambition to turn his sub-brand into a constructor in its own right; if the four-door GT is successful, we expect to see several other exclusive AMG models, likely exploring other niches including-of course-SUVs. But for that to happen, the four-door will have to sell. While the idea of a four-door sports car has clear appeal in Asia, the unanswered question is whether traditional-minded buyers will consider it over the AMG E-class or its coupe or roadster siblings. The GT four-door’s most obvious competitor, the Porsche Panamera, has sold solidly rather than spectacularly. The GT63 and GT63 S will go on sale early next year, and we expect them to start at about $115,000, with the S variant likely commanding $135,000. The GT53 version will arrive later in 2019 and is expected to start at just over $100,000.
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