Tag Archives: Mercedes-AMG

NEW CARS

Mercedes-AMG Tests a Secret New Performance Coupe in Subzero Sweden

Even under full winter camo and the weak, bluish light of a Scandinavian January, some cars can’t hide what they are. And whatever Mercedes-AMG is currently hammering through the snowbanks near the Arctic Circle is not just another cold-weather mule—it’s a statement. Wide, low, and aggressively planted, this unnamed prototype looks less like a development car and more like a warning shot.

Mercedes-AMG has brought its next big idea north to Sweden, where temperatures plunge far below zero and roads alternate between polished ice and powdery snow. It’s here, in one of the harshest environments on Earth, that engineers validate everything from throttle response to drivetrain durability. Batteries, gearboxes, suspension bushings, electronics—if it survives here, it’ll survive anywhere. But this isn’t just about testing. This is about proving a point.

At first glance, the silhouette hints at the new CLE coupe, Mercedes’ slick replacement for the old C- and E-Class two-doors. But look closer and the relationship becomes more philosophical than literal. The track looks wider. The stance looks meaner. And the whole car radiates the kind of intent normally reserved for AMG’s most extreme products. This isn’t a CLE with a sport package. This is a CLE that’s been through AMG’s fight camp.

The reason for all this drama? This car will be the second entry in Mercedes-Benz’s new Mythos series—a lineup designed not for mass production but for collectors, connoisseurs, and anyone who thinks “limited edition” should actually mean something. These are halo cars, meant to push design, performance, and desirability beyond what even AMG’s already wild regular lineup offers.

The first Mythos model, the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed, set the tone. With no roof, no windshield, and a design that looked like a modern Le Mans car escaped into traffic, it was a bold, borderline unhinged take on what a Mercedes performance car could be. This second Mythos entry, while more conventional in shape, appears to be no less extreme in ambition.

Mercedes is keeping the technical details locked down tighter than a Nürburgring lap time, but the brand has already confirmed what the visuals suggest: a powertrain worthy of the Mythos badge. Expect something very loud, very fast, and very much engineered to sit above the CLE AMG models in both performance and prestige. This won’t be a numbers-chasing special. It will be a character car—something designed to feel as dramatic as it looks.

And that’s why it’s being frozen, slid, and stress-tested in the Arctic. A Mythos car can’t just be powerful; it has to be unflappable. Whether blasting across an autobahn at 180 mph or carving through a frozen Swedish test track, it needs to deliver the kind of confidence that justifies its exclusivity.

In a world where high-performance cars are becoming increasingly digital, electric, and restrained, Mercedes-AMG’s snow-covered prototype looks refreshingly analog in spirit. Big presence. Big ambition. Big attitude.

Whatever AMG is about to reveal, one thing is already certain: when the camo finally comes off, it won’t be subtle—and that’s exactly the point.

Source: Mercedes-AMG

News

This Isn’t a Mercedes-AMG G63, but It Wants You to Think It Is

The Mercedes-AMG G63 has never been subtle. It’s a rolling middle finger to understatement, a square-jawed luxury sledgehammer that somehow became even louder once tuners like Brabus and Mansory got involved. The problem, of course, is money. Real G63s already live deep into six-figure territory, and the tuned ones can cost as much as a waterfront condo. If you want the presence without the financial free fall, your options have been limited—until now.

Enter an unlikely imposter from Thailand.

A custom shop called Shana E-Sport has figured out how to bottle Brabus energy and pour it into something far more attainable. Their starting point isn’t a used Mercedes or a kit car but a Chinese-built SUV you probably haven’t seen on your local dealer lot: the Tank 300 from Great Wall Motors. And surprisingly, it works.

The Tank 300 already shows up dressed for the part. Its upright windshield, boxy proportions, and stubby overhangs give it a silhouette that’s far closer to a G-Wagen than its price tag would suggest. Shana E-Sport leans into that resemblance with a full exterior makeover that leaves very little of the original face behind.

Up front, the stock nose is ditched in favor of a redesigned fascia with a new grille, circular LED headlights, a vented hood, and a far more aggressive bumper. The intakes and splitter are pure AMG cosplay, but the execution is clean enough that it doesn’t scream parody.

The sides get boxy, squared-off fenders complete with old-school indicator lamps, while Brabus-style flares and decorative vents exaggerate the width. It’s all very deliberate and very square, just as the G-class gods intended.

Around back, Shana E-Sport fits a sportier rear bumper with an integrated diffuser, a roof-mounted spoiler, and a custom spare-wheel cover. Exhaust options range from quad tailpipes to side-mounted outlets that closely mimic the visual drama of a real G63. Rolling stock comes in the form of massive 22-inch aftermarket wheels wrapped in chunky all-terrain tires, with optional suspension tuning and upgraded brakes for buyers who want the look to be more than skin-deep.

The interior is where things get especially interesting. Even in stock form, the Tank 300 already borrows heavily from Mercedes’ design language, with a wide twin-screen digital dashboard, turbine-style air vents, and a general layout that feels suspiciously familiar. Shana E-Sport simply turns the dial up.

One of their show builds features turquoise leather upholstery paired with forged carbon trim, illuminated power-deploying side steps, soft-close doors, and a hands-free tailgate. It’s flashy, unapologetic, and exactly what someone shopping for a G63-inspired build probably wants.

Mechanically, the illusion stops short of full AMG madness. Under the hood, the Tank 300 keeps its factory hybrid setup: a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder paired with a single electric motor. Total output hovers around 350 horsepower, sent to all four wheels through a nine-speed automatic. No thunderous twin-turbo V8, no tire-shredding excess—but that’s missing the point. This is about style and stance, not Nürburgring lap times.

The real headline is the price. Shana E-Sport says a complete G63-style Tank 300 build, including the donor vehicle, comes in at about 2.5 million Thai Baht, or roughly $80,000. The Tank 300 itself accounts for around $57,500 of that, with conversion costs estimated at roughly $34,500 depending on how deep into the customization rabbit hole you go.

That’s still real money for a replica, but it’s a rounding error compared to a genuine G63, which can run anywhere from $300,000 to well north of $700,000 once market taxes and tuner excess enter the chat.

Judging by the steady stream of builds popping up on Shana E-Sport’s social channels, buyers in Thailand seem more than willing to make that trade. And honestly, it’s hard to blame them. In a world where automotive image often matters as much as horsepower, this Tank 300-based creation delivers G-Wagen theater at a fraction of the cost—and does it with enough polish to make you look twice.

Source: Shana E-sport via YouTube

NEW CARS

Mercedes-AMG Refreshes the GLE 53 Ahead of a Critical 2027 Showdown

Mercedes-Benz is in the middle of a creative changing of the guard. Longtime design chief Gorden Wagener—arguably the single most influential stylist the brand has had in the modern era—has announced he’s stepping down after nearly three decades. His fingerprints, however, aren’t coming off the sheetmetal anytime soon. One of the next reminders arrives with the refreshed Mercedes-AMG GLE 53, due in 2026 as a 2027 model-year SUV.

If this feels like déjà vu, that’s because it kind of is. The fourth-generation GLE dates back to 2018, with the AMG 53 performance variant following a year later. It already received a mid-cycle refresh for 2023, but in today’s hyper-competitive luxury-SUV arms race, “recently updated” ages about as well as last year’s smartphone. Mercedes knows it needs to keep pace—not just within its own lineup, but against an oncoming wave of newer, sharper rivals.

So yes, the GLE is getting another facelift. And no, Mercedes isn’t pretending it’s anything more than that.

The most obvious change will be the lighting signature. By the time this refreshed GLE hits the road in fall 2027, Mercedes’ star-shaped daytime running lights will be everywhere. What began as a clever design flourish on the rear of the E-Class has quickly turned into a full-blown brand identifier, now spreading to both ends of facelifted models across the lineup—including AMG variants. Think of it as Stuttgart’s answer to BMW’s angel eyes, only more literal.

Between those new starry DRLs sits a revised grille that’s expected to do what modern luxury grilles do best: get bigger. While camouflage hides the final details for now, the word is that the new opening will be noticeably larger than the current GLE’s and may borrow cues from the recently revealed electric GLC with EQ Technology. If that’s the case, expect a more upright, more assertive face—one that leans harder into presence than subtlety.

Notably, the updated grille will finally wear a proper frame. The current GLE, AMG or otherwise, goes frameless up front, which has always felt a little unfinished in a segment obsessed with visual gravitas. This change alone could significantly alter how substantial the GLE looks in your rearview mirror.

There will be the usual facelift fare as well: revised bumpers, fresh wheel designs, and small detail tweaks meant to distract from the fact that the underlying sheetmetal is unchanged. That’s the nature of a mid-cycle update—especially one layered on top of an earlier refresh. Mercedes isn’t rewriting the GLE’s design story here; it’s just editing for relevance.

Under the hood, don’t expect reinvention either. The AMG GLE 53 will almost certainly carry over its mild-hybrid 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six. In current form, the setup makes 429 horsepower (435 metric), delivered with the smooth, muscular character AMG has largely perfected in this configuration. That said, history suggests the engineers in Affalterbach won’t be able to resist squeezing out a few extra ponies before the 2026 debut. Whether that comes from revised software, mild hardware tweaks, or a more aggressive hybrid assist remains to be seen—but incremental gains are all but guaranteed.

And incremental might not be enough.

The real pressure isn’t coming from within Mercedes’ own lineup; it’s coming from Munich. BMW’s next-generation X5, internal code G65, is scheduled to launch in 2026 as a 2027 model-year vehicle—the same timing as the refreshed GLE. Unlike Mercedes, BMW is starting fresh. The new X5 will usher in the brand’s Neue Klasse design language, and an M60 performance variant is already in the pipeline.

Translation: newer platform, bolder styling, and a clear performance halo.

Against that backdrop, the GLE’s age becomes harder to hide, no matter how clever the lighting graphics or how large the grille grows. Mercedes will need every visual trick—and every extra horsepower—to keep the AMG GLE 53 from looking like yesterday’s news parked next to BMW’s all-new contender.

Still, there’s something to be said for maturity. The GLE remains a known quantity: comfortable, quick, and unmistakably premium, with AMG’s inline-six offering real-world performance that feels more usable than headline-grabbing specs suggest. This refresh isn’t about stealing the spotlight—it’s about staying in the conversation.

And in a segment where loyalty runs deep and design sells almost as much as performance, that might be enough to carry Mercedes-AMG through the next round of the luxury-SUV heavyweight bout.

Photos: SH Proshots