Finally, the 2026 models made it to the dealerships around me and I got to test drive a 2026 GLE AMG 53 Coupe. Not impressed with mild hybrid AT ALL. Took my 2019 GLE 43 AMG 43 Coupe and parked it side by side so we can all see the exterior differences. The ride was nothing like mine. If I put mine on comfort and floor it, it will immediately gets to higher speed, the mild hybrid one hesitates big time unless you put it on S+. Overall, not impressed at all.

 

I recently test drove a 2025 GLE 53, and I did not experience the hesitation you witnessed....and I'm currently driving a 2023 Macan GTS.

As a matter of fact, I witnessed just about no hesitation at all from the GLE 53....in any mode.

SO glad I ordered the running boards....looks sharp on the 2026 GLE 53!

 

The running board is a necessity for me (I am a 5'3" female). The car looks good but I had to floor it and it would take a good 3-4 second for it to jump in comfort mode. In my 2019 non-mild-hybrid car, as soon as you push the gas, it takes off. I put the 2026 one on S+ and then it got somewhat better. The steering wheel was the most expensive one, but I didn't care for that one either. The interior looked more red in pics, but in person, it was orange. So I could not convince myself to pay that much and get something I am not excited about. Bummer.

 

There must be something wrong with the new car you drove. According to tests, your old car is almost half a second slower to 60, and almost 10mph slower in the quarter mile. It's down about 80hp in comparison.

One of the things that impresses me about the 53 is its quick throttle response.
I'd try another example before I'd rule a new one out.

I wonder if you're not fully depressing the pedal?
Also, the new generation responds according to the velocity of a pedal stab. Slamming it to the floor gets significantly faster engine response and immediate dowshifts, compared to sneaking up on it.

Of course you won't get full power on an engine until it has some miles on it, but it shouldn't take three seconds to respond.
Did the salesperson say anything about the doggy performance?

 

Maybe the transmission needs to learn a bit regardless, agree with other forum members to give another one a chance.

 

It uses battery power before it starts to use gas, something like that. The drive is not the same at all. Flooring it takes a bit more time before the cat takes off, that is not the case with my non mild hybrid, I could floor it at the traffic light and it just responds faster. The salesperson agreed that the mild hybrid are just like that. I have test driven three mild hybrid MBs so far and they were all the same. Having said that, I got a better performance when I put the car on S+, that made it drive similar to mine on C!

 

It's always a gas car - it can't run on electricity alone.

The 48v battery and the supercharger are designed to fill in the first 1.5 seconds of turbo lag.

The 48 volt battery powers an ISG, inline starter generator, that gives 179 ft lb of instant torque for no lag. At about a half second, the 48 volt electric supercharger is up to full boost, filling in until the turbo adds its boost, all under 2 seconds, reaching 429 hp at that time, if not sooner.

Firing off the catalyst only happens once when you first start the car, cold. You can see this because the idle is @750 rpm for a short while, when it returns to 500 rpm (unless the battery is discharged, then it'll stay at a fast idle longer).
So the catalyst won't affect performance after the first minute or so, if at all.

Drive another 53, either SUV or Coupe, whichever one you can find.

It sounds like you like cars. See if you can find a salesperson with better knowledge and who also likes cars.

 

Does the 2019 have the shutdown autostart? I keep the function disabled on my 63. My 63 does just as Mikapen stated and LEAPS off as the electric appears to eliminate any turbo lag. My 63 is suprisingly fast / quick. Quicker than the muscle cars I grew up with from the 60's & 70's. Quickest car other than a Tesla Ludicrous I have ever been in...

 

^^^^^^
I will guarantee that her delay is the auto-start and maybe partly just being brand new. I have a similar delay leaving a stoplight and almost always turn that off to avoid the delay just leaving a stop sign or stop light (in any mode, but usually Comfort). There are at least 2 ways to do that (dash & steering wheel). The battery is the electric supercharger and will add no delay on the 53 just as your 63.

Is this the Tysons dealer? Take a test ride in Sport+ on Lawyers Road in Vienna, unless they added more stop signs recently. Thanks for the pictures of old and new. Never visually compared mine to the older style.

 

If by shutdown autostart you mean the eco feature, then yes my 2019 has the Eco, I always turn it off. Have test driven three GLEs so far, 2 2025 and one 2026 all with that lag. Would love to try a 63 but those are too expensive.

 

Take another test drive and ask the sales person to show you how to disable the Auto Stop switch. There is a button to the lower left of steering wheel on dash and also an option on the left button on the sport steering wheel, but you need to surf through the button options to get to it. Or do the same in a used 2025 AMG 53. The electric supercharger is there to negate turbo lag.

 

I suppose Auto Start/stop could be the issue.
After an update earlier this year on my '21, it seems a bit confused, somewhat like the fuel cutoff is intervening. It kind of Stumbles on decel. Not enough for me to turn it off, but maybe new models have a similar affliction.
On mine, the button is a finger width away from the ignition button. Placing it in Sport also disables it.
It seems to be related to that recent update, so maybe the next update will rectify the situation.

I agree, and would disable Start/Stop and try again.

A fresh engine will be noticeably stronger after 1,000 miles, so together those will make a difference.

Also, the AMG GLE 43 was on the old 166 platform. The 167 platform is a significant improvement, in strength, handling and comfort.

 

Thank you for your comment, sorry I missed it earlier when I posted my previous comment. Yes that is Tyson's dealership, have bought two of my three MBs from them. I never thought that auto start could cause that, is that the ECO button? If not, what does it look like?
You're very welcome! I always wanted to see the old body next to new one, so took mine so I can take nice pictures for us :-)

 

Thanks much for the info, do you mind posting a picture of what that button looks like? So if you don't turn that off and you are driving in Comfort mode, right at the red light you push/floor but it doesn't jump as fast as your 21 model? When you turned that off it helped? By flooring, I don't only mean after the car auto shut off kicked in at let's say a traffic light. What I noticed with the 25 model was that while driving at the highway, flooring the gas pedal wasn't as fast responsive as my 2019 model. It would hesitate for a second or two them will jump. Do you still believe this could be because of that ECO feature?

 

I've been using their wrong terminology, and yes it's called Eco. The A with the clockwise arrow.
Picture of the button on my '21, just to the right of the start button.

It may be different on a '25.

Actually I don't think it's part of the problem, because mine is instant when I step on the gas.
I am just suggesting disabling the "Eco" auto stop-start as part of the troubleshooting.

I have no hesitation when I step on the gas.

I've never encountered your situation, and I don't remember a post with the same complaint.
Maybe the pedal travel is longer on the new cars than on yours.

2 to 3 seconds for response is longer than any turbo lag, and dangerous IMO.
Are you sure it's not 2/10 of a second? Even that would be longer than what I experience.

The other aspect of the Eco function is that the Engine restarts when you take your foot off the brake, not when you step on the gas.

So none of this makes sense to me.
Including the salesperson's response that "they're all like that."
How about trying to find one that's broken in?

Btw, the only 43 I've ever driven was a C43, and while it was loud, I thought it was a dog, but it was a loaner that probably had low octane gas from cheapskate drivers.

My 53 will blow the doors off your 43. I almost guarantee it. From a dead stop, from 40 mph or from 90 mph.



It's not 63S performance, or even "best in class," but "responsiveness" is excellent.

I also think it's the best looking mid size SUV.

Edit: Maybe the newer chassis just hides the quickness. Some cars feel and sound fast but aren't. (Think my C43 loaner.) Others surprise you at how easily they get to speed.
The 166 AMGs that I drove had super stiff suspensions that were not acceptable to me.
Then, Cayenne's were much better, rode and handled better, so I bought one. Now I think the AMG (with AMG ARC) is better.

 

Thank you for the info, that was certainly not what my experience was with two '25 AMG (loaners) and one brand new '26. Could be the pedal, could be other things, I am not sure. But the lag I noticed with these mild-hybrid makes me hesitant to invest in one. I came across othet posts (not on this forum) of people noticing the same lag and that was enough to make them not want to continue with MBs. And I have seen posts on social media by people telling me to forget the 53 in general and go with 63. So i guess to each their own!

 

Loaners are probably refilled with 87 octane gas, which derates the engine.
New ones are tight, won't have the response (and shouldn't be flogged).

There is no way a 53 is slower than a 43.

I'd buy something else, another brand.
No matter the reason, right or wrong, you'll be disappointed.

And find a dealer/salesperson who actually knows the car.

 

i was certainly disappointed, not comparable with my 43 AMG. To each their own. Will update this thread if I had anything to add.

 

I would be disappointed too, and probably would look elsewhere.

 

I am very curious what this lag is that you are talking about, genuinely curious as I don't experience this in any 53 models. I driven the "first gen" 53 models, the CLS 53, E 53 as well as the pre-facelift GLE 53. It was all as what I expect it to do. You aren't talking about turbo lag right?

 

@Sparkling If you and/or your husband want to meet somewhere in the middle, I'd be happy to show you mine and let you drive it with and without the Auto Start. The picture @mikapen posted of the Auto Start is accurate to the 2025/26 models. Would suggest maybe EuroMotorcars Germantown. But open.

 

W205C43PFL and timotat, thank you for your replies. What I was trying to describe was when I test drove this car (and had the two loaners), it would take longer for the cars to respond to flooring, at the same time, when I took my foot off the gas pedal, the car would quickly slow down, vs my 43 would still go at the same (almost the same) speed and would not get slow as fast as those 2025-2026 models. When I pushed the gas on the 2025 and 2026 models, I saw the RPM goes high on the gauge but the cars had a lag before it gets to higher speed. My experience/comparison is to have all these car in Comfort mode. Now in S+. I noticed the respond is much faster on these new cars. Now, I tried my best to describe this but I am by no means an expert,

Tim, I appreciate your offer but will have to do some research to see if what I experience was related to mild hybrid in which case that would be the new norm and I just have to accept it and buy something I would not be happy with!

 

Thanks for your reply as well. The first thing sounds like turbo lag for some reason, the second sounds like some sort of regenerative braking, recuperation.

 

When I hear rpms go up and car not move for some reason that sounds like a transmission slip

Do not buy something you are not happy with, i've been through numerous buyer's remorse, let me just say it is not pretty. You waste a lot of money buying it and then waste a lot of money disposing. Buy the car you know you will like with all options you need, don't buy a car with some options that you need that are missing. It is better to have something when you don't need it than something you need but don't have.

 

But it's on three cars.

They couldn't all have a non-functioning supercharger, a non-functioning ISG, a three-second turbo lag and transmission slippage.

I'm beginning to think it's a matter of the 167 AMG chassis / suspension being so much more refined than the 166 AMG.
I drove a 166 platform AMG 63, and it certainly did give the impression of speed. The ride was so stiff and unyielding that any speed it made made my wife think "boy, this thing is fast," but I was just toodling around.
Combined with the relatively primitive 166 chassis, which heightens the impression of speed because it's just not as capable as a 167.
Or maybe the difference in exhaust sound.

The C43 I had as a loaner for 300 miles was surprisingly loud and slow, when compared to my 53.

None of this makes any sense.

(Unless we have @chassis (AKA occasional troll) masquerading as @Sparkling)