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2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe gets a big tech upgrade, $3,000 price hike

Mercedes' updated GLE63 S Coupe packs a 603-horsepower punch and fantastic MBUX tech.

Steven Ewing Former managing editor
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.
Steven Ewing
2 min read
2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe
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2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe

Ah yes, a 603-horsepower coupeover.

Mercedes-AMG

Mercedes-AMG's largest-and-in-chargest crossover-coupe returns for 2021, packing a 603-horsepower V8, mild-hybrid tech, a huge infotainment upgrade and more. When the 2021 GLE63 S Coupe arrives at dealers this fall, it'll be priced from $117,050 (including $1,050 destination), confirmed Tuesday.

That certainly isn't chump change and the $117,050 starting price represents a $3,000 increase over the last GLE63 S Coupe. But in addition to cleaner styling and a much more luxurious cabin, the GLE63 gets a big tech upgrade -- both in terms of infotainment and outright performance.

For starters, the GLE63 S Coupe gets Mercedes' MBUX multimedia system found in the other GLE-Class models. A pair of 12.3-inch screens house a reconfigurable gauge cluster and infotainment display, the latter of which can be controlled via touch, thumbpads and a touchpad or with natural-language voice commands. This is the same "Hey, Mercedes" tech seen in the company's other models -- just say, "I'm cold" and the car will automatically raise the temperature on the climate control. We also love MBUX for its modern graphics and cool augmented reality navigation overlays.

Under the hood, the GLE63 uses AMG's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine, tuned to produce 603 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. But thanks to Mercedes' EQ-Boost mild-hybrid tech, a 48-volt onboard starter-generator can provide an additional 21 hp and 184 lb-ft of assist for initial acceleration, and to smooth out the action of the stop/start system. All told, the big GLE Coupe can accelerate to 60 mph in a pretty-damn-quick 3.7 seconds.

Since the GLE63 S Coupe is the range-topping GLE, it comes with all the good stuff standard. This includes a Burmester sound system, blind-spot monitoring, active parking assist, lane-keeping assist, wireless phone charging, active LED headlamps, heated and cooled front seats and a whole lot more.

Look for the GLE63 S Coupe to join the other GLE-Class models -- including the new GLE53 mild-hybrid -- in Mercedes-Benz showrooms this fall.

2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe combines style and substance

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