I know what you’re thinking. Heck, I was thinking the same thing. The keyboard warrior in me wanted to call it out just as much as you do, so let’s just address the elephant in the room right off the bat: weighing in at a rather ludicrous 4,343 pounds, the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 4Matic+ Coupe is porky. I too wonder where the lead weights are hidden, but guess what? It doesn’t matter, because this thing is pretty special. Besides, fat-shaming isn’t cool.

Yes, a similarly equipped Porsche 911 Carrera 4S is damn near a thousand pounds lighter. I have no explanation for the delta, aside from the fact that the Benz uses a twin-turbo V8, versus the flat-six in the Porsche. I’m just as confused as you are, but that confusion goes away in about 2.8 seconds, which is also how long it takes for this thing to run from zero to 100 km/h.

But let’s start with its design. The AMG GT Coupe is a stud. The much-loved, previous-generation AMG GT looked striking with its enormously long hood and unique profile. But I’ll admit I had a little bit of a love-hate relationship with it: the convertible looked great in my opinion, but the coupe had some odd proportions from certain angles. Not so with this new AMG GT coupe. It gets the profile oh-so-right, arguably drawing more than a little inspiration from arguably the most iconic sports car of all time. Heck, it positively looks like a 911 with a Mercedes-Benz face grafted onto the front and some different tail lights that still look 911-ish from afar.

You know what? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and since everyone and their grandma loves a 911, why fight it? Light-hearted jabs aside, Mercedes-Benz really did nail the look. The AMG GT exudes an exotic presence no matter where you park it. The front grille is enormous, almost concept car-ish, but it works very well and is unmistakably Mercedes. The headlights look like a proper evolution of the previous-gen car, and although it no longer has a hood that stretches two postal codes, it’s still long and still houses a not-at-all-downsized V8.

Whereas the exterior is different but clearly evolved from the previous car, the interior goes another way, embracing Mercedes’ now-familiar cabin design. If you’ve spent any time in the new SL— or, heck, most any new Mercedes—you’ll feel right at home. I’m a little mixed; the new interior looks great but loses the uniqueness of the previous car, which made it feel quite bespoke despite the centre console taking up the lion’s share of interior space. The new interior is modern, with a portrait screen housing Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment. I find rather easy to use, with logical shortcuts in all the right places and static climate controls that are always within reach, despite having minimal physical controls.

The gauge cluster works well, with a myriad of information available in a multitude of display settings. There’s a lot of Star Wars-ish graphics for the sport displays, but I preferred the classic-style gauges with an analog-looking speedometer and tachometer. Am I just getting old? The other ones just seemed mostly gimmicky and spaceship-like for me, but I did use them on occasion depending on my mood. The Burmester audio system is OK at best in this application, which is odd since I enjoyed it in most other Mercedes-Benz vehicles I’ve driven.

Our tester’s two-tone Red Pepper on Black Nappa leather interior is unapologetically red. The seats are well-bolstered and keep you in place while remaining perfectly comfortable, and they just so happen to be quite pretty. Mercedes’ judicious use of carbon fibre accents the red perfectly, and the aluminum speaker grilles integrate into the aesthetic well. It all looks fantastic, as does Mercedes’ ambient lighting at night, but beauty is sometimes only skin-deep. The carbon-trimmed center console would creak when I’d rest my elbow on there, the door cards have too much flex when you’re pressing a button, and even the driver’s seat cushion would shimmy just enough to notice.  Forgivable in a CLA 250, perhaps, but not so much in a halo car.

But just like that weight figure, all those grievances melt away once you get moving. The AMG GT 63 means business. Starting with the fire-breathing 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, it unleashes 577 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque almost instantaneously. Credit here to the “hot-vee” configuration of the turbos, nestling them between the cylinder banks to shorten the path and keep them warm and ready. Power is routed through a nine-speed automatic transmission; it isn’t perfect, but it shifts quickly and the paddles are satisfying.

Unlike the previous car, it’s easier to put all the power down thanks to Mercedes’ 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system now coming standard. This is at least part of where the added weight comes from, and for me, it’s welcome. The previous AMG GT did muscle car-level burnouts, but if you actually care about tire prices and true performance, this is the one to get. The AWD system is masterful, allowing you to lay the power down incredibly confidently, and the sharp turn-in with the aid of rear-axle steering makes the car feel very nimble.

Adding to that all-wheel-drive confidence are the 21-inch wheels wrapped in 285-section front and 305-section rear tires. Yes, 285s up front. That’s more than most supercars. I’d argue it’s needed with all that weight, but boy oh boy, do these standard-issue Michelin Pilot Sport 5 S tires keep you glued to the road or what. The downside to having so much tire is that although the AMG GT feels nimble, it’s hard not to feel the extra weight up front. It’s hard to explain, but when you’re behind the wheel, it’s obvious that there’s some wide rubber up front. You feel it in the bumps, too: they reverberate through the tires before they hit you inside.

And hit you, they do. There are two major penalties to having so much weight. One is fuel economy, which is understandably dismal in a car like this—I predictably averaged 18.4 L/100 km—but the second is ride quality. Heavy cars need a stiff suspension to control all that weight, especially if you’re trying to make it handle well. This is exactly what Mercedes-Benz did, and ride quality does suffer as a result. Even in Comfort mode, the AMG GT can’t match the ride quality of a 911 or an Aston. Switch it to Race and you better be ready for it. I’m telling you this as a fact, not as a complaint. In my car-guy brain, the AMG GT Coupe is enough of an occasion that the rough ride actually adds to the experience. But if you’re looking for something even remotely S-Class-like, this ain’t it.

In the interest of transparency, I logged some some other complaints. For some reason, the accelerator pedal feels like a brick, requiring a surprising amount of effort for reasons unknown. The carbon ceramic brakes are pulled off a freight train and will stop you on a dime, but are far too grabby at first. And lastly, Mercedes pipes in a lot of fake engine noise into the cabin despite the V8 sounding great from the outside. I figured this out when the speakers glitched out when I switched between drive modes, and the engine sound came through with the quality of an AM radio for a split second. I mean, the fake engine noises still sounded pretty good, but probably aren’t required.

And now to pricing, the other elephant in the room. As-tested the GT 63 coupe rang up an eye-watering $226,700. Is it worth it? In a vacuum, heck yeah! This is a wonderful, playful, damn-near-exotic thing, but the 911 coming in for similar money is objectively the better car despite feeling clinical. There’s also the BMW M8 Competition, which is significantly cheaper and still packs a beastly twin-turbo V8, but lacks the AMG GT’s presence.

I want to believe in the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 4Matic+ Coupe because it really is that good, but it’s hard to justify the price. Fortunately, I think there’s a sweet spot: the GT 55 coupe may be the “lesser” variant, but it uses a (detuned) version of the same engine, and when you option it out similarly to this GT 63 tester, works out to about $175,000. I doubt anyone will complain about the 100 fewer horsepower and the slightly slower zero-to-100 km/h run when they both look this good.