When Mercedes invited us a few weeks ago for a shotgun ride in a prototype of its upcoming all-electric model from AMG, I was more excited than I’ve ever been for a passenger ride.
The prototype is the production version of the AMG GT XX concept—the one with the Bluetooth wheels, designed to rival the Porsche Taycan with up to three axial flux motors that should give it over 1,000 horsepower.
But my passenger ride wasn’t about how quick the C590 prototype is in a straight line. It was all about experiencing its simulated V8 engine experience, which pleasantly surprised me.
What type of sound EVs make when accelerating, or even if they should make any sound at all, is a polarizing topic, but these sounds have been getting better and better as of late.
The current pinnacles of the genre are BMW’s Hans Zimmer-composed spaceship-type sounds, which make you feel like you’re the main character in a sci-fi flick, and Hyundai’s approach. The Korean manufacturer simulates an actual combustion engine, which you can rev in neutral and which has a redline that urges you to shift up, just like in a gas car.
Mercedes-AMG elevates the idea by doing more than just pumping fakery through the speakers. It also uses what are probably resonators in the front seats to make you feel some of the vibration that you would associate with a big V8 mill. The seat subtly vibrates under acceleration in a crescendo as the fake revs build, and when the driver lifts off, you feel the overrun crackle through your spine thanks to the same system.
The engine sound that AMG is trying to simulate is very clearly a naturally aspirated V8 from the time when a 63 AMG car actually had a 6.3-liter engine. It honestly sounds great, and I prefer it to Hyundai’s intentionally artificial-sounding engine in its Ioniq 6 N and Ioniq 5 N.
Just like in those other cars with pretend engines, you don’t have to have the fake engine sound, which you can easily turn off. We’ve seen how much slower having it on makes an EV, so when you want to extract all the performance that the car has to offer, it will likely need to be turned off in the AMG too.
Check out the video above and let us know what you think.
Gallery: Mercedes-AMG C590 Prototype
