Did you know a male hippo can weigh as much as 5000 pounds? Despite their calm demeanor, these giants have jaws strong enough to deliver one of the most powerful bites on land. Interestingly, they share this strength with the Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Performance. Weighing almost two-and-a-half tons, this car packs a powerful punch with its top-of-the-line hybrid powertrain. Both the hippo and the GT63 S E Performance prove that power comes in unexpected packages!

The GT63 S E Performance gets its extra weight from an electrified powertrain. It still rocks a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 like its gas-only sibling, but here it pumps out 603 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, mated to a nine-speed automatic with a wet clutch instead of a torque converter. What sets it apart is the electric motor at the rear axle, adding 201 horsepower and 236 pound-feet, plus a 4.8-kWh battery pack. Together, they beef up the car to around 4800 pounds but deliver a mind-blowing 805 horsepower and 1047 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels. Now that’s power!

If you’ve been crunching the numbers, you might find the horsepower figures a bit baffling. But when it comes to torque, it’s a whole other story—Mercedes-AMG’s engineers have cooked up a formula that’s as intricate as Einstein’s theories. On Germany’s autobahn, though, there’s no room for doubt. The electric motor dishes out bursts of full power for 10 seconds at a time, followed by 60-second intervals of 94 horsepower. The acceleration is relentless, pushing all the way to 190 mph, and it feels like this car could easily hit 220 mph if not for engineering limits. Mercedes claims a blistering 2.7 seconds to 60 mph with Race Start engaged, and the way it pins you to the seat suggests it might even score a top-10 spot on our acceleration leaderboard.