2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Road Trip: Vegas to LA the Right Way

• The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 is a powerful grand tourer, with 577 horsepower on tap.
• To really stretch its legs, I drove the new GT from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
• Route 66 remains one of America's finest road trips.

When the dust from the race settled and the secondhand smoke from the casinos cleared my lungs, it was time to head back to Los Angeles in a different GT 63, one Mercedes-Benz provided for the journey. And while I could've barreled down the 15, hopped over to the 210 and made it home in about four hours, a friend suggested I take Route 66 — something that, weirdly, I'd never done before, despite it being an icon of Americana and the need to go west.

Oh, those desert roads

The moment I exited the 15 freeway and turned left on Nipton Road, I knew I'd made the right choice. The two-lane blacktop opened up and stretched out to the horizon, and as my eyes grew wide, my foot sunk into the GT 63's throttle. Fast cars with big engines are at their best in this get-outta-dodge scenario; the GT 63's twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 with 577 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque proved more than ample.

On the freeway, you're constantly dealing with traffic, but on the route south to pick up Route 66, there's only the occasional slow-moving car in your path. Those folks are easily dispatched by dropping a gear or two via the GT's steering wheel-mounted paddles, shuffling into the left lane and letting 'er rip. You can drive for miles upon miles without seeing another vehicle, which also means it's easy to get carried away with the AMG's prodigious power. This car is f-a-s-t fast. Trust me.

Little dips and whoops on the pavement present a challenge for most cars, but not the AMG GT 63, which stayed composed and balanced as the two-lane highway tried to upset its rigid chassis. Sweeping turns reminded me that the GT is blessed with communicative steering and excellent body control, though it's not quite the sharp-edged animal its predecessor was. No matter, in this grand-touring scenario, the friendlier GT 63 ate up the miles with ferocious grace.

Get your kicks on Route 66

Route 66 is full of fun places to stop — that's kind of the whole point. There's Roy's Cafe in Amboy, which has a delightfully '50s vibe, and then you're just a few miles away from Amboy Crater, a dormant volcano lava field in the eastern Mojave Desert.

Stay on Route 66 as it follows Interstate 40 and enjoy the fact that you're driving just as fast as the people on the freeway, but without any traffic. You'll run alongside freight trains that seem to go on for miles, and you should definitely stop in at the Bagdad Cafe — the one from the movie — and peruse their collection of shirts and memorabilia. Grab a coffee or a soda while you're at it, and say hi to the owners. They're so nice.

From there, Route 66 gets into Barstow, where you can get gas and choose to hop on the 15 if you wish. Or you can stick it out on Route 66 a little more and get to Elmer Long's Bottle Tree Ranch, a place that looks like trash but is legitimately treasure. As the sun sets, there are a few more diners and highlights to enjoy along 66, but by then, you're getting back toward the brunt of civilization. Again, you can grab the 15 freeway, head over the mountains and end up in the San Gabriel Valley. Or you can do what I did: Hop on Route 18 and blast past Lake Los Angeles and Pearblossom, into the Antelope Valley and down into the San Fernando Valley on Interstates 14 and 5.

All told, taking Route 66 only adds a couple of hours to the drive from Vegas to LA, depending on how fast you drive and how often you stop. In the AMG GT, you'll want to drive very fast. And if you're like me, you'll want to stop a lot — there are so many great things to see. Road trips like this are the best way to see the United States. That's doubly true when you're in a grand tourer as fine as the GT 63.