The Mercedes-AMG GT: The Decade-Long Twin-Turbo V8 Alternative to the Porsche 911 For over 50 years before 2015, if one was to ever visit Stuttgart and walk out wanting a sports car, there was usually only one option, the Porsche 911. However, after their dominance in F1, Mercedes decided it was time to offer an alternative that would ultimately make the 911 look obvious and dull. The result was the AMG GT, a car that was literally marketed to destroy the dreams of the many 911 enthusiasts. With a 4.0l twin-turbo 510 horsepower V8 up front, drive to the rear, and a 7-speed dual-clutch in the middle, the GT was undoubtedly a quick car. But just as impressive as its speed was its handling. Before this car, an AMG Merc was prone to spending more time in a tyre shop with burnt rubber than it was as a daily. They tended to corner for smoke and laughs rather than serious lap times. The GT, however, managed to find a good middle ground, keeping its signature AMG racket and prone to sliding, whilst also feeling balanced and crisp. It was a perfect blend and ultimately proved popular instantly. Mercedes benchmarked the car truly against the 911 and launched many variants to reflect this. The more powerful GTC, for instance, was well and truly a 911 Turbo rival. The hardcore AMG GT R was squarely aimed at the previous generation GT3, and the even more hardcore GT Black Series was built to put the 911 GT2 RS in its place. Which it somewhat did. In 2020, the Black set a blistering Nürburgring lap time of 6:43.62, 4 seconds quicker than the GT2 RS’ time of 6:47.5. Of course, Porsche would make the GT2 RS even faster with its Manthey Racing Kit, but for a time, Mercedes was on top. The current AMG-GT is offered in several guises, which, once again, are each built to take on one of many 911s. Most notably the GT 63 having the same horsepower figure as the base guise 992.1 Turbo and supposedly the 63S E-Performance, with its hybrid set-up will be the rival for the upcoming 992.2 Turbo S. But with the GT3 RS due to be facelifted and a new GT2 RS coming, it was only right, an all-new hardcore AMG GT would be built. What to Expect from the New Car? Mercedes calls this new car the “Concept AMG GT Track Sport”, and from what we garner, it's essentially the track-hard variant of the current AMG GT. Whether it’s the replacement for the Black Series or the GT R is yet to be seen, but there are a few details we can garner. We see this car has an elongated splitter and a huge swan-neck rear wing similar to what’s found on an F1 car, a McLaren Senna and the current GT3 RS. Essentially, this swan-neck design reduces drag at high speeds and more than likely means this car will also come with DRS. Also, to ensure it is a track-hard special, it’s likely this car won’t come with a hybrid setup and will instead just feature its iconic 4.0l twin-turbo V8. Whether this feature, the same flat-plane crank setup as the Black, is yet to be seen, but expect to be north of 600 horsepower. Naturally, this car will also cost north of $220,000, and it’s likely that, given the history of the track-hard variants, this car will also set a blistering lap time at the Nürburgring. The current GT3 RS currently sits at 6:44.92, and the Black Series is just over a second faster. Somewhere in the low 6:40 is what this new track-hard AMG GT variant will more than likely achieve. At present, Mercedes isn’t having much success. They're currently well behind in the F1 division, their electric cars aren’t selling all that well, and the recent products from AMG, bar the GT, have been mediocre to say the least. Well, hopefully, the new track-hard AMG GT will be able to bring some life back to the AMG brand and make us all once again excited for the hardcore variant of the great 911 alternative. Source: Autocar
