Published:
24 October 2024This hot-vee V8 has been AMG’s stalwart for a decade, variously appearing in everything from the G-Class luxury off-roader to the workaday C-Class Estate.
However, it is perhaps at its most evocative when nestled in the nose of a low-slung coupé with a steam-punk-flavoured, cab-rear silhouette.
We will get into the numbers shortly, but they are almost moot. Take it as read that, at any given moment, the driver can fling their GT down the road as fast as they dare. In fact, it’s the character and manner of the V8 that really matters.
For one thing, it remains more satisfyingly responsive than you might expect, given the deep, lazy exhaust note and generous forced induction. It also has phenomenal breadth, turning its forged crank from implausibly low down in the rev range and thereafter gathering momentum smoothly.
You begin to feel the effects of fully 590lb ft from only around 2500rpm, at which point this engine starts to make very light work of what has become quite a heavy car. From then on the V8 exhibits an impressive linearity, its exhaust note hardening then culminating at the 7000rpm redline with a crisp, popping upshift from the dual-clutch ’box.
