The four-door version of the AMG GT sports car will be the most powerful Mercedes ever to be sold in Singapore; priced from RM1.3mil, S$TBC

Sepang Circuit, Malaysia

What you’re looking at here is the most powerful four-door car ever to wear the three-pointed star, as well as the first four-door car developed in-house by AMG. The Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, to give its clunky, full name, was unveiled at a regional launch event at Sepang International Circuit on 3 May.

For Singapore, the 4-Door range will consist of two models, the GT 53 and GT 63 S, using the familiar Mercedes alphanumeric naming system, unlike its sportier two-door sibling’s purely alphabetical one.

The new model will expand the AMG GT lineup from three models to five when it arrives in Singapore in Q3 2019, joining the GT, GT S, and track-focused GT R.

Pricing details have not yet been announced for our market, but in Malaysia, the GT 53 and 63 S retail for RM1,298,888 (about S$428k) and RM1,798,888 (about S$592.5k) respectively; in comparison, an E 63 S saloon costs RM1,068,888, meaning the GT 63 S commands a roughly 70% premium.

Given that the E 63 S costs S$579,888 with COE here, the GT 63 S could go on sale here for close to S$1million.

Similarly, based on the price difference of the CLS 53 vs GT 53 in Malaysia, the ‘base’ GT 4-Door could retail for a much more reasonable S$690k.

Despite the name (and looks), the 4-Door isn’t a GT that’s been stretched out after going through puberty; rather, it uses a version of Mercedes’ MRA modular platform that you’ll also find under the E-Class and CLS.

In that vein, its interior looks somewhat like a hybrid of GT drama (that huge centre console) and big saloon luxury tech (the twin display screen setup). Naturally, the rear half is the defining feature of this car, with two individual rear seats standard (a three-seat bench is optional), and a liftback-style rear hatch that covers the 395-litre boot.

Niche-splitting has never been so fine before, with all three cars being similarly sized four-doors, and all sharing broadly the same powertrains. In particular, you’d think the GT 4-Door and CLS would be stepping on each other’s toes, given that they’re both four-door coupes.

According to Mark Raine though (below), Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s VP of Sales and Marketing, that is not so. The GT 4-Door is aimed at supercar owners looking for more practicality, rather than grand tourer or saloon owners looking for more performance.

As such, the GT 63 S is the brawniest four-door to come out of Affalterbach. It shares the familiar AMG 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, but thanks to tweaks to the turbos, it puts out an astonishing 639hp and 900Nm of torque. Incidentally, that makes it just about the most powerful four-door car on sale in Singapore, edging out the also frighteningly rabid E 63 S, as well as the 12-cylinder Bentley Continental Flying Spur.

The performance stats are thus staggering, getting from 0-100km/h in just 3.2 seconds, and on to a top speed of 315km/h.

Like the E 63 S, the GT 63 S also uses AMG’s 9-speed Speedshift multi-clutch transmission. It’s like an automatic gearbox, but uses clutch packs instead of a torque converter, allowing it to handle more torque than a dual-clutch transmission, yet provide sharper responses than a conventional auto.

It also sends that prodigious grunt to all four wheels, but has a rear-drive-only drift mode if you take particular umbrage at the existence of black-coloured circular vulcanised rubber products.

The GT 53 on the other hand, shares its powertrain with the CLS 53 – Mercedes’ new 3.0-litre straight-six engine with hybrid EQ Boost technology, developing 435hp and 520Nm, and a century sprint timing of 4.5 seconds.

The GT 4-Door is a big car, bigger than the pictures suggest, so to help it get round corners, it features a multitude of advanced chassis systems. There’s rear wheel steering (which debuted on the GT R), torque vectoring, air suspension, dynamic engine mounts, active aero, as well as a plethora of drive modes and individually customisable settings for the gearbox, suspension, traction and stability controls

A test drive of the GT 4-Door wasn’t on the cards at the event, rather, taxi rides were offered instead. AMG GT3 race driver Dom Storey was our cabbie for the day, and he remarked that, compared to the E 63 S, the GT 63 S’s rear-steer system makes a difference, giving the car slightly more precision on turn-in and better stability through fast corners like Sepang’s Turn 5 & 6/ 7 & 8, though one does need to be mindful of the extra weight (the GT 63 S weighs a significant 170kg more than an E 63 S).

To get the most out of the 4-Door, Mr Storey said that one needs to be patient when tipping the car into a turn, then taking advantage of the sheer grunt and all-wheel drive traction to fire out of corners.

That said though, there’s no disputing the effectiveness of the GT 63 S. It managed to set an independently-verified 7min 25sec lap of the Nurburgring, which Mercedes claims is the fastest time set by a production four-door car (Jaguar would probably dispute that claim as the XE Project 8 went faster, but its limited numbers makes its “production car” status a bit of a grey area).

Given the duality of its intended nature (and its anticipated price tag), there’s no shortage of cars that might get cross-shopped with a GT Four-door. Its most obvious would be its cross-town rival, the Porsche Panamera, but even big grand tourers like the BMW 8 Series, Bentley Continental and Aston Martin DB11 are fair game.