Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 4-Door Coupe review

The subject of the fourth largest internet meltdown in recent history, slotting in behind the Ferrari Luce, Jaguar Type 01 and James Acaster’s performance on Celebrity Traitors. AMG’s maiden EV was absolutely crucified when it broke cover earlier this year, for two main reasons: one reasonable, one less so.

First, its appearance. Fair enough. Looks are subjective but the consensus was fairly unanimous when images of the lurid yellow launch car were released. The GT 4-Door Coupe wasn’t just beaten with an ugly stick – the tree fell on it.

Second, its existence. Hardcore petrolhead types begrudgingly tolerate battery power when it’s implemented in compact crossover school run machines, but any time EVs encroach into enthusiast territory, people get awfully cross.

That AMG, revered purveyors of flatulent V8s, has launched a new flagship powered by electrons is viewed by many as confirmation that the game’s gone. The tree huggers won, fun is banned, cars are ruined, time to take up golf.

Suffice to say the GT is not arriving into a world of open hearts and curious minds. In fact, it’s going to have to be something very special indeed to convince the doubters that it is anything other than a stain on AMG’s legacy.

… and is it special?

Yes. Combining searing performance, beguiling ride and a genuinely thrilling sensory experience, Affalterbach’s EV delivers the most compelling evidence yet that the performance car will not only survive, but thrive in the electric future. It’s violently fast and supremely capable – but more importantly, it’s just a lot of fun.

Stat me up.

Brace yourself. The AMG GT D-door Coupe is powered by three axial flux motors – one on the front axle, two on the rear – which combine for 1,475lb ft of torque and continuous output of 711bhp in the top-spec GT63. Pull on both paddles to activate Boost mode however, and that figure increases to 1,153bhp for 63 seconds. Geddit? 63?

The 0-60mph sprint is dealt with in 2.4 seconds, while 0-120mph is dispatched in 6.8 – that’s a tenth faster than the AMG One, in a four-door family car. Meanwhile a top speed of 186mph ensures this is one EV that won’t be caught with its pants down on the derestricted autobahn.

Battery stats are equally impressive. The GT’s 106kWh pack offers a respectable WLTP range of between 370 and 430 miles, but it’s the charging that steals the show. Find a sufficiently speedy 600kW charger (there are hardly any in the UK) and the Merc goes from 10-80 per cent in just 11 minutes.

What’s the best thing about it?

The suspension. In place of any physical anti-roll bars, the GT 4-Door Coupe uses electro-hydraulic active suspension to manage its significant mass. Under the watchful eye of the car’s electronic brain, the dampers, each containing a hydraulic actuator, make thousands of micro-adjustments every second in the name of keeping the car unfathomably flat through corners.

Only bone shakingly stiff supercars control their body better – the Merc’s magic trick is that it’s also impressively comfortable.

Any other features of note?

Many. There’s the trick battery pack’s ingenious thermal management system: instead of a cooling plate, it bathes its cells in a cooling oil for faster and more efficient temperature control. There’s the active underbody aero: an assortment of flaps deploy at speed creating two venturi tunnels that sucker the car to the ground like a GMA T.50.

Then there’s the vibrators – sorry, electro-dynamic transducers (read: vibrators) – that combine with the synthesised engine sound to create a fake V8 whose rumble you not only hear, but feel. What is inescapably clear when driving the GT is this is not a car AMG has built reluctantly, or half-heartedly. Das kitchen sink has been lumped at this project and it shows.

So it’s a slam dunk then?

Good heavens no. Have you seen it? In the metal, the GT isn’t quite as gopping as the pictures above might suggest, especially when finished in a less garish colour and specced without the optional lighting pack that conjoins the headlights with a lightbar, making it look like it has some sort of gunky eye infection.

Even so, you’d be hard pressed finding someone who thinks this is a good-looking car, and that’s a shame. This is an EV designed to appeal to the heart, not the head, and its anglerfish face detracts from that.

The interior is an acquired taste too. If you enjoy sitting in the front row of IMAX cinemas and regularly attend trance raves, you’ll be right at home. If you’re normal, you may find it a sensory overload – and slightly tacky.

What are its main rivals?

The biggie is the imminent seventh-gen BMW M3, which also makes the switch to electric and will likely stack up similarly in terms of power and price. In the meantime, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 N sets the bar for electric super saloons, and does so for almost half as much money as the GT53 base car.

Porsche’s Taycan completes the short list of existing electric super saloons, and we’d be remiss not to cite a few combustion powered stalwarts like the Panamera and BMW M5 as rivals too – for this car to succeed commercially, it will need to tempt at least a few buyers away from their V8s.

AMG’s first proper EV is a technical tour de force that raises the bar for combustion-free driving pleasure. Its endlessly adjustable dampers, drive modes and synthetic engine and gearbox settings give it shapeshifting powers. Pootling around town? It’s as plush and silent as an EQS. Blasting down a twisty B-road? It’s as boisterous and accessible as an A45. Hitting the track? It’s a Black Series-grade precision instrument – or a tyre vaporising drift missile, depending on your mood.

And yet, we’re finding it hard to actually want one. Beauty is of course in the eye of the beholder, but we’re just not gelling with Merc’s design language, outside or in. We can tolerate it on the CLA – that’s a brilliant, practical, efficient family car – but this is an AMG. It should be aspirational; something you look back at over your shoulder after parking up. The only reason we’d look back at the GT 4-Door Coupe is to make sure it’s not stalking us home like the angel statues in Doctor Who.