It’s kind of ugly to me. The front and rear are very different and strays away from even the GLC EV design language, although maybe that was the point. However, after staring at it a while, it’s kind of grown on me a little, I actually like the rear more than the front. It reminds me of a 70’s era muscle car, but all-in-all I think the designers tried way too hard. In fact, the concept looked much better and they should have stayed more true to that.

And I hate the interior. It reminds me of Audi’s new disaster of an interior. It’s too asymmetrical and unnatural to me.

 

I don't really have a comment to add to you OP, to be honest I think this car is part of the "old"er design language unlike the new GLC EV, so they are still phasing it out, more videos:

 

Hope that light strip is optional as the GT55 doesn't have it, neither did the prototype. Not sure why they didn't just use that gorgeous GT coupe front-end.
I don't mind the dash; same as other cars trying to emphasize a cockpit-centric design although no need for these rectangular screens.

They dialed down the performance, top speed and charging speed for unknown reasons. Originally over 1300hp, 220mph and megawatt charging. Still outstanding specs.

 

Ola time is limited now...

 

 

The connected light bars front and rear are optional, so is the active diffuser. I kinda like the design, but the car leaves me cold mostly. The interior reminds me of a modern interpretation of Knight Rider. I was just joking with somebody the other day how silly Knight Rider was with the car supposedly having AI, but two low resolution CRT monitors in the dash. I guess this is the updated interpretation...haha.

I also think they are trying too hard. The simulated V8 and transmission is just silly to be honest. I watched the Remove Before Race video and the exterior sound is so obvious that it's coming from speakers. Sounds terrible to be honest, but that's on a video. He keeps saying how accurate of a simulation it is of the real thing, but I guess I have to hear it in person first. I do sort of get it. The transmission simulation is supposedly very good including simulated torque curve and cutoff. One point he made is that we drive different with gears vs single gear EVs. With gears you can control the torque to the wheels by short shifting and such. I do that a lot to manage wheel spin. It's part of the fun. EVs are just step on the go pedal and it goes. There's nothing the driver can do to influence the experience. So that perhaps could be interesting in this car. It's more of a driver's EV I suppose, but Hyundai has already done it. So now everybody is copying it.

I also just watched a few videos of the new VW ID Polo GTI. VW's interpretation of an electric GTI. What everybody is raving about is that it feels like a GTI. The steering, the suspension, how it drives. It's FWD like the original GTI, but has a locking front differential like recent ICE GTIs. I think this is the first EV that uses a locking differential. At least I'm seeing efforts of making these EVs actually fun to drive beyond the one trick 0-60 acceleration. Of course, you don't necessarily need a differential at all. You can use two motors per axle as the GT is using on the rear axle, but the majority of EVs, even the so-called performance variants have one motor per axle and open differentials. That's just not cutting it IMHO.

Also, the GT has a proper top speed. The biggest complaint about the VW ID Polo GTI is that it tops out at 176 km/h. There are delivery vans going faster than that on the German Autobahn everyday. Supposedly they are now working on increasing the top speed. I'll be curious to see how far you get with this GT going 186 mph on the German Autobahn. Sure, a tank of gas doesn't last far with an ICE at that speed, either, but it takes only 5 minutes to fill it back up. To do this with an EV requires Megawatt charging as the prototype has, but there's no infrastructure for it yet, so I guess that's why they didn't put this in the production version.

 

I don't understand the point of that rubber thing where the driver screen is... I mean that looks like they took a piece of the air intake (rubber connecting area) and put it there. There has to be a purpose?

 

Just to clarify, this thing (at the 34 second mark):

 

I know what you mean. They had to close that gap somehow, They could have done it in other ways like with a more swooping design, but that would have taken away space for the passenger screen. Not saying that would have been bad, because pretty much everybody agrees that passenger screens are kinda pointless, but I guess driving has become so uninteresting that the passengers need to be entertained with movies etc.

 

Would be nice if that was a piece of wood trim or CF but then it might squeak or creak, a whole can of worms.

 

That passenger screen is optional. As far as I know, if you don't order it it's piano black plastic. Same old story. Cheap plastic dashboards with lots of screens to detract from all the plastic. At least glass feels more premium than plastic.

 

Good to know.

 

Looks good, but I think I will settle for a used Taycan GT. I was hoping it might come with the new drive by wire F1 inspired yoke. Something about creating a v8 sounds just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe a cooling down of nitrogen gas effects is more Hollywood futuristic than a farting v8 sound.

 

Well, we'll have to see how the V8 simulation work IRL. People joked about the Ionic 5N and then everyone loved it even though they know it isn't real. As for the sound sounding fake I actually doubt that. Everyone I have heard said it sounds realistic and the vibration in the seat will emphasize that. Fake engine sounds and engine sounds piped into the cabin, soft limiters and OPF filters are today's reality too. You already have to go back to old cars to experience pure unfiltered and undampened sound.

This car will never be for purists; come to think it neither are many ICE AMG models either.
The only question really is if the car is fun to drive. Simple as that. It's quick enough to outperform virtually all AMG's but is that enough? Look forward to finding out but the box of tricks, from the active aero (incl. venturi airflow), the ability to run at top speed for long periods without overheating (including the brakes on track), race engineer setup (which appear to be brilliant) & soundtrack, this car is a huge step up from the old and somewhat never desirable AMG GT 4 door...

 

Couple thoughts on range at speed. I have driven the Lucid Air extensively in Germany and had a number of fun speed runs with other cars that were intrigued by the car, mostly Porsche's and a M5. So a fair amount of 170mph drives (that models limiter) in Bavaria where you still have great stretches with low traffic. At max speed, the Air more are than halved its range which I thought was not bad. This sounds drastic but that's the same for an ICE car. Not sure about the Merc but the Lucid likely beats ICE in range.

As for 600KW or MW chargers in the US, fat chance - maybe Ionna. For Europe, very likely and pretty quick as well. Not everywhere of course but they are already installing 600KW chargers are Ionity and Mercedes HPC.

 

Perhaps MB has GT 43 or GT 53 or GT 55 versions planned for those who don't need that much performance and keep the price tag at the 150K mark instead of say 200-250K?

 

Carwow video guess the price range is $190K (euro or USD?) starting for the GT63. This would sit around the Taycan Turbo GT. For me, give me the F1 technology in civilian form. But the reality is that manufacturer like Lucid are still losing money even with a $250K Sapphire. This AMG GT4 63 will compete directly with the Taycan and E-tron.

You'll never get an old cowboy to prefer a noise making, smoke producing "wagon" that gets pushed and pulled by an "engine." I used to be the "no replacement for displacement" guy. But, we're a dying breed with all the new tech . . . similar to when the first automobile overtook the horse riding cowboys. I look to the F1 technology trickle down to see what's coming next. AMG really need to start letting go of the "v8" characteristics; the only reason they are hanging onto it in EV is for financial reasons in an attempt to transition old school to EV; it will fail. A theater movie film explosion is never the same as a real explosion!

 

Don't forget about VAT so can't just do a direct conversion, we should wait for official mbusa pricing on media.mbusa.com.

As for the engineered sounds and vibration, it can be turned off.

 

I get that ICE have augmented sound these days, but it's still a sound that has an actual source in the car and the transmission is real. This on the other hand is making it something it's not. It's like a if the first cars made artificial horse sounds and dropped horse manure from a container periodically just to make it feel like what came before. Yes, the first cars did look like horse carriages, so there's that. That's still a functional thing, though, as it had to continue to carry people. We haven't gotten rid of the traditional form of a car, either. Still need an interior seats and at least a trunk. You could argue, though, that EVs no longer need a hood, especially a long one.

There are definitely some interesting things about, it such as the Race Engineer. It'll likely be fun to drive, because it'll feel and sound familiar. Wonder what future generations will think about EVs from the current age making broom broom sounds. Imitation is the highest form of flattery I guess.

 

Yeah, the range dropping in half or whatever isn't the issue. As I said, a tank of gas doesn't take you as far at this speed, either. The issue is the charging infrastructure currently doesn't support driving fast, unless you wanna spend a lot of time charging along the way. I did European Delivery with my current car, blasting through Germany for hours and eating up miles. Yes, I had to stop at a gas station frequently, but 5 minutes later I was back on the road. Until that's the experience with fast EVs, I kinda don't see their point, other than short bursts here and there.

 

Of course, a well known argument. Since we have an EV in Germany I get the pros/cons especially at Autobahn speeds. With the 600KW stations, you are near gas station speed. With the war in Iran driving fast is a pricey proposition and are hassle as some gas station have less active dispensers or occasional restrictions. Filling up is an easy 160 Euros for 150 miles at speed.

 

Yep, gotta pay to play, no doubt, but other than nearly $7 per gallon here in California we don't have such restrictions. Even back in 2019, driving 7000 miles in 2 months around Germany etc. came with a large fuel bill, but it was worth the experience. What I kinda don't get is why they didn't copy BYD and put two fast charging ports on this thing, so that you can charge from two 300kW chargers simultaneously instead of waiting for enough 600kW chargers to show up. You may **** off a few folks if you are taking up two chargers. The other thing, though with charging is that 300kW etc. is just peak theoretical speed. You don't get that, especially when everybody is charging and the site has to split the available feed among all chargers. It's not just that charging is slower, but it's also not consistent. Fuel pumps always pump at the same speed, regardless of how many are occupied.

 

Right. Am curious how convincing the package is. Again, my personal experience was fun chasing Porsche's with a fat EV sedan. They are clearly faster but a lot of surprised faces when they couldn't gain distance unless I hit the limiter. All good fun.

 

Evolution of tech at charging stations. The grid is the issue; same in China. Fast chargers need battery packs on-site to subsidize the grid and deliver consistent output. A lot of older stations around. Also European attitudes? Who knows. I don't think that highly of Chinese cars. The battery tech is first class though.
The AMG actually has some outstanding tech in that regard. At normal charging stations (300kw) from 10-80% the charging curve should be flat with no drop-off.

 

@Wolfman I know that you were looking forward to this, and same do I after all of what you've shared in the past. I love the interior; I think I'd love a sport car with an interior like this. The spec is just right where it needs to be, but the charging specs are not exactly what you shared before. They have a short time for charging, but you are only filling up 280 miles of juice anyway. I recall telling with you that I will only believe it when I see it. You were off by 40% on the charing speed which proves my theory of concept (prototype/marketing numbers) car vs actual production. Having said that, Mbenz removed some of the numbers again from a number of articles and the web, and it is hard to track the official charging speeds although they were available, which means they might drop the specs for things like range even more based on EPA estimates. Any idea?

The front end and rear end though, that might be the only reason this car may never get the attention and interest it deserves on paper. I first thought the photos I saw on social media were AI generated for trolling. Not sure how this front-end passed any reasonable logic. Regardless, great performance for a track car on paper and we finally see a serious 4-door EV that can compete with the Plaid and Lucid at least with the numbers.

The excitement I had didn't meet the outcomes. I think AMG GT, M8C, GT Continental are still my preferred top-3 (luxury+sport combo) vehicles.