Somebody Tell Doug DeMuro Everybody Already Loves the Mercedes-AMG GT S

By Tony Markovich - September 22, 2016

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If you guys have been keeping up with matter-of-fact car YouTuber Doug DeMuro, who jumped up in internet fame by way of Jalopnik, you know that he shifted over to AutoTrader (yep, they have editorial content now). DeMuro’s owned and driven all sorts of vehicles, like Hummers, PT Cruisers, Aston Martins, and Ferraris. But a car that he hadn’t driven is the Mercedes-AMG GT S… until now.

A fan/reader of his in Philly recently offered him the chance to drive one. And, unsurprisingly, he loved it and proceeded to pronounce in video and print that the car is “ridiculously underrated.” And that seemed a little odd to us. Here’s a quick snippet from his AutoTrader article:

“So you’re thinking, ‘Fine. They’ve got the engine, the styling and the interior right. But this is MERCEDES we’re talking about. Surely there’s no balance, no poise, no sports-car excitement.’ After all, we’ve seen this before with Mercedes. Remember the AMG SL65? The theory was: Take a regular SL-Class, throw in a massive powertrain, and call it a day. The result was all engine, no balance and driving enjoyment only in a straight line. This is probably what you’re expecting. This is what I expected, too. But this is wrong. Driving the Mercedes-AMG GT S is the best part.”

He proceeded to say the GT S is just as good as a Ferrari and the Audi R8, but again, it was all with an extremely surprised tone. He even said it is “quite possibly the most underrated car I’ve ever driven in my entire life.” We just don’t get why he was so shocked. There have been a bevy of ultra high-praise reviews, including Motor Trend naming it the best driver’s car. Hell, his own former co-workers drooled over it here and here. XCAR/Carfection loved it, Car and Driver gave it five stars, Top Gear loved it, and even non-traditional car reviewers like Digital Trends, and Mashable loved it.

I’m honestly not aware of any negative reviews of the thing. But yet DeMuro thinks it’s underrated? I’m not sure what his criteria are. Maybe he just hasn’t heard it talked about in public spaces, but this thing has received quite a bit of well-deserved attention. That doesn’t seem too underrated. What am I missing?