Audi E-Tron Gt vs Mercedes-AMG E63

What's the difference?

While it may be a very different beast to the R8 supercar, it’s hard to argue that the e-tron GT offers performance that isn’t equal to anything Audi has previously produced. The immense acceleration and power, coupled with the brilliant and clever handling make this updated range, especially the RS pair, feel like something special.The fact that it will save you visiting a petrol bowser and might help cut harmful emissions is just a bonus.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The E 63 S fills its niche in AMG's Australian line-up perfectly. More mature than the brand's four-cylinder hatches and SUVs, but not as overbearing as some of its bigger sedan, GT and SUV stablemates. And its ability to seamlessly switch between serene comfort and dynamic performance has nailed the objective for this 2021 update.

While there are some big changes underneath, on the surface the design tweaks are quite subtle. 

There are some tweaks to the front grille, headlights, lower bumper and air intakes, but overall the look isn’t dramatically different. The more noticeable styling change is between the S and RS models, with the latter looking more sporty and dynamic thanks to a unique lower bumper design and the larger alloy wheels, which have a sportier look.

The biggest design changes are arguably the introduction of the switchable transparency roof on the RS and the option to use matt carbon camouflage.

The former is another shared element between the RS e-tron GT and Taycan, and it uses a special glass that can switch between being clear or opaque depending on whether you put a current through it. Cleverly, Audi is offering the option to have individual sections alternate between the two states, so you can customise it to your preference.

As for the grandly named matte carbon camouflage, it wasn’t highlighted in Audi’s presentation, but it’s the same material the Lamborghini developed over a decade ago and calls ‘forged carbon’ instead.

Unlike traditional carbon-fibre, which is made from injecting resin into sheets of fabric-like carbon fibre weave, forged composite uses a malleable paste of carbon sheets and resin. This technique is quicker to make and easier to shape into complex pieces, but lacks the visual impact of conventional carbon-fibre.

The biggest design change internally is the new steering wheel, which is a not-quote-squared-off rim that feels nice in your hand without being too thick. The RS models feature two new large red buttons - ‘RS’ and ‘Boost’ - which allow you to select the drive modes and activate the short boost function, respectively.

The E 63 S has been massaged for 2021 starting with flatter headlights, AMG's now signature 'Panamericana' grille, and a high gloss black flap across the top of the curved 'Jet Wing' section defining the lower part of the nose.

At the same time, the vents on either end of it are larger and feature twin transverse louvers to guide cooling air to wherever it's needed.

It's all about what AMG calls 'optimised aerobalance' but the form is just as appealing as the function. The characteristic 'Power Domes' in the bonnet dial up the muscle, as do the fat wheel arches (+27mm each side), and 20-inch rims with distinctive aero inserts.

This car's optional exterior carbon package consists of a front splitter, side sills, a flash near the fender badges, the exterior mirror covers, the boot lid lip spoiler, as well as the lower apron around the redesigned diffuser and quad tailpipes.

New, intricately styled LED tail-lights are also flatter, but there's even more going on inside.

A new AMG sports steering wheel features three rounded twin-spokes with new switches on the bottom to control the car's dynamic set-up.

It also picks up a new take on the small touch-sensitive controllers used to adjust the instrumentation and manage other functions like phone calls, audio and the cruise control.

Not sure I'm in love with them at this stage. In fact, the words fiddly, imprecise, and frustrating come to mind.

Nappa leather covering the superb AMG sports seats, upper dash, and door beltlines remains standard, but the show-stopper is the 'Widescreen Cockpit' - twin 12.25-inch digital screens for the MBUX multimedia interface on the left and instruments on the right.

The instrument cluster can be set to 'Modern Classic', 'Sport' and 'Supersport' displays, with specific AMG read-outs such as engine data, gear speed indicator, warm-up status, car set-up, as well as a G-meter and 'RaceTimer.'

To borrow an official automotive design term, it looks schmick. Overall, with touches like open-pore black ash wood trim, and brushed metal highlights, the interior looks efficient but classy, with an obvious attention to detail in the layout and its execution.

Practicality is an important consolidation for the e-tron GT, it may have replaced the two-seater R8 as Audi’s definitive performance hero, but it’s a four-door sedan so it needs to be more family friendly. It’s especially relevant for Audi, as the brand has a history of brilliantly combining family needs with fast cars, namely its iconic wagons, the RS4 and RS6 Avants.

Audi also has a strong reputation for some of the best interior design in the industry, and the e-tron GT is arguably amongst its best work (at least in this reviewer’s opinion). It looks modern and stylish without leaning too far towards being different simply because it’s an electric car.

The new steering wheel fits the new design well, framing the digital driver’s display nicely. The display itself has a new RS-specific display for the higher-end models.

There’s a central infotainment touchscreen, but underneath this particular Audi skips the climate control touchscreen in favour of a digital readout and physical switchgear; a welcome relief for some, no doubt.

As for the seats, all three trim levels get the same style of sports seat trimmed in Nappa leather with a honeycomb stitch pattern. There are different finishes, both black and red leather, and some with contrasting stitching available through the optional design package. The RS performance package gets a unique ‘serpentine green’ stitching to stand out.

Small item storage in the front is adequate but not generous, which does make the e-tron GT feel more like a sports car at least, even if it doesn’t help practicality.

As for the rear, space is surprisingly good given the external dimensions and the nature of it being a low-roof sedan (rather than an SUV) with batteries underneath the floor. That’s largely because Audi has split the battery pack to allow for extra room in the rear for passengers’ feet, combating a common problem with electric sedans.

Headroom is adequate, and will be tight for anyone much taller than 180cm, but it will do the job of transporting the family in relative comfort. It is, by no means, the most spacious or family friendly model in the Audi range, but it does play its role as both a performance car and roomy sedan.

The boot is measured at 405 litres in the S but shrinks to 350L in the RS models, but both have the same 77L space under the bonnet, so space is (again) reasonable without being generous.

At just under 5.0m end-to-end the E-Class sits in the upper range of the mid-size luxury spectrum. And almost 3.0m of that is accounted for by the distance between the axles, so there's plenty of space inside.

The driver and front passenger are provided with heaps of room to breathe, and there's a surprising amount of space for those in the back as well.

Sitting behind the driver's seat set for my 183cm (6'0”) position I had more than adequate head and legroom. But access to and from the back is a struggle for full-size adults.

The rear doors open out a long way, but the limiting factor is the size of the aperture, necessitating excessive contortion of the head and limbs to fold in and out of the car.

Connectivity runs to two (power-only) USB-C sockets in the front centre storage bin, as well as another USB-C (for power and multimedia) and 12-volt power outlet in the centre console.

Speaking of the front centre storage bin, it's a decent size and has a padded split lid so it can double as an armrest. There are two cupholders in the front console, a generous glove box, as well as long door compartments with recesses for large bottles provided.

There's a pair of USB-Cs along with another 12-volt socket in the back, sitting under the climate control panel with adjustable vents in the rear of the front centre console. Nice.

The fold down centre armrest incorporates a lidded (and lined) storage box as well as two pop-out cupholders. Again, there are bins in the doors with room for smaller bottles.

The boot offers 540 litres (VDA) of volume, and is able to swallow our three-piece hard suitcase set (124L, 95L, 36L) with room to spare, or the substantial CarsGuide pram, or the largest suitcase and pram combined! There are tie-down hooks to help secure loads, too.

Don't bother looking for a spare of any description, a repair/inflator kit is your only option. And the E 63 S is a no-tow zone.

So, first of all, let's get the price out of the way. At $253,900, before on-road costs, this car's competitive set is a bruising, all-German trio comprising the Audi RS 7 Sportback ($224,000), BMW M5 Competition ($244,900), and Porsche Panamera GTS ($309,500).

And no surprise, it's loaded with all the luxury features you'd expect in this part of the market. Here are the highlights.

On top of the standard performance tech and safety equipment fitted to the E 63 S (covered later in this review), you'll also find: Nappa leather trim (seats, upper dash, upper door cards, and steering wheel), MBUX multimedia (with touchscreen, touchpad, and 'Hey Mercedes' voice control), 20-inch alloys, three-zone climate-control, interior ambient lighting, auto LED headlights (with 'Active High Beam Assist Plus'), eight “energising comfort programs” (with 'Energising Coach'), an 'Active Multicontour' front seat package, the 'Air Balance' package (including ionisation), and keyless entry and start.

Also included are the the 'Widescreen' digital cockpit (twin 12.25-inch digital screens), 13-speaker Burmester audio with digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, a head-up display, augmented reality satellite navigation, 'Parktronic' self-parking, electric front seats, seat cooling and heating front (heated rear), heated front centre armrest, a power-adjustable steering column, auto rain-sensing wipers, a wireless device charger, illuminated door sills, as well Amazon Alexa, etc, etc, etc.

And our test car also featured a couple of tasty options. An exterior carbon package ($7500), and AMG's professional grade ceramic composite brakes ($15,900), for an as-tested price of $277,300.

The key number for the new model is 680kW - that’s what the new RS e-tron GT Performance produces from its dual electric motors. That makes it the most powerful production car Audi has ever offered, which is quite an achievement when you look back at some of the cars this brand has built over the years.

That power upgrade is an extra 205kW over the pre-facelifted RS e-tron GT, and comes with a whopping 1027Nm of torque.

The RS e-tron GT has been upgraded too, now making 630kW/865Nm, a 155kW improvement on the old model. Which is a good thing, because the new S e-tron GT has even more power than the original RS, underlining just how much Audi has focused on power for this mid-life enhancement. The new S packs a 500kW/717Nm punch, compared to the 475kW/830Nm the previous RS offered.

The E 63 S is powered by the M178 version of the all-alloy 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine used across numerous AMG models from the C-Class up.

Thanks in no small part to direct injection and a pair of twin-scroll turbos (located in the engine's 'hot vee' to optimise throttle response), this all-alloy unit produces 450kW (that's 612hp) from 5750-6500rpm, and 850Nm from 2500-4500rpm.

And as per standard AMG practice for its Vee engines, this car's powerplant was built from scratch by a single engineer in Affalterbach. Thank you Robin Jäger.

AMG calls the nine-speed transmission used in the E 63 S an MCT, which stands for Multi-Clutch Technology. But it's not a dual-clutch, rather a normal auto transmission using a wet clutch as opposed to a conventional torque converter, to connect it to the engine on take-off.

Drive goes to all four wheels via Merc's '4Matic+' AWD system, built around an electromechanically controlled clutch connecting the permanently driven rear axle (with locking diff) variably to the front axle.

Another one of the significant unseen changes for this update is the battery. Audi has overall the battery for this latest e-tron GT, so it now has higher energy density (168.3Wh/kg), more size (105kWh v 97kWh), faster charging (10-80 per cent in 18 minutes) and reduced weight (down 9kg).

Despite all the extra power, driving ranges for the three models are still all beyond 500km. The S e-tron GT has a claimed range of 558km, the RS e-tron GT can manage up to 522km and RS e-tron GT Performance can run 528km on a single charge, according to Audi. 

As for the charging itself, Audi claims it now takes just 18 minutes to get from 10 to 80 per cent using an ultra-fast DC charger.

Claimed fuel economy for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 12.3L/100km, the E 63 S emitting 280g/km of CO2 in the process.

That's a pretty hefty number, but in line with this car's proportions and performance potential.

And Merc-AMG has gone to great lengths to minimise fuel use. As well as the standard 'Eco' stop-start function, in the 'Comfort' drive program cylinder deactivation becomes active, the system able to drop four cylinders anywhere between 1000 to 3250rpm.

There's no physical hint of half the cylinders leaving the party. The only clue is a blue icon on the dash indicating a temporary shift to V4 operation.

Despite all that effort, however, we saw a dash-indicated 17.9L/100km over a mix of urban trundling, highway cruising, and some spirited dynamic assessment.

Recommended fuel is 98 RON premium unleaded (although it'll run on 95 at a pinch), and you'll need 80 litres of it to fill the tank. That capacity translates to a range of 650km according to the factory claim, and 447km using our real world result.

Befitting its role as Audi’s performance hero, the new range drives with a level of speed and precision you would expect from such a car.

Even the new S e-tron GT has a level of acceleration that not every sports car could keep up with (the official 0-100km/h claim is 3.4 seconds), which would be impressive on its own but is a standout when you consider this is a four-door sedan.

It also helps that the adaptive air suspension and all-wheel steering (which can help both low speed manoeuvring and high speed changes of direction) make for an incredibly responsive and agile handling vehicle.

And then you drive the RS e-tron GT Performance and the driving experience is a step up again with its 2.5s triple-digit sprint time. That’s largely because of the new active suspension system it uses, which features a hi-tech array of cameras, radars and sensors to ‘read’ the road ahead of it and adjust the ride accordingly.

The result is arguably one of the best riding, most comfortable electric performance cars on sale today. Typically the need to control so much weight, from the batteries, means the ride is often too firm. But with the active suspension, Audi has somehow managed to make the ride both compliant (on 21-inch wheels) but also very well controlled, which allows you to really drive with precision even at speed.

But it’s not just the suspension, as mentioned earlier, the RS models also get a new ‘Boost’ button on the steering wheel that offers an extra 70kW of power for 10 seconds. Along with the surge of extra performance there’s a large countdown timer on the digital dashboard when you press it to really give you a sense of urgency and speed.

Thankfully, with so much power the e-tron GT range has plenty of stopping power. The S comes equipped with steel brakes, which do a fine job. But for the faster RS models, you get a carbide coated rotor and you can option ceramic brakes for more resilient stopping power.

AMG's major goal with this upgrade of the E 63 S was to maintain its dynamic response and ferocious performance, but dial in the extra comfort customers had said they wanted.

So, the 4Matic+ AWD system has been fine-tuned for more smoothness as has the Comfort option in the dynamic set-up. But we'll investigate that shortly.

First, that 4.0-litre turbo V8 in the nose is claimed to slingshot this roughly 2.0-tonne sedan from 0-100km/h in just 3.4 seconds, and it feels every bit that fast.

With 850Nm available from 2500-4500rpm and nine gear ratios to help keep you operating in that Goldilocks band, mid-range thrust is monumental. And thanks to the bi-modal sports exhaust it sounds beautifully brutal.

The nine-speed auto's wet clutch, as opposed to a conventional torque converter, is designed to save weight and optimise response. And while some will tell you an auto with one input shaft is never going to be as fast as a dual-clutch with two, shifts are rapid and direct. The wheel-mounted shift paddles are larger and set lower, as well.

The AMG 'Ride Control+' suspension with multi-chamber air suspension and adaptive damping is amazingly good. The underlying set-up is by multi-links front and rear, and despite riding on big 20-inch rims wrapped with low-profile, high-performance Pirelli P Zero rubber (265/35 fr - 295/30 rr) the Comfort setting is incredibly... comfortable.

Slip into 'Sport' or 'Sport+' and the car immediately feels tauter but far less compliant and forgiving. An impression reinforced by the engine, transmission, and steering shifting to a more buttoned-down mode at the same time.

The standard dynamic engine mounts play a big part here. Able to make a soft connection for maximum comfort, but switch to a rigid link when required.

But no matter which mode you're in, the car is well damped and feels beautifully balanced in quick cornering. And the E 63 S's electro-mechanically-assisted variable-rate steering is progressive, feelsome, and accurate.

The 4Matic+ AWD system is built around an electromechanically controlled clutch connecting the permanently driven rear axle (with locking diff) variably to the front axle.

Torque distribution happens imperceptibly, the big V8 putting its power down emphatically, with various electronic systems tieing up the loose ends as you aim up for the next corner.

 There's even a 100 per cent RWD Drift mode available in the Race setting, but without a race circuit at our disposal this time around that'll have to wait for another time.

The optional ceramic brakes feature huge rotors and six-piston front calipers, and stopping power is immense. And the good news is they operate quickly but progressively at normal pottering around town speeds. No warming up required to get them in an optimal temperature zone (as can be the case with other ceramic set-ups).

The three-pointed star's white-coated boffins have gone to town on the E 63 S, and the car is as good as it currently gets in terms of active and passive safety technology.

You could argue this car's dynamic ability is its strongest contributor to crash-avoidance. But a broad suite of features, specifically designed to keep you out of trouble includes, forward and reverse AEB (with pedestrian, cyclist, and cross-traffic detection), traffic sign recognition, 'Attention Assist', 'Active Blind Spot Assist', 'Active Distance Assist', 'Active High Beam Assist Plus', 'Active Lane Change Assist', 'Active Lane Keeping Assist', and 'Evasive Steering Assist.' That's a lot of assists.

There's also a tyre pressure monitoring and pressure loss warning system, as well as a brake priming function (monitors release speed on the accelerator pedal, moving pads factionally closer to the discs when required), and brake drying (when the windscreen wipers are active the system periodically applies just enough brake pressure to wipe water off the brake rotors to optimise wet weather efficiency).

But if an impact is unavoidable the 'Pre-Safe Plus' system is able to recognise an imminent rear-end collision and fire up the rear hazard lights (at high frequency) to warn following traffic. It will also firmly apply the brakes once the vehicle is stationary to minimise the risk of whiplash injuries if the car's then hit from behind.

If the potential crash is coming from the side, 'Pre-Safe Impulse' inflates air chambers in the side bolsters of the front seat backrest (within a fraction of a second) moving the occupant to the side towards the centre of the car, away from the impact area. Amazing.

As well as that, there's an active bonnet to minimise pedestrian injuries, an auto emergency call function, 'Crash Response Emergency Lighting', even a first aid kit and hi-vis vests for all occupants.

For the record, the current E-Class received a maximum five-star ANCAP assessment in 2016.

Audi offers its standard five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty for the three e-tron GT variants, but the battery gets a specific eight year/160,000km warranty. The five years of coverage is fairly standard for the luxury car segment, but short of the increasingly common seven-year warranties for mainstream brands.

As for the servicing, that’s included in the cost of the car, with Audi covering the first six years of maintenance for no additional charge. It helps that service intervals, without a complicated and oily engine, are stretched to two years or 30,000km.

All AMG models sold in Australia are covered by Mercedes-Benz's five year/unlimited km warranty, with 24-hour roadside and accident assistance included for the duration.

Recommended service interval is 12 months or 20,000km, with pricing for a three-year (pre-paid) plan set at $4300, a $950 saving overall relative to its three year, pay-as-you-go 'Service Solutions' capped price program.

And if you're happy to fork over a little more up-front, there's a four-year service deal at $6300, and five years coming in at $7050.