New 1,169hp Mercedes-AMG GT gunning for Cayenne
Seen it? Good. Time to talk about the more interesting stuff...
For those who thought the divisive design of the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe wasn’t quite bold enough, allow us to introduce you to its taller sibling - the new GT SUV. Sharing the same F1-derived electric hardware with the 800-volt architecure we met back in May, Affalterbach’s first dedicated SUV (i.e. without a Mercedes equivalent) gets as much as 1,169hp. The chassis gets AMG Active Ride Control+ tech, fighting physics in a model that, at the click of a button, can pretend it’s a GT R via immersive engine and gearbox simulation.
With an anticipated starting price of £110,000, the GT SUV is available in the same specifications as the Coupe. 53, 55 and 63 variants, and will produce 544, 816 and 1,169hp respectively, with the entry-model model using twin permanently excited synchronous motors (PSM), rather than the three compact axial flux motors of its siblings. This will give AMG a line-up to rival that of the Cayenne Electric, with a range-topper to face Porsche’s £130k Turbo Electric.
Before we get onto the technical stuff and how that positions it against rivals, there’s the design to contend with... It was always going to be divisive, especially in yellow, but if you think the front end’s aggressive headlights and mega-grille are going to split a room, wait until you see the rear. It makes the back of a Cayenne EV look, well, understated, and that’s saying something. Although in the metal - and especially when the car’s finished in grey - the front end is at least a bit less offensive. Maybe it’s a grower.
The 23-inch wheels on the car you see here are cool though, and when they come wrapped in Hankook performance rubber as part of the GT 63 setup, they’ll sprint AMG’s SUV to 62mph in 2.7 seconds, which is just three tenths behind the 4-Door Coupe. The 0-124mph dash takes just 7.2 seconds, meaning Affalterbach’s bigger and more spacious GT is still a certified rocket. Or perhaps we should say space shuttle, since the 63 in top guise weighs 2.7 tonnes. Interestingly, the twin-motor 53 isn’t much lighter, despite having just 544hp worth of hardware and only the smaller battery option.
By contrast, the other models get an additional choice of direct cooled, cylindrical cell’d battery to sit above the standard 106kWh item. With the bigger 128kWh option, both the 55 and 63 variants are capable of up to 435 miles of WLTP range to the base model’s 415 miles, and crucially, all variants beat their Porsche equivalent. If you’re wondering, the Lotus Eletre also falls behind AMG’s brute on both mileage and power, meaning behind all that German muscle is a surprisingly efficient machine.
This should, in theory, carry over to the way the GT SUV drives, because it gains AMG Active Ride Control+ as standard in the 63 (it’s an option on the other variants), giving the SUV continuously adjusting pitch and roll stabilisation. It’s bespoke to the GT SUV as the 4-Door doesn’t need so much anti-roll tech for obvious reasons, and it comes with the same mix of forged aluminium suspension hardware and carbon ceramic brakes, for maximum agility.
Also shared with the Coupe is AMG’s Aerokinetics system, which at speeds of up to 93mph focuses on reducing aerodynamic drag by closing cooling flaps unless things get hot. At higher speeds, the active boot spoiler can reduce lift to keep this heavy car pressed into the tarmac. But the key ingredient in maintaining traction is, of course, the driveline, which is most adaptable in the three-motor models. In the 55 and 63, both rear wheels are controlled independently for ‘targeted’ torque vectoring. Aside from the obvious traction benefits, AMG also promises that this Performance 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system “ensures plenty of driving pleasure”. The twin-motor 53 can also fully disengage the front motor for more efficient rear-drive running. Whether it can do big skids in this setting is to be confirmed.
One thing’s clear, though: AMG hasn’t held back on the engine simulation stuff. Like the 4-Door Coupe this GT SUV has 1,600 sound files from the GT R to project the note of a hot-vee 4.0-litre to passengers via the speakers. When the simulated engine is switched on in S+ mode, the front seats vibrate to simulate a V8 rumbling away under the bonnet, while the shift paddles behind the wheel control an augmented gearbox. AMG’s gone further than Porsche has with its own E-Shift system, with more regen strength to simulate engine braking, a hard simulated limiter, even in neutral, and - as PH found out after some heavy prods of the accelerator - fake pops and crackles on the simulated overrun.
Also carried over from the Coupe is AMG Race Engineer, allowing you to adjust powertrain response, chassis agility and traction control via three rotary knobs on the centre console. This means you can make specific adjustments as you go, and potentially without taking your eyes off the road, which is good in a car that measures two metres in width. The new AMG wheel is an evolution of the good stuff that came before, with its own drive mode and chassis-adjusting knobs, and Alcantara for your fingers. Having sat in the car, the digital screens behind the wheel look sharp and decent as well, and nowhere near as overbearing as they can in smaller Mercs.
But what’s especially different from the 4-Door Coupe is, of course, space inside, because with no swoopy rear roofline on an SUV that stands 1.66m tall, this GT has surplus headroom and legroom in the back, even for a six-foot passenger. The boot is also bigger than the Coupe, although this is one area the Cayenne Electric pulls ahead, albeit by only about 10 per cent. And yes, you get a front boot, or froot, although once again, it’s smaller than the Porsche’s.
That said, arguably more important is the EV-related sensible stuff here, and with 800-volt tech and powerful cooling hardware (that’s so significant in size, this purely electric car has what looks like a transmission tunnel in its middle), there’s a lot of it. Its effectiveness ensures a 710kW peak for charging speed, with a claimed continuous rate of 530kW. That’s far more rapid than the competition. While there aren’t any chargers quick enough to enable this yet in Britain, Mercedes is rolling out 1,000kW-ready plugs across Europe and America, so we shouldn't be far behind.
Suffice it to say that most opinions of the AMG GT SUV will be based on an appraisal of its design; but when you look a little deeper, there’s actually a lot to get excited about. Versus Porsche’s Cayenne, AMG’s newcomer looks to be a whole generation ahead. Heck, there’s even the potential for its engine simulation tech to move the game on from Hyundai. Handily, we’re not far away from finding out, as PH will be driving the 4-Door Coupe next month. Until then, anyone brave enough to say they’d take their SUV in yellow?
This Mercedes stands out as looking different, in a good way, and I do like that rear light bar.
Kind of funny that people moan about 'generic blobs' then when something different comes along which their eyes aren't used to, they complain about it as well. Where is the like people?
Anyway, enough negativity - kudos to Mercedes for going a different way !
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff