2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Pro | UK Review

For those not keeping track, it has been nearly two years since we first drove the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 in the UK. While any period of time prior to President Trump’s second term tends to seem like a long time ago, we can at least reflect upon the fact that 20-odd months is a significant chunk out of any model’s lifecycle – especially when we suggested at the time that the best was very likely yet to come from car that could claim the right constituent parts, though not necessarily in ideal or cohesive quantity. 

Its maker, of course, never one to miss a trick when there is a colossal parts bin to delve into, has busied itself in the interim. British customers can now ponder the four-cylinder GT 43 and (detuned) eight-cylinder GT55 before they even arrive at the number ’63’ on Mercedes’ configurator. Which, broadly speaking, is a good thing: perhaps the AMG GT has not endeared itself to buyers sufficiently well for us to be inundated with sightings – nevertheless, the option of a handsome 2+2 coupe in an array of flavours, all of them petrol-based, is a fact worth cheering. 

Granted, the eight-model lineup kicks off at a decidedly chunky £105k and gets wildly more optimistic as the cylinder count rises, but let’s not get immediately bogged down with that. The wider point is that we approve of and appreciate the Mercedes-AMG GT in pretty much all formats – even, it must be said, the super-silly, 816hp S E Performance, another outrageously fast, V8-engined car that wears its hybrid system like a powerlifter might wear a t-shirt touting spinach as performance-enhancing. 

This reflex to iterate is certainly understandable if your primary competition is the Porsche 911, a sports car that credibly spans everything from pseudo-GT to actual GT3. So much so that we’re even prepared to forgive the year or so it has taken Mercedes to transition this car, the new GT 63 Pro, from one-time Ascari plaything to legitimate right-hand-drive model available to drive on the road in the UK. (A time period so bafflingly long that Porsche conspired to successfully launch yet another update of its ‘ring conqueror right in the middle of it.) 

Probably it helps, somewhat counterintuitively, that the Pro is not a genuine, rose-jointed effort to rival the circuit-based prowess of the GT3 – that GT will surely arrive eventually, yet despite its new, air-gulping front end and chequered flag fixation, this is not it. Instead, the newcomer represents a more moderate turn on the performance dial, chiefly concerned with improved aero, superior braking and the benefits associated with choosing Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tyres (a no-cost option) to adorn your 21-inch forged alloys. 

There is more power, too, though in the context of AMG’s usually insatiable lust for output, finding an additional 20hp from its familiar 4.0-litre unit ought not to be considered revelatory. Though, it must be said, once you’ve absorbed the Pro’s slightly beefier new appearance (its toothier grin is an improvement, I think), it is the husky presence of the V8 which helps set the tone. Admittedly, it has been a long time since I drove the GT 63 – or perhaps I’m conflating a much clearer memory of the hybrid – but I can’t recall it being quite so vocal in its default setting. 

Either way, there’s a lot to be said for a flinty snarl in 2026 (especially driven back-to-back with the initially clamorous Temerario); doubly so when the turbocharged engine and its nine-speed MCT provide the sound with instant heft and nuance, not to mention the sort of oily, combustible wallop that has you pushing at the accelerator like a moth head butting a light bulb. For the record, there is now 627lb ft of torque available from 2,350rpm, although you hardly need to be in the sweet spot to enjoy the Pro-spec V8. It’s a party animal. 

For the most part, foregrounding the motor is a convenient way of ushering you through an already open door. It was a little too easy in the GT 63 (and the even heavier hybrid) to just sit back and appreciate the canny control weights from a measured distance; the Pro encourages you deeper into the car’s mosh pit, where you might not always be blown away with everything that’s going on – again, this is not a GT3 by any stretch of the imagination – but you’re taking away so much more from the overall experience regardless.

It’s a fair bet, positioning-wise, that this is the whole point: AMG might have started actively cooling the diffs and reduced lift on the front axle by 30kg and fitted the largest ceramic disc brakes available to it for measurable gains on circuit, yet on the road the Pro just seems a bit more receptive to being taken by the scruff of the neck. And really that’s all you ever needed to do, consistently and with greater intent, for the GT’s already established strengths to bubble to the surface. 

In this regard, presumably the reduction in unsprung mass versus its stablemates is doing the Pro a number of favours – certainly it seemed slightly more deft in terms of ride quality, making the firmer settings in Sport the drive mode of choice beyond a town or motorway. And while it’s still true that you never lose sight of the GT’s near two-tonne kerbweight – or its tendency to seem physically large on minor UK roads – neither drawback is significant enough to limit one’s enjoyment. 

At any rate, the salient point to (re)make here is that the GT 63 did not require a top-to-bottom tweak to get it to this point – it was already pretty good. But if Mercedes was previously guilty of making its sports car a bit too GT-ish (in the touring sense), the Pro does just enough to nudge the model, and its driver’s mindset, into the sort of high-functioning groove where many more of us might conceivably get a kick out of it. That the kick is adjudged to be worth £179,350 before you get to options might induce familiar groans from the gallery, though it’s worth noting that it represents a £20k saving over the new 911 Turbo S. Hardly a decisive advantage, given Porsche’s 711hp wunderkind. But food for thought.

Engine: 3,982cc, V8, twin-turbo
Transmission: nine-speed auto, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 612@5,500-6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 627@2,350-5,000rpm
0-62mph: 3.2secs
Top speed: 197mph
Weight: 1,962kg (EU) 
MPG: 20.2 (WLTP)
CO2: 319g/km (WLTP)
Price: £179,350