MERCEDES-AMG GT 63

Second coming of the Porsche 911 pretender promises the same plus a bit extra

- MATT SAUNDERS

TESTED 13.5.24, OXFORDSHIRE ON SALE NOW

Confirmation bias must be something that car makers account for when they're doing their market research, mustn't it? In press material for new cars like this Mercedes-AMG GT and so many others, the feedback from owners of the outgoing model is treated with gospel reverence. "We kept everything they liked but also addressed every absence or failing they identified," we're told. But little is said about the opinions and feedback of others.

What about David, 59, from East Sussex, for instance? David liked the look of the original GT, but after scaring himself paler than the cream of his favourite cotton slacks when he opened up the taps on a slightly bumpy and damp B-road during a test drive, he duly decided that another Porsche 911 was in order. David didn't buy a GT, then, and I wonder if that makes his opinion mute as it very often is made when it comes to 'discretionarily bought' sports cars especially. His is the money that Mercedes should be bidding for, surely? But because banking on the deposit of someone who has a track record of actually handing it over is a much safer bet, that's what car makers so often seem to do.

This second generation of Mercedes' range-topping super-sports coupé feels like it could have done with a bit more confirmation-bias adjustment. It significantly differs from the original model in several quite fundamental ways - and yet to drive, not so much.