Mercedes Unveils Mental AMG GT R Sports Car

Mercedes-Benz performance division AMG has unveiled its most advanced road car, the GT R.

The new AMG GT R is based on Mercedes AMG's GT3 racer that won the 24 hours of the Nurburgring race and will start hitting the roads in November. The new AMG GT R is expected to carry a large premium above the price of GT S.

Powering the new AMG GT R is the most potent version of the twin-turbocharged 4-litre V8. The engine features new turbochargers, a revamped engine mapping program, and a higher compression ratio.

The reworked engine now produces 577bhp and 700Nm of torque, up from 74bhp and 50Nm of torque from AMG GT S. The power and torque is sent to the rear wheels through a 7-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox that has been tweaked to deliver faster shifts.

The AMG GT R will sprint from 0–100km/h in just 3.6 seconds and the car will keep on accelerating till it hits its top speed of 319km/h.

AMG has put the GT R on a diet as well by adding a carbon-fibre roof and fixed rear wing along with lightweight 20-inch forged aluminium wheels and a titanium exhaust. The electronically adjusted seats have been thrown out as well and have been replaced with manually adjustable seats. All this weight saving has resulted in the GT R weighing 15 kilograms lighter than GT S.

The AMG GT R is also more track focused with a reworked double wishbone suspension developed from the GT3 racing car. Other tweaks include aero bits like an active front splitter, the big carbon fibre rear wing and a double rear diffuser.

Style wise, the new GT R features AMG's new and rather gawping Panamericana grille and the aforementioned active front splitter and bigger air intakes up front.

At the rear, the biggest change is the carbon-fibre rear wing and the enormous double diffusor and the titanium exhaust which slots right in the middle of it.