When someone hands you the keys to a vehicle like the 2021 Mercedes AMG GLE63 S you say yes. Then you ask questions. In our week of the hottest version of the brand’s mid-size SUV we stopped asking questions after the first drive.
The GLE-Class now it its fourth-generation having arrived in the late 1990’s as the ML-Class has impressed us with what we feel is the best styling yet. It seems more focused, more purposeful in its design message and more fitting of its price in its curb appeal.
It should be with an as tested price of $134,455. Granted this number figures in over $20,000 in options and nearly twice the price of a base GLE-Class model. You expect this when stepping up to the AMG and putting all the icing on the cake.
With 603 horsepower coming from a twin-turbocharged AMG hand-built V8 and an additional 21 horsepower from a mild hybrid system you get a lot of kick for your bucks. The engine is raucously mean yet refined, singing a song that makes you forget about the price.
Power is transmitted to all four wheels through a nine-speed transmission that shifts lightning quick. A multitude of drive modes make it a snick snick snick or a relaxing affair whichever you choose. Aside all the joy and power it offers our only complain is an annoying auto start stop system.
Suspension is a fully adjustable and automatic air affair. It rides firm even on its setting of comfort and when dialed up to Sport and beyond gets rock hard. This pays dividends on the windy roads where its 5,000 plus pounds are kept well in check.
It’s fun to drive. That is the takeaway.
Inside is a cabin that rises to the top of all of which we have tested. Premium materials line every square inch. Switchgear is top notch in its quality and action, the features and systems behind it all impresses beyond measure. To try and list it all here? No. It’s a lot and it’s good.
Granted our tester had all the optional interior and technological boxes checked, but even in its most basic forms this interior is golden in its execution and design.
Our video hits all the details and high points. The main outcome of our test is a 4.5 out of 5 star score and it makes our I’d Buy It list.
