Auto Review: 2021 Mercedes GLS63 AMG By Steve Schutz

2021 Mercedes GLS63 AMG

By Stephen Schutz, MD

The 2021 Mercedes GLS63 AMG is a powerful and sporty full size SUV for people who want luxury, space, speed, and quickness. Oh, and a loud exhaust sound. Combining all those attributes is not easy—or cheap, more on that later—but Mercedes has done it.

The Tuscaloosa, Alabama-built GLS SUV has been around since 2006, and it has evolved in a good way over the years. The packaging is very similar to what it was when it was introduced (as the GL), but the luxury part of things has been turned up, if not to 11, then at least to 9.

For example, the dashboard is now one big screen. Previously, there was a gauge cluster in front of you with a mini iPad-like screen above the center stack. No more, and now the whole thing is one rectangular screen, including the gauges in front of you.

With this beautiful big screen providing all the information you could ever want, plus better materials than I experienced when I tested a first-gen Mercedes back in 2008, I found that sitting in the GLS63 was a very pleasant experience. In fact, the GLS has now reached the point where it gives you S-class luxury with a higher seating position and extra utility. It’s that good.

The exterior of the GLS has similarly evolved, mostly by rounding out the sharp edges of the original GL design, but also by shrinking the taillights and enlarging the grille. It all works, and the newest GLS looks like the top shelf contemporary luxury SUV that it is, albeit with some sinister elements when spec'd in GLS63 AMG guise, which is what I tested.

For 2021, the GLS comes in three variants, the in-line six-cylinder GLS450, V8 GLS580, and high performance V8 GLS63 AMG. The 450 and 580 come with a 48-volt “mild hybrid” system that uses an electric motor to boost low speed acceleration and increase fuel efficiency, while the 603HP 63 AMG is all about using brute force to achieve speed and quickness.

All GLS SUVs come standard with AWD, three rows of seats, 4zone climate control, and 20in wheels among other amenities. The GLS450 starts at just under $80,000, but as with many Mercedes models, a myriad of stand-alone options and option packages can push that number well up into six figures, especially if you choose the GLS63 AMG with its base price of $133,000.

I had a thought early on during my week with the GLS63 that I kept coming back to: if the GLS580 is the corporate CEO who’s polished, confident, and reassuring, then the GLS63 AMG is the VP of sales who’s always on edge and constantly working the phones. He makes his stretch numbers but makes people wonder, “he’s so jumpy and twitchy, is he on something? Could it be Adderall or even coke?” He moves the needle but seems perpetually to be one urine test or IRS audit away from losing everything. That’s the GLS63 AMG.

You start it, and it’s loud. You accelerate to merge into traffic, and it’s even louder. And in no time you’re where you want to be. Like Right Now. Needless to say, passing slow pokes on the interstate is a total joke it’s so easy. It handles surprisingly well, too.

Naturally, driving this car is lots of fun, but expect periodic speeding tickets. You’ll buy a lot of gasoline too (fuel economy figures were not available at the time of this report but are likely to be poor).

I hope I’m painting a picture: the GLS63 AMG is luxurious, fast, and loud; and expensive. But it has character galore and will never bore you.

Ok, a few more mundane aspects of the GLS63 AMG. It uses the new MBUX Mercedes touch-screen user interface that famously answers to, “Hey Mercedes” and works surprisingly well. The HVAC system, audio/media, and a myriad of other vehicle settings are easily controlled with MBUX and that aforementioned screen.

This is the future, by the way. If your present car doesn’t use something like MBUX, your next vehicle almost certainly will. Voice control and touch screens are where we’re headed, like it or not. (MBUX is undeniably nice, but am I the only one who thinks MBUX sounds like points you earn if you buy enough oil changes at your Mercedes dealership?)

The GLS63 AMG is a luxurious and very fast full-size SUV that will satisfy your need to speed no matter how intense that need is. It’s expensive, but if a lot of space plus all of the other AMG extras mentioned above are your thing, this is an SUV that will make you happy.

As always, call Phil Hornbeak, the Auto Program Manager at BCMS (210-301-4367), for your best deal on any new car or truck brand. Phil can also connect you to preferred financing and lease rates.

Stephen Schutz, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist who lived in San Antonio in the 1990s when he was stationed here in the US Air Force. He has been writing auto reviews for San Antonio Medicine since 1995.