2018 Mercedes-AMG GT R: First track drive

[Suarez™]

Unveiled last summer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Mercedes-AMG GT-R is the brand's track-day special sports car, set to go up against the likes of the F-Type SVR, Audi R8 and Porsche 911 Turbo at your nearest private motorsports country club. AMG takes the thoroughly entertaining GT (you can read about the base car here) and bumps its front-mid-engine 4-liter twin-turbo V8 up to 577 horsepower; that's 74 more ponies than the stock GT, courtesy of a maximum of 19.6 psi shoved through liquid-to-air intercoolers and into the hand-built, dry-sump engine's cylinders.  

The power gets sent through a seven-speed dual-clutch transaxle mounted at the rear of the car, to a limited slip differential. A double-wishbone coil-over suspension with forged aluminum arms and AMG's Ride Control active damping does its best to keep things planted; it's aided by a nine-setting AMG traction control system derived from the AMG GT3 racer. Supplemental electric rear-wheel steering works with the fronts to increase maneuverability: Below 62 mph, the rear wheels can turn up to 1.5 degrees opposite the fronts to help guide the car around corners; from 62-198 mph (yes, you read that right) the wheels turn in the same direction as the fronts, making passing easier.