Ever met one of those irritating people, those who can’t stop talking about a set of snazzy wheels purchased off eBay? How about the kind of gearhead that can’t stop waxing lyrical about his Mustang? The three-pointed star went down that route as well thanks to a five-door sedan which is called… wait for it… the GT 4-Door Coupe.
Great job, Mercedes-AMG! The performance division from Affalterbach has recently set a record-breaking lap on the world’s most grueling racing circuit, the Nurburgring, but the vehicle’s category will leave you very puzzled. More to the point, the GT 63 S 4Matic+ is presented to us as “the fastest luxury class vehicle on the Nordschleife.”
Can you define what luxury class actually means? Does it have anything to do with the number of doors, a topic that not even Merc appears to understand? Regardless of this marketing-infused claptrap, the record-breaking lap time is 7:23.009 or 2.3 seconds better than the previous record set two years ago by development engineer Demian Schaffert.
The closest road-going sedan to the GT 63 S 4Matic+ on the Green Hell is the limited-edition Jaguar XE SV Project 8. The British interloper clocked 7:18.36 last year, which is a huge difference considering the length of the German circuit. But still, I have to hand it over to Mercedes-AMG for making a far more comfortable and luxurious car that actually features rear seats and a more compliant suspension for daily driving.
“Even though I’ve been accompanying our GT 63 through its development for several years now, it’s always impressive to see the wide spread we have been able to achieve with this exclusive vehicle,” declared Demian Schaffert following his hot lap on the Green Hell. “This is especially true after the recent slight revision” for the 2021 model year.
What did Mercedes-AMG improve in order to shave off 2.3 seconds in less-than-ideal track conditions? As it happens, it all boils down to “newly tuned elastokinematics” and “other fine-tuning measures” that haven’t been detailed by the Affalterbach-based brand.
If you’re planning on buying a GT 4-Door Coupe – especially the 63 series – you’d better wait a little because Mercedes-AMG has an even better option in the pipeline. Sometime in 2021 for the 2022 model year, the all-new 73 series will roll out with plug-in hybrid assistance for the twin-turbo V8 engine and a simply ridiculous 805 horsepower (816 PS).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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