AMG GT's Synthetic V-8 Noise Is All About HeritageMercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG)The all-new, all-electric Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe has finally arrived, making history as AMG's first ground-up EV—and the battery-powered grand tourer has a few tricks up its sleeve. You see, Mercedes isn't ready to let go of the V-8 symphony just yet, even if it goes without internal combustion. So the new GT 4-Door Coupe will emit a specially tuned fake V-8 noise that can even come accompanied by simulated gear shifts.AMG boss Michael Schiebe teased this feature in June 2025, stating that AMG customers are buying driving emotion as much as a physical car. Now, the promise of gasoline-powered sounds and rapid action shifts is a reality, thanks to the car's AMGForce S+ mode. Offered exclusively (for now) on the 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, AMGForce S+ mode transforms the EV into a simulacrum of a burbling, V-8-powered grand touring coupe.Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG)"When we started to think about our first high-performance electric car, we also saw the risk that customers would not actually adopt electric cars," Schiebe told the media at a launch event for the new AMG. "There are some cars out there that already give a kind of combustion engine sound, but we said, 'We need to have a sound experience in that car that is so close to our combustion engine cars that customers really think it's not something fake-ish.' They really need to have the feeling that it is a true AMG sound."AdvertisementAdvertisementThe mechanics of the system are fairly simple. Speakers in the headlights and cabin emit a V-8 exhaust-like note that depends on throttle position, allowing for throaty intake sounds and rumbling "overrun." The system also accounts for "gear position," as the V-8 note is accompanied by a set of simulated cogs, akin to the setup of Hyundai's Ioniq 5 N. Engage AMGForce S+ mode, and a tachometer appears on the dash, allowing AMG GT 4-Door Coupe owners to paddle-shift through a set of simulated gears. The seats even feature a built-in vibration system that mimics the lope of a V-8 engine at idle.The software behind this false exhaust system is rather complicated. Mercedes says an intelligent real-time mixing system that uses more than 1600 sound files to remix each situation. Provided with thousands of samples, the V-8 exhaust note is generated dynamically in real time to match the current driving behavior.Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG)The journey to such a sophisticated system wasn't straightforward, according to Schiebe. "We hired a couple of tenants from the music industry, because they know how to do good sound. We said, 'You take the car, you go to our proving ground in Immendingen, you drive the car, and you create the best sound, which is so realistic that our customers will really love it'. They drove the car, they came back—and we were completely disappointed, to be very honest. It was cool, but it had nothing to do with the history and heritage of Mercedes-AMG."After that disappointing experience, Mercedes turned inward, pairing its own powertrain and exhaust development team with music engineers to create the right sound. The team behind the C190-generation Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe and its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 got to work replicating the sonics of that gas engine. Schiebe said the team turned around an unbelievably impressive result, a result of decades of internal combustion expertise.AdvertisementAdvertisement"We used the many, many, many years of V-8 tradition that we have within the company—and the knowledge of how to optimize the gear shifts, the simulations that we have, the rpm meter in your instrument cluster, and everything—to make it so realistic. It was only possible because we had those guys who worked many, many years on our combustion engines. But at the same time, teaming up with these young talents who know how to do good sound," Schiebe said. "And I think it's not so easy to copy, because you need to have the history right."You Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State