The Pro route to faster lap times

Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Pro 4Matic+

- Ben Barry

FOR A CAR called Pro, the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Pro 4Matic+ is surprisingly benign in the hands of an amateur - it's a 911 Turbo rival, not a GT3 alternative like its edgier predecessor, the GT R Pro of 2019.

Five-time DTM champion Bernd Schneider concurs: 'I guess most customers will be faster [in the 63 Pro], says the man who's guiding laps around the Ascari circuit in Southern Spain today.

"The GT R was a real race machine; this is much more forgiving and easier to drive.' No surprise there. Better usability has been baked into the second-generation AMG GT from the off. Requests for all-wheel drive, plus-two rear seats and more luggage space have all been granted, with the caveat that the old car's transaxle must make way for a transmission bolted to the back of the engine. It's partly why weight distribution flips from 47:53 to a nose-heavy 54:46.