2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe First Drive Review: The Electric GT That Could Win Over V8 Fans
Persuading car enthusiasts is hard. Persuading them to buy an electric car is harder.
Ask any brand that has tried to sell a performance EV, and you will hear the same story. The buyers want something that feels real: tactile feedback, character, emotion, and a driving experience that sticks in your senses in a way most EVs still have not managed to deliver.
That is exactly why the 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe is the most interesting electric car we have driven this year. Mercedes flew us to southern Spain for a two-day manufacturer event, where we spent the first day in the GT 55 on the road and the second day in the more powerful GT 63 on track at Ascari. Here is what we found, and why we think this car could genuinely change the minds of people who have never considered an electric performance car.
Full disclosure: Mercedes covered travel and accommodation for this manufacturer drive event. The opinions below are our own, and every figure in this review comes from manufacturer-published data or from our own time behind the wheel during that event.
Key takeaways
- The GT 55 makes 805 hp at peak and 1,372 lb-ft of torque, and hits 60 mph from a standstill in 2.7 seconds.
- The GT 63 raises peak output to 1,153 hp and 1,475 lb-ft, and is 0.4 seconds faster to 60 mph.
- AMGFORCE mode synthesizes a V8 soundtrack and simulated shifts in real time, and it is the best synthetic engine experience we have ever encountered in any EV.
- The 800-volt system charges from 10 to 80 percent in 11 minutes at 600 kW.
- GT 55 range is 371 to 435 miles on the WLTP cycle. A US EPA estimate has not been published yet.
- Pricing starts at $145,000 for the GT 55 and $175,000 for the GT 63, before destination fees.
What Is the 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe?
Start with the basics. This is the first fully electric car in AMG's most important line, and the direct successor to the 4-Door GT that was built around a V8. It sits on the dedicated AMG.EA electric platform, and the headline is a tri-motor setup built around compact axial-flux units, paired with an 800-volt battery architecture.
Mercedes has developed the AMG.EA platform with one goal in mind: sustained, repeatable performance. With this much power, peak numbers are easy. Keeping the car quick lap after lap, drive after drive, is the real test, and the entire powertrain, from the battery cells to the cooling oil, is engineered around that idea.
The bodywork continues the four-door coupe lineage that the original Mercedes CLS defined, with a fastback roofline and a liftback rear end. The new car is lower and longer than the one it replaces, and the silhouette reads sharper, even if the styling debate is not going to settle itself.
| Specification | AMG GT 55 | AMG GT 63 |
|---|---|---|
| Peak power | 805 hp (launch control / Boost) | 1,153 hp |
| Continuous power | 577 hp | 711 hp |
| Torque | 1,372 lb-ft | 1,475 lb-ft |
| 0 to 60 mph | 2.7 seconds (2.4 with rollout) | 0.4 seconds quicker than the GT 55 |
| 0 to 124 mph | 9.0 seconds | 2.3 seconds quicker than the GT 55 |
| Boost duration | 55 seconds | 63 seconds |
| Top speed (standard / with option) | 161 mph / 186 mph | |
| US starting price | $145,000 + $1,550 destination | $175,000 + destination TBA |
Both trims share the same 800-volt system with 106 kWh of usable battery capacity, the Active Ride hydraulic suspension, standard rear-wheel steering with a six-degree sweep, and 21-inch wheels. The car we drove weighed 5,501 pounds on the scale, a number we will come back to, because the GT makes it feel wrong.
Driving the GT 55: The Easy Part of This Car
A cabin that fixes old complaints
Slide into the driver's seat and the first surprise is space. The GT 4-Door sits almost two inches lower than the car it replaces, yet the interior feels roomier, including in the back seats. Getting in and out is easier, and even drivers well above average height should not have to worry about headroom drama.
You settle into a low, sporty driving position with a great view of the road ahead. The rear glass looks small at first from the inside, but visibility through it is fine, and the C-pillar blind spot is narrower than in many coupes of this class.
Every car we drove had the optional performance seats with integrated headrests. They look great, they stayed supportive after hours of driving, and they offer heating, adjustable bolsters, and lumbar support. There is one catch: if you want seat ventilation and massage, you have to drop down to the base seats, which remain supportive in their own right. We would have paid the option money for both.
Comfort mode hides the monster
Put the GT 55 in Comfort and it becomes one of the easiest sports cars we have driven in town. The standard rear-wheel steering shrinks the turning circle, and the 21-inch wheels, shod in Continental SportContact summer tires on our cars, never feel like too much rubber.
The Active Ride hydraulic suspension is the quiet star of the show. It uses hydraulically interconnected dampers instead of mechanical anti-roll bars, and the result is a ride that stays firm and composed without ever feeling rough. It is a clear step up from the previous-generation GT, whose ride quality was the most criticized thing about that car.
On the center console sit three physical dials that Mercedes calls the Race Engineer controls. The first adjusts throttle response on a scale of 1 to 9, and it is worth playing with. Cranked to 9, the motors respond with real urgency, and even the physical feel of the pedal changes, offering less resistance as you press it, much like cycling through a regeneration setting.
If you have spent the last couple of years exploring performance EVs, you know how rare a car is that is genuinely fun at a relaxed pace. Our Hyundai Ioniq 5 N review covered one of the best examples, and the GT 55 quietly joins that short list without raising its voice.
Under the Carpet: Three Motors and One Goal
The axial-flux motor, explained without a physics degree
Here is the short version. An axial-flux motor is a pancake-shaped electric machine that makes a lot of torque in a small, lightweight package. The units in the GT come from YASA, the British motorsport technology company that Mercedes acquired, and similar motors already power plug-in hybrid supercars such as the Koenigsegg Regera and the Ferrari 296.
The GT 55 puts one of these motors on the front axle and two on the rear. The pair at the back is housed together with a planetary gearset, an oil-cooling system, and two water-cooled silicon carbide inverters, and it can spin past 13,000 rpm. The front motor, which has its own SiC inverter and a spur transmission, can rev past 15,000 rpm and kicks in whenever the car needs extra power or traction.
What the numbers actually mean on the road
The GT 55 makes 805 hp at peak, available when you use launch control or Boost mode, and 577 hp continuously, with 1,372 lb-ft of torque. The sprint from 0 to 60 mph takes 2.7 seconds, and the car reaches 124 mph in 9.0 seconds. Add a one-foot rolling start, and both times improve by three tenths of a second.
It feels absurdly quick from a standstill, and it stays absurdly quick at speed, even in Comfort. Switch to Race mode and the suspension drops and stiffens, the front motor stays permanently engaged, and the powertrain pre-conditions itself for the work ahead. It is hard to think of a better point-to-point car, especially one that points at twisty mountain roads.
The tri-motor setup gives the car fully variable torque vectoring between the rear wheels. With stability control in its normal on setting, the grip feels almost unstoppable. Load it up hard out of a corner and the traction control light flashes while the car keeps pulling, with zero drama. Move to ESC Sport and the tail gets playful, kicking out in small, easily controlled slides without the computers constantly stepping in.
Braking comes from a hydraulic brake-by-wire system with 16.5-inch carbon ceramic discs up front and 14.9-inch steel discs at the rear. Initial bite and pedal feel are excellent, and we noticed no drop in performance after a hard day. Strong one-pedal regeneration is available through the steering wheel paddles. We would still have preferred more brake default to the front, but the optional high-performance ceramic package adds beefier carbon brakes at the rear, bronze calipers, and a 186-mph top speed, which settles the argument for most owners.
AMGFORCE: The Synthetic V8 That Convinced Us
Everything we have described so far makes the GT 4-Door one of the best electric cars you can buy. Then you flip the drive mode selector to AMGFORCE Sport+, and nothing else matters.
Mercedes recorded more than 1,600 sound files from the previous-generation GT R, its twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, capturing every possible situation from every angle. The car mixes those recordings in real time against your inputs and what the powertrain is doing at that moment. You will never hear the same sequence twice, and every moment sounds unique to the way you are driving.
Switch into AMGFORCE from a standstill and the car bursts to life sounding like a genuine V8 startup. Change modes at speed and it drops itself into a low gear with the revs well up, which is even better. Around town it burbles nicely. At cruise speed it fades into the background and shifts smoothly, the way a V8 would. Drive hard and it gets serious: it roars under acceleration, pops and bangs on overrun, and barks at every shift.
The physical details sell it as hard as the audio. Vibrating elements in the seats mimic the mechanical thumps of an engine and drivetrain, and the placement of the speakers makes the powertrain sound like it is sitting in the middle of the car, almost as if there were side-exit exhausts right under the cabin. Nothing sounded artificial, repetitive, or out of place to us.
The simulated shifts are just as good. Upshifts have urgency and a gut-punch quality, downshifts can be forceful, and there is a real cut of torque at the moment of every shift. The virtual engine revs to a 7,200 rpm redline, holds its gears, and downshifts deliver a strong engine-braking effect. Mercedes' engineers told the press that the car is just as fast with the shifts on as with them off, and that the extra feedback may actually help you post better lap times.
It is loud enough to hear from outside, too. We parked the car, put it in neutral, and played with the throttle at a standstill for a short video, until a few curious Germans crossed the track to ask us to stop.
The Boost function works best in this mode. Pull both paddle shifters together and the car unlocks maximum power for an unusually long time: 55 seconds in the GT 55 and 63 seconds in the GT 63. Most cars give you 10 to 20 seconds and then make you wait. This one lets you re-trigger the boost the moment the timer expires, and Mercedes' people told us the limit is arbitrary. The soundtrack gets noticeably louder, the shifts feel more aggressive, and the whole experience gets a lot more dramatic.
One caveat: AMGFORCE currently only works in Sport+. You can turn it off and drop back to a silent, smooth Comfort cruiser whenever you want, but the press team's unanimous request to Mercedes was simple: let us enable it in every mode. That is the kind of change an over-the-air update could make.
We have looked at simulated shifters before, including in our Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 EV versus Ioniq 5 N comparison, and this is the most convincing execution we have seen. It is synthetic. We will not pretend otherwise. But it is the first synthetic powertrain experience that ever felt better to us than the real thing.
Watch: first drive of the electric GT 55 on US roads
First drive of the GT 55 on US roads, from Out of Spec BITS on YouTube. Triple axial-flux YASA motors and a 106 kWh direct oil-cooled battery, on camera.
At Ascari: The GT 63's Three Dials Change Everything
For the second day we swapped to the GT 63 at Circuito Ascari, the Spanish track you will recognize from a dozen Top Gear episodes. The GT 63 takes the tri-motor setup to a peak 1,153 hp, 711 hp continuous, and 1,475 lb-ft of torque. It is 0.4 seconds faster than the GT 55 to 60 mph, and a very noticeable 2.3 seconds faster to 124 mph.
We started with sighting laps in Comfort, which felt fast and fun enough that you would not hate your first lap of a track day. On later laps we switched on AMGFORCE Sport+, and the instructors pointed out how much better the feedback is for clean, fast laps. One lap with stability control on, one with it in Sport, and the difference in grip and slip was obvious.
Then came Race mode, which unlocks the other two Race Engineer dials:
- Throttle response, the one already described, on a 1 to 9 scale.
- Agility control, in the middle of the console. It adjusts the torque vectoring and chassis systems to simulate a shorter wheelbase, and shifts the car's balance from a touch of understeer to a lot of oversteer.
- Traction, at the bottom. It controls how much intervention you get from traction control. At the loosest setting, 9, up to 90 percent of the torque can go to the rear wheels.
With stability control on, the car defaults to agility 5 and traction 2 in Sport+. You can move the agility and traction dials yourself only when stability control is fully off.
Here is what the range felt like. All three dials at 1: the least responsive powertrain, the least agile chassis, and the most intervention from traction control. The car is still brilliant, but you can feel it being held back. Turn-in is not sharp, it understeers on entry and exit, and the torque comes on gently.
Crank the response to 9, set agility and traction to 5, and the car's character changes completely. It dives into corners with eagerness, rotates the way a proper sports car should, and kicks out behind you as you accelerate out of the apex with a touch of opposite lock. Lively, precise, and still completely controllable. We pushed the agility to 7 on the next lap and it felt even sharper. We never got everything to 9, and we will not pretend to know what that feels like, but there is plenty of video out there of this car drifting effortlessly or throwing instant burnouts that would embarrass any muscle car.
Will buyers of this car actually do any of that at track days? Probably not. But they should. The GT 63 is an extremely capable track car that can be dialed to your skill level, and it unlocks more and more of itself the harder you ask.
Range and Charging: 11 Minutes to 80 Percent
Mercedes has not published a US range estimate for the GT yet, and neither has the EPA, so the most honest number we can give you is real-world data from the drive.
On paper, the GT 55 does 371 to 435 miles on the European WLTP cycle, depending on wheel and tire setup. With a 91 percent charge at the start of our drive day, the car's own estimate was about 300 miles, calculated from how other journalists had driven the same routes just before.
The GT 63's track day tells the better story. It started the session at 80 percent and finished eight laps at 60 percent, and the range estimate had dropped by only 30 miles. That is a very efficient way to use 1,153 hp.
Charging is where the 800-volt architecture really pays off. The production GT can accept up to 600 kW of charging power, which is more than most public stations in the US can deliver, and Mercedes says it can take the battery from 10 to 80 percent in 11 minutes.
We watched a live demo at Ascari, where a huge Alpitronic rig, part of the charging company's partnership with Mercedes, was delivering more than 1,000 kW. One GT went from 17 to 80 percent in exactly 10 minutes, peaking at 647 kW, even with the charger reporting some infrastructure issues of its own.
The clever part is the thermal management. The harder you drive, the more ready the car is for a fast charge. The gauge cluster shows the battery and motor temperatures and how much charging power the car is ready for. After spirited canyon driving, it was showing well over 400 kW available. A GT 63 that went straight from a track session to the charger was accepting more than 560 kW within a second of being plugged in.
If you have been following the fast-charging race, you will appreciate what that means for real road trips. The numbers sit in the same league as the flash-charging EVs we have covered, like the Denza Z9GT, but paired with a much higher performance ceiling.
Design and Cabin Tech: The Details That Grow on You
Styling opinions are personal, and we are not going to try to change yours. What we will say is that the new GT grows on you quickly, especially once you start seeing it in the many Manufaktur paint options. The turbine-style wheels look fantastic and add range, and the interior leather schemes range from a refined full beige to bright blues and yellows. Carbon fiber trim is optional, not mandatory, which we appreciate.
The proportions are a clear step up from the outgoing car. It is lower and longer, with a longer wheelbase, a stretched dash-to-axle, and a sharper, shark-like nose. On 21-inch wheels the stance is genuinely good, and the details are handled well, from the AMG grille to the trio of afterburner-style taillights set into the rear black panel. It is practical too, with the liftback opening up to 14.7 cubic feet of cargo space.
Then there is the passenger screen. This may be one of the rare cases where the second display is something you actually want to use. The 14-inch touchscreen in front of the passenger cycles through performance data pages: current motor rpm, torque, and electrical output; pedal inputs; steering angle; suspension compression; g-forces; battery and motor temperatures; the position of the active aero elements, including the deploying rear diffuser; and even an IWC stopwatch.
The animations are excellent, and watching all of it scroll while the driver puts the hammer down is oddly addictive. The same data is available on the center screen, and the gauge cluster offers several designs that can display performance information as well.
Pricing: Undercuts Its Own Predecessor
Somehow, all of this comes at a price that is reasonable for this class.
The GT 55 starts at $145,000 before a $1,550 destination fee. That places it between the Porsche Taycan 4S and GTS in the current lineup, and about $10,000 less than the cheapest V8 version of the outgoing GT 63 4-Door, which made 575 hp.
The GT 63 starts at $175,000 before a destination fee that Mercedes has not yet announced. That is about $25,000 less than the previous GT 63 S E Performance plug-in hybrid and about $10,000 less than a Taycan Turbo, a car that, per the reports of major VW Group lineup cuts, may not be around for much longer. It also undercuts a Lucid Air Sapphire by nearly $100,000.
For that money, the GT 55 comes standard with a long list of active safety equipment, a Burmester 3D surround sound system, digital headlights, three-stage adjustable air springs, and the full set of three screens.
The GT 63 adds the Active Ride Control suspension, the Race Engineer dials, Race mode, a dedicated Drift mode, and AMG Track Pace, all of which are available on the GT 55 through the Dynamic Plus package. It also gets ventilated and massaging front seats, Nappa leather, a head-up display, and Magic Vision Control wipers as standard.
A dual-motor GT 53 with less power and equipment is coming later in 2027, but Mercedes has not shared pricing for it yet.
Options available across the range include a Sky Control panoramic sunroof with dimmable glass, soft-close doors, a three-seat rear bench instead of the standard two, a higher tier Burmester system, and an exterior lighting package that adds a light bar between the headlights, a light strip along the trunk edge, and illumination for the grille bars. The light bar is a taste call. We would take it, but plenty of people will not.
What the Electric GT Means for the Future of Performance
At the end of the day, this is still a niche car. The GT 4-Door will never be a volume seller for AMG, but the brand is clearly optimistic about its prospects, including in the United States, and the bigger story is what this car does for the future of performance driving.
The axial-flux motors, the F1-inspired battery, the dynamic chassis, and the AMGFORCE soundtrack are all technologies that will spread across the lineup. The 671-hp CLA 45 has already arrived. The 1,153-hp electric AMG GT SUV, which shares this car's core powertrain, was revealed earlier this year. And Mercedes has pointed to more than 900 hp for the electric GLC, which we examined in our GLC EV versus BMW iX3 comparison, and the next C-Class.
Then there is the wider industry question: what will other brands dream up once they have driven this car?
Mercedes' development chief Oliver Wiech told Jalopnik that even the company's own anti-EV skeptics, from engineers on the development team to dealers and longtime AMG customers, were won over by the electric GT once they had experienced it for themselves. That is a better endorsement than any spec sheet.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Blistering performance: 0 to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds in the GT 55
- 55 and 63 seconds of Boost that you can re-trigger immediately
- AMGFORCE is the best synthetic engine experience in any EV we have driven
- 600 kW charging: 10 to 80 percent in 11 minutes
- 371 to 435 miles of WLTP range in the GT 55
- Genuinely comfortable ride from the Active Ride suspension
- Race Engineer dials make it a true track tool
Cons
- $145,000 starting price is a serious ask
- US EPA range has not been published yet
- GT 63 US destination fee still TBA
- No seat ventilation or massage on the performance seats
- 5,501-pound curb weight shows in the physics
- AMGFORCE is limited to Sport+ mode for now
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast is the 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe?
The GT 55 goes from 0 to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds and reaches 124 mph in 9.0 seconds. The GT 63 is 0.4 seconds quicker to 60 mph and 2.3 seconds quicker to 124 mph. Standard top speed is 161 mph, rising to 186 mph with the optional high-performance brake package.
What is AMGFORCE, and is the V8 sound fake?
AMGFORCE is a drive mode that plays a synthesized V8 soundtrack and adds simulated shifts with real torque cuts. The sound is built from more than 1,600 recordings of a previous-generation GT R V8, mixed in real time so it never repeats. It is synthetic by design, and it is currently available in Sport+ mode.
How far can the AMG GT 55 go on a single charge?
Mercedes quotes 371 to 435 miles on the European WLTP cycle depending on wheel and tire setup. A US EPA range estimate has not been published yet. During our drive, the car estimated roughly 300 miles at a 91 percent charge based on recent driving.
How fast does the 2027 AMG GT 4-Door charge?
The 800-volt system accepts up to 600 kW of charging power, which Mercedes says can take the battery from 10 to 80 percent in 11 minutes. In a manufacturer demo, a GT charged from 17 to 80 percent in 10 minutes on a 1,000 kW Alpitronic charger, peaking at 647 kW.
What is the difference between the AMG GT 55 and the GT 63?
The GT 55 produces 805 hp peak and 1,372 lb-ft of torque. The GT 63 produces 1,153 hp peak and 1,475 lb-ft, and is 0.4 seconds faster to 60 mph. The GT 63 also adds Active Ride suspension, the Race Engineer dials, Race mode, Drift mode, AMG Track Pace, ventilated massaging seats, Nappa leather, and a head-up display as standard.
How much does the 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe cost?
The GT 55 starts at $145,000 before a $1,550 destination fee. The GT 63 starts at $175,000 before a destination fee that has not yet been announced. A lower-powered dual-motor GT 53 is coming later in 2027 without published pricing.
Can the electric AMG GT drift?
Yes. The GT 63 has a dedicated Drift mode, and with stability control fully off you can set the traction dial so that up to 90 percent of torque can be sent to the rear wheels. Fully variable rear torque vectoring keeps the car controllable at the limit.
Final Verdict: Open Your Mind, Then Drive It
The 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe is the first electric performance car we have tested that made us want to keep driving it long after the charge, not the fuel, was gone.
It is fast in a way that is almost embarrassing. It is comfortable in a way that hides how quick it is. It charges fast enough to make road trips boring. And with AMGFORCE switched on, it is the most emotionally engaging electric car on the market, full stop.
Yes, it costs a lot. Yes, the US range number is still missing. But for the first time, we can think of a genuine argument for an enthusiast to choose a top-of-the-market electric performance car out of desire rather than necessity.
If you are still on the fence about electric performance cars, do this: get in one, turn it up, and let it surprise you. That is the only honest review of this car that money can buy, and we suspect it will change your mind faster than any spec sheet.
Keep the EV Momentum Going
Want more electric performance coverage from AutoNewsLine? Read our 2027 BMW iX5 60 xDrive review, check out the all-new Mercedes-Benz GLA, or tell us in the comments whether you would turn AMGFORCE on or leave it in Comfort. If you know someone who still says electric cars are boring, send them this article.
Photo Gallery: The GT at Ascari
Source and imagery: two-day manufacturer media drive in Malaga and at Circuito Ascari, Spain. Photographs by Daniel Golson / Jalopnik, reproduced for editorial reference. Figures from manufacturer data shared at the event and from the original first drive coverage. This review is independent editorial commentary by the AutoNewsLine team.
