Ask any car enthusiast and they’ll tell you a coupé is a car with two doors, geared towards sportiness over practicality. In 2005 Mercedes-Benz turned the industry on its head with the CLS or “Coupé Light Sport”. It had four doors but the swooping roofline traditionally seen in coupes. “A ‘coupe’ just means it’s an attractive shape, a lower roofline, a car with less function and more emotion,” offers Robert Lesnik, director of exterior designAll these years later Mercedes continues to push the four-door coupé forward now with the 2022 Mercedes-AMG GT 53 Manufaktur Edition.
However you like to classify the GT 53, there is no denying its striking good looks. From just about any angle the car looks aggressive yet elegant all at once. Mercedes’ exquisite paint quality is accentuated on the Manufaktur Edition with the exclusive Rubelite Red Metallic paint showing a spectrum of deep wine reds and purples depending on lighting. Also included in this special edition package is the AMG Chrome Package, and a gorgeous set of special edition exclusive forged 21-inch AMG wheels.
The fit and finish of the interior space is immaculate, packed with materials that don’t disappoint. Beautiful aviation themed air vents stand out in the Neva Grey and Black Nappa Leather interior, offset with large swaths of ash wood trim. A 64-colour LED ambient lighting system along with LCD backlit buttons straight out of every PC gamer’s dream rig are used here to create any ambiance you so desire.
Included in the Premium Package is the top shelf Burmester Surround Sound system – easily one of the best systems we’ve heard in any vehicle to date. The system includes a 590-watt nine-channel DSP amplifier and 13 speakers behind some beautifully detailed speaker grills throughout the interior. The louder you turn it up the better it gets – punchy powerful sound with ultra-crisp clarity. Getting stuck in traffic has never felt so good.
To help navigate all this technology is the MB User Experience (MBUX). The interface features a “Zero-Layer” concept meaning there are no submenus to dig through – truly a joy to use. To make things even more convenient there is an array of shortcut buttons in the center console, as well as capacitive steering wheel controls. While the seats did not include a massage feature, they are still comfortable while geared towards spirited driving where driver stability and weight reduction have factored in. Perhaps the ultimate expression for this idea of luxury and performance is the lush floor mat carpet which actually extends to cover the dead pedal pampering your feet in the middle at every turn.
Beneath the long hood is where the AMG part of the equation comes into play. A turbocharged inline-six with electric assist puts out 429 hp and 384 lb-ft. – the brunt of that torque available at 1,800RPM. Pull on one of the aluminum shift paddles when you start the car to trigger “emotion start” and the exhaust valves open to really get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand and take notice. The AMG GT 53 accelerates like a land missile as electric power gets the party started until the turbocharger is ready to do its thing, all while the sounds that only an inline-six can make sing away in the background.
Mated to the engine is the AMG SPEEDSHIFT TCT nine-speed transmission and 4MATIC+ all-wheel-drive. The combination of rapid seamless shifts, ideal gear ratios and AWD traction hurtles the GT 53 from 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds and keeps pulling up to the 285 km/h top speed. It really feels like effortless speed no matter what you are doing. Just as impressive as the acceleration, deceleration is mighty.
The AMG High Performance Composite Braking system includes bright yellow calipers clamping down on a set of huge 360mm composite brake discs front and rear offering incredible and consistent braking performance. Also included in the Manufaktur Edition package is an AMG electronic limited-slip differential which really helps get power down early when clawing out of a corner.
So what is there not to like? It’s nitpicky to be sure, but while the GT 53 makes a strong case for being both a hardcore performance car and luxury grand tourer there are compromises that keep it from being the ultimate in either category. Obviously the rear doors and seats add size and weight. And though the 21-inch Pilot Sport 2 tires provide herculean grip; the fancy AMG multi chamber air suspension can’t overcome the rock hard thin sidewalls of 30-series radials to provide the luxurious ride quality you might expect from a Mercedes.
The electric assist doesn’t only help with acceleration, but also makes a tangible impact on fuel economy. A handy gauge keeps track of extra mileage created by the hybrid system, and on one tank of fuel we won a free 30 kilometers out of the 636 travelled. Mercedes-Benz rates the GT 53 at 12.3L/100km city, 9.4L/100km highway and 11.0L/100km combined. We averaged 11.1L/100km, a hugely impressive figure given the performance and mass of the GT.
The AMG GT 53 starts at $119,800 which may come as a surprise to some given the amount of quality and content on offer here. Our tester came equipped with the $2,700 Intelligent Drive Package which accounts for the active safety features. An additional $7,100 for the Premium Package which gets you the Nappa Leather and the sublime Burmester Sound System. Finally the Manufaktur Edition package comes in at $25,000 if you need your GT 53 to really stand out from the rest with exclusive wheels, paint color, and all the AMG branding you could ever want.
Part of the AMG experience is pride of ownership, and AMG certainly isn’t shy about letting you flex. All told we counted 31 AMG logos; 20 on the exterior, 10 interior, and one in your pocket on the key. As if this wasn’t enough you get three beautifully embossed emblems in the headrests and shifter. All that and more make the 2022 Mercedes-AMG GT 53 Manufaktur Edition a very special edition indeed.
