Video: The 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLS63 SUV Is the Craziest Kid Hauler

It's kind of the spiritual successor to the old E63 AMG Wagon. But is it as good as that old wagon? Is it as desirable? Is it as fun to drive? Let's go find out. The first thing to know about this thing is that it is big. It's big, it's heavy. It is a three-row, family SUV. There's no getting around that. It's just the nature of the beast. However, they do kind of make up for it in the fact that it's got a twin-turbocharged, four-liter, hand-built, V8 engine under the hood making 603 horsepower and 627 pounds feet of torque. That's a lot and it is noticeable. You put your foot down, I mean, (revving) good god, zero to 60 in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 174 miles per hour according to Mercedes-Benz. So in that regard, yeah, this is a pretty good successor to the E63 AMG Wagon. It is significantly bigger than that wagon as well. This is an S-class size thing, whereas the E wagon is, obviously, E-Class. It's a little bit smaller. It's a mid-sized thing. This is what you would consider a full-sized, crossover SUV, not as big as something like a Cadillac Escalade, but easily as big as anything from Range Rover or the BMW X7. Now, what AMG has done to this thing is obviously put that engine in there. You've got a 9-speed, sporty transmission as well. You've got permanent all-wheel drive. You've got an active electronic suspension that helps for stability and rolls and cornering. It keeps things very flat and level. There's also an air suspension as well that'll either raise or lower the thing as necessary for better ingress and egress, like if you're loading something into the back, or also to help out with ride quality as well. But overall, this thing is not meant to be a track machine, and that differs from the GLE 63 AMG SUV (chuckles) that I've also driven. If you wanna read about that, I did take a GLE 63 AMG coupe to a track, and you can read about that in the description below. This one, however, it's not meant for that. It's not a track-duty thing. This is more of a canyon-carver, expensive image vehicle. This is the thing that gets you to and from your home in the Malibu hills down to the beach or to dinner at Spago in the city, but provides you some entertaining ways of doing that when you're actually on those twisty canyon roads. You're gonna make your passengers sick, especially if you got kids in the third row in car seats. It's gonna be a bit of a bumpy ride. That's the one thing that you do notice about this vehicle. You can get wheels up to 23 inches on this thing which is pretty huge. This one doesn't have the 23s on it right now because it's got snow tires, because this is Michigan in February, even though it's currently 60 degrees, and you'd never know that it was winter. This has slightly smaller wheels, slightly thicker rubber, but it's still rides really kind of rough. I had my mother-in-law in here on the way to dinner, and she is like, "Gosh, why does it ride so rough for such an expensive vehicle?" Well, you've actually paid extra for that, for that privilege of riding rather rough. You also realize this is not meant to go on racetracks by the fact that it does not have a track mode. It has comfort, it has sport and sport plus, but unlike the GLE 63, no track mode. So this thing is really not meant to go on a track and that makes sense. Nobody is driving a three-row, family, luxury SUV on a racetrack anywhere in the world. This is really just meant for fun-on-road kinds of things, which does make me also wonder why there are off-road settings as well. That really doesn't make much sense, but you can go off-road in the thing. Ostensibly, I don't know why you'd want to. It has really no off-road chops to it at all. The interior in this thing is a nice upgrade from normal GLS, although really normal GLSs are really pretty nice to begin with. You can get the super luxurious Maybach version, the GLS 600 which is just kind of nuts. Or if you decide to go the sporty route, that's this, the GLS 63 AMG version. But you've got things like, you know, real wood trim. You've got this AMG-specific steering wheel, which I have opinions about. Now on one hand, it's really very nice. It's comfy, it's grippy, it's got this faux suede material here. But can we just talk about the touch-sensitive controls on this thing? This right here is hot garbage, Mercedes-Benz. The controls do not work as they should. All I wanna do is move forward on a track listening to whatever I'm listening to, whether it's a playlist on Apple CarPlay or changing channels, and you have to hunt basically through all the different settings here, and you have to hit this touch-sensitive slider just right, or you're gonna change the view on the screen. It's maddening, it needs to die. They need to figure out a better situation than this touch-sensitive crap because it does not work. You do, however, for 2024 model, you have the latest MBUX operating system, which works reasonably well. The digital display here is reconfigurable to a bunch of different gauge settings. One of them, strangely enough, does say track pace, but there's no track mode in this vehicle. So not really sure what the point of that is. However, there are different other settings like you can make this entire thing a navigation screen, or you can be a minimalist and just have a couple of very bare gauges or the traditional-style stuff as well. So it is nice to see the reconfigurable digital gauge cluster. It does give you a lot of options, and I don't mind this either. You eventually learn how to use this pretty well. It's certainly easier to use than the BMW iDrive systems, which are just maddening, especially their climate controls. You don't have quite that level of difficulty figuring out the Mercedes-Benz systems. They do work a little bit better. For the rest of this, you do have some hard buttons down here, and you do have a track pad as well. So there are a number of different ways you can input information into the system, so as not to confuse yourself or distract yourself too much while you're driving. I also have a heads up display here, which does display relevant information as needed. So you know, that also works for visibility as well. But oh my god, this power. (mimics engine revving) (laughing) It's just nuts. In terms of how this thing drives, the handling is actually really good. It's really quite tight. The steering feel is excellent. You're getting some decent feedback. It's not sports-car quick, but then it's not a sports car, but it doesn't embarrass itself. If you really wanna you know, put your foot into it in the twisties, the thing will respond. It won't embarrass anybody. It might make your passengers a bit ill if they're not expecting it, but it's still actually relatively entertaining. In terms of the comfort of the rest of the vehicle, you can get either captain's chairs in the second row or you can get a bench seat. This one has captain's chairs. They're a little on the small side even for, you know, not just, I'm not just talking about me finding them small. Most people are finding them a little bit on the small side. I would probably opt for a bench just for the greater versatility of it. The third row is suitable for children or adults will fit back there. If you don't plan on keeping them there very long, it'll be all right. They'll be decent back there for a little while. The nice thing about the second row is it does slide forward and aft. So the second or third row passengers can negotiate leg room as needed depending on how well they like each other or don't. It also has plenty of cargo room. You can put that third row down, and you've got tons of space back there for carrying whatever you need to carry. It is a big, three-row SUV, and it behaves like one. For 2024 model year, they have made a couple of changes for the GLS lineup. It's got slightly different styling front and rear. It's got really, more than anything, more standard features, especially for the GLS 63 AMG. They've included a lot more stuff than they have in the past, like panoramic sunroof and heated and ventilated seats. But for that kind of money, you'd expect a lot of standard features which is not something you normally get with a German luxury brand. Mercedes and BMW and Porsche all like to charge you as much as they possibly can for anything they possibly can. So to see them suddenly start including a lot of standard features, that's new, and it does kind of make me wonder if the value proposition is starting to become an issue with a lot of these German luxury brands. This one costs $156,000 which is extraordinary. I mean, people will walk into a Mercedes-Benz showroom and order the most expensive thing on the menu. That's kind of what this thing is meant to do. It's meant to satisfy those people who have to have the fastest, most outrageous, most crazy version of the GLS that they could possibly get. If they don't want the Maybach, which can start, you know, approaching $200,000, this is it. And I think it fulfills that role really quite well because it is loud, it is outrageous, it is fun to drive. It isn't entirely the most comfortable vehicle in the world, given the ride quality can be a bit harsh, and it's not just the snow tires doing that, it's stiff. It could make it even more stiff if I put it into the various sport modes. But I like to keep this in comfort because the roads around where I live here in Michigan aren't the greatest, but it does make great noises and it does go really well. Also stops really well. This doesn't have carbon ceramic brakes, but it does have performance compound breaks with some pretty huge cross-build rotors, and that is great for bringing the bulk of this thing down from higher speeds (revs) to a stop. But who wants to stop? Listen to that noise. (laughs) How many things make that kind of noise anymore? Get it while you can, folks 'cause eh, it's not gonna be around much longer. So yes, this basically is the epitome of an AMG vehicle. It's big, it's loud, it's a little bit stupid. It's incredibly fast. It is fun to drive, but there are some compromises to being used as a family vehicle. The ride quality is kind of terrible and you know, you've only got six passengers in this one. You may wanna opt for the bench seat if you really want full seven passenger. It is also extremely expensive. This one costs $156,000, which if you have the means, hey, good for you, go for it. If you're one of those people that just walks into the Mercedes-Benz showroom and says, I want the fastest, craziest, most expensive version of the GLS, well, here it is. It's not the Maybach. It's not as luxurious as that, but it is still a lot of fun. If you'd like to learn more about the new 2024 Mercedes AMG GLS63 SUV, you can look everything up on cars.com. (bright music ends)