What is it?
Here's as sure a sign as you’ll get this side of its new, Formula 1-powered hypercar that Mercedes-Benz in general and its AMG division in particular are getting very serious indeed about their high-performance weaponry. The new Mercedes-AMG GT R may not be the most powerful car in AMG history and even at £143,245, it remains some distance from the most expensive, but for sheer, naked aggression and laser-like focus on the driving experience, it represents a new level for the company.
Think of it relative to a Mercedes-AMG GT S as you might a Porsche 911 GT3 to a 911 GTS. One changed letter, one entirely transformed car.
We’ll start with the body and structure, where carbonfibre construction for the front wings, rear spoiler, torque tube and roof plus some additional underbody bracing make the car both lighter and stiffer. The chassis has wider tracks, coilover suspension units, bespoke spring, damper and anti-roll bar settings, and vastly fatter tyres – the rears are 325/30 ZR20s – not to mention Mercedes’ first use of active rear-wheel steering, programmable nine-stage traction control, optional forged, implausibly lightweight aluminium wheels and colossal (and also optional) carbon-ceramic brakes.
Less has changed under the bonnet, but new turbochargers, a revised compression ratio and fresh mapping still manage to add a further 75bhp to the 4.0-litre V8’s output, to bring the total to 577bhp, with a chunk of additional torque too. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox is retained, but with a longer first gear, a shortened seventh and an overall reduction in the final drive ratio.
In aerodynamic terms, an invisible deployable front lip spoiler, a double rear diffuser and an adjustable rear wing not only provide meaningful downforce but, impressively, manage to do so while improving drag.
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Or..........
Alfa Romeo Giulia QV (if you hadn't guessed already!).
Big Face wrote:
I hadn't guessed it. One is a two coupe/GT, the other a quattroporte family car. I'd doubt whether the average buyer of an AMG GT is going to consider an Alfa instead. AMG have that option well covered elsewhere.
Roads in the Algarve
Meanwhile, some of the hacks road-testing the cars were extremely 'silly', to put it mildly!
We see many road-tests 'caravans' here and relatively few idiotic hacks but one or two really went over the top with this car, including one who failed to see a 'sleeping policeman': AMG would do well to check the sump and the suspension on that car! The guy actually left a groove in the tarmac!
yvesferrer wrote:
I remember cycling along the SS63 in Tuscany with friends back in about 1999 (I think), when an F360 sped past us, followed by a Fiat Marea with a photographer hanging out the passenger window. Both cars were going way too fast for the road, the 360 braked quite hard for bend, the Fiat didn't and ended up using the rear end 360 to stop. Turns out both were being driven by motoring Journalists doing a review of the 360.
Surprised...
The first ever Mercedes that I really would like to own. So, I've bad news for everyone. Christmas is off. I'm saving up.
Kamelo wrote:
Oh, I was really hoping you were going to get me something nice.