AMG’s GT Plays A V8 Through Its Speakers. Its Next Coupe Plays One Through Its Pipes

• AMG’s track-ready CLE Mythos has been spied testing on and around the Nurburgring.
• New details visible include production-ready front bumper and rear wing stanchions.
• Mythos’ flat-plane crank V8 is rumored to make 646 hp, could later be fitted to C63.

Mercedes-AMG’s upcoming CLE 63 Mythos has been spotted testing again, and just when we thought it couldn’t look much angrier, the Affalterbach guys proved us wrong. Though still camouflaged, this latest prototype reveals a ton of exciting showroom-ready details.

This test car spotted at the Nurburgring features a production-spec front end that includes a new bumper with more organic-looking lower air intakes. We can also see a new set of upper aero ducts either side of the LED headlights and a deep front splitter.

Related: The 1,153 HP AMG GT’s Fake V8 Has To Be Heard To Be Believed

The fat front fenders have visible saw-tooth vents to help evacuate high pressure air from under the wheelhousings, just like on a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. And they’re matched with a huge set of riveted-on fender flares at the back that we’re presuming will be replaced by proper one-piece quarter panels by debut time.

Move to the back and you’ll notice the trademark AMG 63 square tailpipes are now stacked diagonally, like the pipes on an old Lexus IS-F or the latest Aston Martin DB12 S. And the rear spoiler has bigger end plates than before, a center section that can be angled differently to the rest of the wing, and skeleton-style metal stanchions.

Shades Of Black-Series

The more we see of this thing, the more it resembles a modern interpretation of the legendary Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Black Series. That’s not a bad direction to take, especially since there’s a strong chance it could sound just as good.

The timing is interesting too. AMG just launched a 1,153 hp electric GT 4-Door that pipes fakes V8 noises through its speakers, and now here comes a coupe with an actual V8 doing the work for real.

Also: The 1,153 HP AMG GT’s Fake V8 Has To Be Heard To Be Believed

Under the hood is an AMG-modified version of the new flat-plane-crank twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 that debuted recently in the Mercedes S-Class. Reports suggest it could generate around 637-646 hp (646-655 PS), giving the coupe 200 hp (203 PS) more than the six-cylinder AMG CLE 53.

That trick V8 engine could prove especially important after the backlash surrounding AMG’s four-cylinder hybrid Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance. Buyers never really embraced the downsized setup, and Mercedes reportedly plans to bring V8 power back to the next-generation C63. It’s easy to see how AMG would give the new engine its debut in the Mythos this year, then start sharing it around its series production 63-badged sedans and SUVs.

Baldauf