2019 Mercedes-AMG GT53 4-door: A fancy-pants muscle car

[SOUND] Now this might make me sound crazy, but I believe the 2019 Mercedes AMG GT 53 Ford or reminds me a lot of the Dodge Charger. Now I'll take a second to pause and let you throw some less than kind invective into the comments below. [SOUND] [MUSIC] Okay. Now while this might be my most SN9 take yet, and probably is, to be honest. I really do believe this. Comparison has legs. Like the Dodge Charger, the Mercedes AMG GT four door was built from the ground up with one thing in mind, performance. And also like the Charger, the GT four door is incredibly good at what it does. But it doesn't really take a lot of digging to start shining sunlight on its flaws. Both cars also happen to cost $100,000. Okay, the last one was clearly a joke. But the rest still stands. The GT 53 might be the base model but heavens to betsy, it sure doesn't feel like it. All AMG 53 models are powered by the same three liter turbo charge in line six made it to a 48 bolt mile Built a hybrid system. The engine alone puts out 429 horsepower, and 384 pound feet of torque. While the electric motor can throw another 21 ponies, and 184 twist units, into the mix. [BLANK_AUDIO] Now it might lack the punch your grandma in the face or the brutishness that the 63 models have. But the GT 53's balance still tips towards the dynamism. The electric trickle turned low speed antics and high speed antics in a hot minute pulling from some seemingly endless well of miles per hour and the car larger size like the Dodge Charger. Hint hint makes the car feel like it's not going very fast only for you to look down at your speedometer with abject horror. Now I'm told the EPA race this car at 19 mph. City and 24 highway, but honestly, I'm having too much fun to notice. You can ramp up or tamp down the GT 53's brutality through a number of different modes, and a configurable individual mode that lets you mix and match at will. Since I am a noise junkie I have my testers optional active exhaust constantly set to its loudest setting dynamic because it pumps and crackles and snorts and does all sorts of great things. It sounds like a Halina, I've been poking with a stick for a few hours. The adaptive dampers on the other hand, well, their best left than their most comfortable setting because they are still kind of stiff there which kinda relegated to the only mode that really works well with daily life and And all the mediocre roads that invariably come with it. Now the steering could be a million pounds or could be negative a million pounds, but I still think it's one of the best steering systems I've experienced in years. With responsiveness bordering on telepathy, or ultra instinct, or something like that. And then there's Mercedes is nine speed automatic transmission, which Is content to do its job with or without your help, and no matter what, does great. Now it's time to do my favorite thing, complain. The GT53 driving experience is not all roses and daisies. My tester's glossy carbon fiber trim picks up sunlight from, well, just about anywhere, and correctly focuses it into the back of my eyeballs. The windshield does something similar with the sun, taking large dashboard reflections and Throwing right in front of my face, and then there is the noise which is voluminous thanks in large part to the six lane highways of rubber that Mercedes calls summer tires. [BLANK_AUDIO] When it comes to the GT four door's looks I'm split, even though it's better than it was before, I still don't like that [UNKNOWN] garbage on a Sedan but the GT four door gets around that by using the same kind of hatchback as the [UNKNOWN] version. And I really think that improves it's look. But it's still kinda looks like a lump of melted ice It's cream and the headlights manage some Benjamin Button voodoo that makes the front end look simultaneously older and younger than its two door sibling. It's cooler than the CLS class though. That much is for sure. And the hatchback offers up some genuinely usable space. And then there is this paint. Mercedes calls it Brilliant Blue, which, fun fact, is the name of the paint on my 1994 Ford Escort. And I love it. It's striking in this matte finish and it will turn every head that hasn't already been turned by the car itself. But it does come with a couple of trade offs. First of all, $4,000. Second of all, kind of a bear to maintain. Mercedes advises you not to go through automatic car washes because the nylon flappy things will absolutely decimate the paint. Can't wax it cuz wax eliminates the point of a matte finish and scratches are kind of hard to get out. I hope you brought a lot of microfiber cloth in perfect condition. The interior again borrows heavily from the two door Angie gt with some neat new tricks. Again, like the charger you are surrounded by car. The belt line is high and the seats are low. Good stuff for sports cars, less so for visibility. Although the shape of the hatch is really the main limiting factor there. The center counsel rises up, up, up, and meets the same general interior shape we've seen in just about every modern Benz and it's a lovely one I'm especially a fan of the clever little capacitive screens flanking the infotainment controller and the other pair of screens that double his mode switches on the wheel. Sure they're dumb little flourishes, but they will impress people. Now these seats in this GT 53 cost an extra 2500 bucks to slap in and while that might seem like a lot of coin, I think they're worth it. They're pretty supportive and they're plenty attractive to boot. Now when it comes to heating and cooling them, you have to pay an extra $450 for that luxury, which seems like nickle and diming on Mercedes' part. But I guess if you can afford the 99 grand base price, you can afford 450 extra dollars. Now there are only 4 seats in this thing, but each of them is like its own little mini palace with With plenty of space and the USB type a port for every occupant. OK, back to complaining. The GT 53 is center console is a big bulky boy which means the cup holders are very well recessed in here making it kind of hard to pull out smaller drinks. And God forbid you need to actually wirelessly charge your device. Through the well hidden tray behind the cup holders, cuz if there's stuff in those cup holders, well, the phone's about as well in tuned as Fortunada's body. And then there's the shifter, [NOISE] the shifter. It was an awkward, stupid position in the two door and it's an awkward stupid position here, Mercedes, please take note of it. This, I am not a T Rex. This is not how my arms work. [MUSIC] [SOUND] Well the AMGGT four door is one of Mercedes Benz his newest vehicles, it still rocks the old command infotainment system. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sure it has been rescheduled over time to look more like MBUX and it still does have a lot of great things. things about it. It's responsive. It has Apple Car Play navigation is standard. There's a lot of good stuff about it. But at the same time it lacks cool things like MB UX is, hey, Mercedes, digital assistant, or other random frippery, like augmented reality directions. It's still a really good system but I just wish it were a little newer. Now as far as safety systems go, you get automatic breaking and blind spot monitoring standard but that's about it. Everything else you're after is probably hidden away in the $2250 driver assistance package. That add stuff like, full speed adaptive cruise with stop and go. Active lane change assist, route base speed adaptation, for the whole nine yards. As far as hands on systems go which this is definitely one of those, it's great I like it. It's smooth, it's smart, and it doesn't feel over bearing. [MUSIC] Now, you might be inclined to believe that the AMG GT four dour, has more in common with say a Mercedes CLS that a Dodge Charger. Well, you'll probably be right but the Mercs are still Two different worlds apart. Let's take the base model for example, GT 53, that's the base, CLS 53, that's actually the top of the range. And then there's the size, dimension we speaking, the two cars are pretty similar but the interior as well, they're two completely separate beasts. And there's the matter of general purpose The CLS is more of a do-it-all kind of luxury car whereas the GT lineup, well it's just focused on ripping your face off in a black metal mosh pit. And then there's the matter of price. the GT lineup more or less begins right where the CLS leaves off with a lofty starting price of $99,000. With an as-tested price of $127,300, it will remove your scratch like the finest car wax. But considering just how freaking fun this car is Buyers in this segment will find it worth every single penny, just like the Dodge Charger. [MUSIC]