The most powerful car Mercedes makes is almost here
The storming Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door could arrive in Singapore in July, but might cost as much as S$900,000
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Sepang, Malaysia
THE most powerful car that Mercedes currently builds made its regional debut at Malaysia's Sepang Circuit on May 3. Also the brawniest four-door car with a three-pointed star on its nose in history, the 639-horsepower Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe could be in Singapore as early as July.
No pricing specifics are available, but based on how much it costs in other markets, the flagship GT 63 S version could retail for as much as S$900,000 including Certificate of Entitlement, potentially making it the most expensive Mercedes on sale here.
Although the new model is officially part of Mercedes-AMG's GT sports car line-up, and shares many of the smaller car's styling cues, the GT 4-Door is actually more closely related to the E-Class sedan.
That bodes well for the comfort of rear seat occupants, who would be either ensconced in two standard individual bucket seats, or stretched out over an optional three-seat bench.
But the party is up in front, where explosive power resides under the bonnet. The GT 63 S has the same 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine as other "63"-badged AMG models, but here it's in its highest state of tune.
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The car has all-wheel drive and a quick-shifting nine-speed transmission, and its performance figures read more like those of a supercar; 100km/h comes up in a breathtaking 3.2 seconds, and given enough road and bravery, you will see more than 300km/h on the speedometer.
The extreme speed is only part of the point.
"We found that there are quite a lot of people in the market who want super-sports car performance, but who need a bit more practicality for daily use, so merging the business-like character of a four-door coupe with a Gran Turismo is an ideal symbiosis for those high-end customers," said Mark Raine, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia's vice-president of sales and marketing.
For all its headline figures, the GT 63 S is not expected to be the volume seller. That role will be left to the GT 53, the GT 4-Door's entry-level variant in Singapore.
That version is powered by a more modest 3.0-litre inline-six with 435hp.
It features clever mild hybrid tech that can deliver intermittent boosts of electric power, but most importantly, should come with a price tag that's lower by 30 per cent.
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