Car Review: 2025 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance

My adventure began with an email from a PR agency for the Historic Tapoco Lodge in Robbinsville, North Carolina, with an invitation to visit for a couple of days. While travel writing isn’t my principal venue, this scenic property on the Cheoah River has a great automotive hook. Its location in the Smoky Mountains is next to the famous Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap, an 11-mile, 2-lane road with 318 curves. All I needed was the right car for the drive.

Not long ago, Mercedes-Benz moved its North American headquarters to Atlanta, a very reasonable 170-mile journey to Robbinsville, and they had just the right weapon to slay a dragon: the AMG GT 63 S E Performance. This luxurious coupe-like, four-door sedan possesses a remarkable Jekyll and Hyde personality. Touring up to our destination in “Comfort” mode, with Burmester Surround Sound entertainment and Distronic adaptive cruise control, was effortless. But when asked to behave with alacrity when needed, the answer was instant.

The GT 63 sedan is quite a unique product, beginning with an E-Class chassis reworked by the AMG folks with its hand-built, twin-turbo V8 up front aided by a 400-volt electric motor and 6.1 kWh battery in back. And although it is a “plug-in” hybrid, the EV range is only a mile or two. Instead of plugging in, recharging is easily accomplished by selecting the “Race” mode to engage the F1 system, a remarkable scheme based on Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team’s high-performance hybrid racing system designed to deliver instant dispatch. Mercedes press materials imply “accelerating out of corners with great agility.” That should win an award for understatement. 

Car and Driver measured the sedan’s 0-to-60 acceleration at just 2.4 seconds. That’s what a circus performer might experience when shot from a cannon, and when you apply this velocity to a corner exit on the Tail, you’re just moments from the next turn. And there’s more than the instant 1,032 pound-feet of torque at work, there’s the 50-50 weight distribution, a few degrees of rear steering, and advanced AMG chassis programming to make any driver confident. I certainly felt in command after our quick corner carving and my co-pilot, Kathleen, remained quite stoic while strapped in her deeply bolstered Napa leather seat. For stereo during our corner carving, we let the powertrain provide sonic entertainment.

So how often do the Tail of the Dragon turns occur? Some right behind the other and a couple of stretches a bit longer than a city block that I encountered during our quick 11-mile journey. In those brief events, the AMG could rocket to 90 MPH or so before engaging the carbon ceramic brakes and battery regen system. We were not on a race track so keeping in the right lane was the absolute rule, but during our very early hour of “Tail” driving we didn’t encounter another motorist. 

Sport sedans and SUVs with serious athletic ability are pretty widely available from automakers and range from Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and VW offerings to Aston Martin, Bentley, and Ferrari, among others, at the pinnacle price points. The rather direct challengers to our AMG include the Audi RS 7 along with BMW’s new M5 and the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E, both also plug-in hybrids. And Cadillac’s CT5 V Blackwing is a dark horse in this derby, but so far, I’ve found none with the remarkable luxury and performance of the AMG.

TYPE:  Front-engine, rear-wheel drive
ENGINE:  4.0-liter Twin-Turbo V8 
HORSEPOWER:  831 @ 5,500-6,500 RPM
TORQUE:  1,032 lb.-ft. @ 2,500-4,500 RPM
MOTOR: 201 HP Equiv.
Electric Driving Range 1 Mile
BASE PRICE: $194,900
AS TESTED:  $222,110
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 18 Gas, 25 Gas + Electric combined