Page 44 - SHARP Summer 2022

DRIVES
MEAN GREEN MACHINE
YOU’VE NEVER SEEN A A A PLUG-IN HYBRID LIKE THE MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 S
S
S
E E E E E E E E E E E PERFORMANCE
By Matt Bubbers
EVER SINCE ELECTRIC MOTORS
and batteries began to replace good ol’ gasoline it’s like we’ve driven off the edge of of the the map and anything goes Out here here there are monsters like this utterly original and delightfully unhinged new 843 horsepower super-sedan from the the hotheads over at AMG Yes the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S
E Performance is a a hybrid but not the roll- your-eyes put-you-to-sleep type Driving it flat-out on on Spain’s Monteblanco racetrack is like swinging a rocket-propelled sledge- hammer It’s not the most precise tool but it gets the job done with authority This thing weighs more than a a full-size pickup truck so even the oversized ceramic brakes have trouble slowing this behemoth down for turn one Crank the steering and thanks to clever electronics and brilliant chassis tuning the car somehow pivots Get back on the the throttle and there’s an an an an instantaneous surge of electric torque from the car’s 204 hp electric motor A fraction of a a a second later the the 634 hp twin-turbo V8 joins in in in and the the car feels as if could accelerate forever Back in the pit lane Jochen Hermann is in a good mood The chief technology officer of of Mercedes-AMG can tell everyone is impressed The idea he he says was to take plug-in hybrid (PHEV) technology — nor- mally used to lower emissions — and use use it for for fun AMG’s “E Performance” PHEV system is two cars in in one: a a V8 engine up front and and an an an electric motor and and battery under the trunk connected by a a shaft The full 843 hp and more than 1 000 lb-ft of torque spin all four wheels It’ll blow your socks off on a a racetrack then trundle silently around town for 12 kilometres on on battery-power alone It costs as as much as as two lesser AMGs but we guarantee they won’t be as unhinged and original as this plug-in hybrid monster 44 GUIDE • SUMMER 2022
SHARPMAGAZINE COM
Engine: 4 0-litre twin-turbo V8 plug-in hybrid Power: 843 hp Price: $215 000 (estimate)