Tag Archives: Mercedes-AMG

NEW CARS

Mercedes-AMG GT Vision EV: Screens, Soundscapes, and Savage Speed

Mercedes-AMG is quietly rewriting its performance identity for the electric era, and the upcoming Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe is shaping up to be its most technologically aggressive statement yet. Previewed by the radical AMG GT XX concept, this new four-door electric coupe isn’t just about raw acceleration numbers — it’s about redefining how performance feels, sounds, and even looks from behind the wheel.

At first glance, the cabin is a glowing wall of digital technology. Three large screens can dominate the dashboard if you tick every option box. The driver faces a 10.2-inch digital instrument display, while a slightly driver-angled 14-inch central infotainment screen controls navigation, media, and vehicle settings with AMG’s usual performance-first logic. A third 14-inch passenger display is available for those who want their front passenger to feel like they’re riding shotgun in a digital cockpit rather than just sitting in a luxury car.

But AMG clearly doesn’t want screens to steal the spotlight from driving engagement.

Performance Control That Still Feels Mechanical

Instead of burying performance settings inside menus, AMG has taken an unusually tactile approach. Three prominent rotary dials sit at the center of the interior, directly reinforcing the brand’s performance heritage.

  • Response Control — Tunes how aggressively the electric motors respond to throttle input.
  • Agility Control — Alters handling characteristics when attacking corners.
  • Traction Control — Adjusts the behavior of the nine-speed traction management system.

It’s an interesting design philosophy: while the car is electric, AMG is clearly trying to preserve the ritual of mechanical interaction that enthusiasts associate with high-performance machines. The layout encourages drivers to make quick adjustments on the fly rather than digging through menus.

The steering wheel also continues this philosophy, integrating performance controls directly into the grips. Think of it as a racing-inspired command center rather than a traditional luxury interface.

AMG Comfort Meets Track-Day Support

The seats themselves are heavily reinforced for lateral support — a clear nod to AMG’s performance-first DNA. Mercedes describes the design as optimized for “dynamic cornering,” which essentially means you should feel firmly planted even when pushing hard through fast sweeping turns.

The rear cabin continues the sporty luxury theme. Two rear seats are standard, offering a more focused coupe-like experience, though a three-seat rear bench can be optionally specified for added practicality.

Luxury details are everywhere you look. Expect diamond stitching, ambient lighting systems, and a long list of material and trim choices. A folding panoramic glass roof adds openness without sacrificing the sleek coupe silhouette.

Electric Muscle: Powertrain Expectations

Official powertrain details remain under wraps, but the GT XX concept gives strong clues about what AMG is planning.

That concept featured:

  • Three electric motors
  • Around 1,359 horsepower combined output
  • 800V electrical architecture for ultra-fast charging
  • A top speed approaching 365 km/h

If production stays close to these figures, this will be one of the most brutally fast four-door electric performance cars ever built.

High-speed charging capability will be just as important as horsepower. AMG is clearly targeting drivers who want supercar-level performance without long charging downtime.

Fake V8? Yes — And That’s the Point

Perhaps the most controversial feature will be the simulated driving experience. The car is expected to include synthetic engine sounds and even simulated gear shifts.

While purists may scoff, AMG appears to be betting that emotional connection matters as much as raw acceleration in the electric era. Instead of eliminating traditional performance sensations, the brand is digitally recreating them in a new form.

The Big Picture

The Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe represents a fascinating balancing act. It’s a luxury performance car that’s aggressively digital but still emotionally connected to AMG’s combustion heritage. Massive screens coexist with tactile performance controls. Electric motors deliver staggering speed while artificial sound and shift logic preserve driver engagement.

If AMG pulls this off, it won’t just be building an electric performance sedan — it will be defining what luxury performance feels like in the electric age.

And if the GT XX concept is even remotely close to reality, the future of AMG performance is going to be very, very fast.

Source: Mercedes

Tuning

The Red Pig Snorts Again—Now With Four-Digit Horsepower

Some legends never die. They just come back louder, angrier, and with turbochargers.

More than fifty years after Mercedes-Benz and the newly born AMG shocked the racing world with a massive V-8 sedan, the infamous “Rote Sau”—the Red Pig—has been reborn. This time, though, it’s not storming Spa-Francorchamps in factory colors. It’s tearing up California backroads with more than 1,000 horsepower and a carbon-fiber suit.

The original Red Pig was a rolling middle finger to conventional race-car thinking. Based on the stately Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8, it used a thundering 6.8-liter V-8 to haul a luxury sedan to second overall at the Spa 24 Hours in 1971—an audacious debut that helped put AMG on the global performance map. The real car vanished after the race, sold off to Matra and lost to history, but its legend never faded.

Now it has a modern-day heir.

Instead of resurrecting a fragile museum piece, the builders at S-Klub took a far more radical approach: start with a fourth-generation Mercedes-AMG C63 and wrap it in a hand-built carbon-fiber interpretation of the old 300 SEL. It’s a restomod in the most literal sense—vintage looks, contemporary firepower.

And that firepower is absurd.

The C63’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 already makes about 510 horsepower in stock S-spec. That wasn’t nearly enough. S-Klub bolted on larger turbochargers, revised the downpipes, and reprogrammed the transmission. The result? A staggering 1,014 horsepower—more than double what the original Red Pig ever dreamed of—while shedding roughly 45 kilograms compared with a factory C63.

In other words, this thing doesn’t just honor history. It tries to rewrite it.

The mechanical madness is matched by the visuals. The wide arches, bright red paint, and cartoonishly aggressive stance mirror the 1971 racer, while details like the blacked-out grille, exposed chassis elements, and LED lighting drag the look firmly into 2025. There’s a full roll cage inside, KW V3 coilovers at the corners, and 18-inch VIP Moduler wheels filling out those bulging fenders. Even the AMG One-inspired steering wheel feels like a wink from the future.

Yet somehow, it all works. This Red Pig doesn’t look like a cosplay car. It looks like what AMG might build if it had no lawyers, no accountants, and absolutely no chill.

S-Klub’s Ed claims it’s the best-driving car they’ve ever built, and that’s saying something for a shop that lives and breathes Stuttgart. With factory brakes, much of the original C63 interior intact, and modern electronics keeping things just barely civilized, this is a race car you can drive to the track, obliterate lap times, and cruise home afterward.

The original Red Pig was outrageous because it wasn’t supposed to work. This one is outrageous because it works too well.

It may not be for sale—but if this is what homage looks like in the age of four-digit horsepower, the legend of the Red Pig has never been more alive.

Source: S-Klub

NEW CARS

2026 Mercedes-AMG GLC 53 First Drive Preview

Mercedes-AMG has never been shy about stuffing big performance into tidy packages, but the latest GLC 53 feels like Affalterbach is making a statement. This isn’t just a mildly spiced luxury crossover—it’s a full-fat AMG effort designed to deliver the kind of back-road fireworks that used to be reserved for low-slung sedans and coupes. And it does it with a snarling six-cylinder heart that feels refreshingly old-school in an era of downsizing and electrification.

At the center of the new GLC 53 is AMG’s extensively reworked 3.0-liter inline-six. With a turbocharger, an electrically driven auxiliary compressor, and a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, it produces 449 horsepower and up to 600 lb-ft of torque—briefly swelling to 472 hp and 472 lb-ft (640 Nm) under overboost. Numbers aside, what matters more is how it responds. The electric compressor spools the engine instantly, filling in the gaps before the turbo wakes up, so throttle inputs are met with a crisp, eager surge that feels far more natural than most modern boosted setups.

That muscle is routed through AMG’s SPEEDSHIFT TCT 9-speed automatic and a fully variable AMG Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel-drive system. Under gentle cruising, the GLC behaves like a rear-driver for efficiency, but when you start leaning on it, the front axle seamlessly joins the party. Opt for the AMG Dynamic Plus package and things get even more interesting: a Drift Mode and an electronically controlled rear limited-slip differential let this tall, practical SUV behave like a hooligan’s toy on a closed course.

Mercedes-AMG claims 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.2 seconds with launch control, and while that’s quick for any SUV, it’s the midrange punch and top-end charge that will likely define the driving experience. AMG has extended the torque plateau and pushed the power band higher in the rev range, giving the engine a keener appetite for revs than before—exactly what enthusiasts want from a performance-branded inline-six.

The soundtrack plays a big role here too. AMG has fitted a new exhaust with special resonators and, optionally, a valved system that lets you dial in everything from subtle growl to full-bore crackles and pops. In the sportier modes, it promises the kind of theatrical misfires and lift-off burbles that make every tunnel an event. It may not be the naturally aspirated V-8 of old, but AMG is clearly doing everything it can to keep this turbo six dripping with character.

Chassis tech is just as serious. The GLC 53 rides on AMG’s RIDE CONTROL suspension with adaptive dampers that independently manage compression and rebound, allowing it to glide in Comfort mode and hunker down in Sport and Sport+. Rear-axle steering—standard, no less—adds up to 2.5 degrees of opposite-direction steering at low speeds for agility and up to 0.7 degrees of same-direction steering at higher speeds for stability. Translation: parking lots get easier, and fast sweepers feel more planted.

Stopping power comes from 390-mm front brake discs clamped by four-piston calipers, with 360-mm rotors at the rear, while a three-stage AMG steering system alters effort and feedback based on your chosen drive mode. Tie it all together with AMG DYNAMICS software that tweaks stability control and torque distribution, and you get a crossover that can be docile on the commute or delightfully unhinged on a twisty road.

Then there’s the styling, which leans heavily into AMG’s love of visual drama. The optional Golden Accents Package goes full concept-car chic with tech-gold trim, 21-inch forged wheels, and matching interior stitching and carbon-fiber inlays. Night Package options black out everything from grille details to exhaust tips for those who prefer a stealthier look, while the AMG Design Plus package adds aggressive aero touches that make it clear this isn’t your neighbor’s GLC.

The result is a compact luxury SUV that refuses to be boring. The new Mercedes-AMG GLC 53 doesn’t just chase numbers—it chases emotion, sound, and that elusive sense of mechanical connection. For drivers who want their family-friendly crossover to double as a back-road thrill machine, Affalterbach’s latest effort looks ready to deliver in spades.

Source: Mercedes-Benz