The 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT premiers tonight, and here's everything you should know about the Benz that wants to kick the Porsche 911 Turbo's and the Jaguar F-Type R's ass with a distinct grunt.
It's a hatchback alright. A hatchback with a 4.0 twin-turbo V8 that weights only 460 pounds, comes with dry sump lubrication and its turbos jammed inside the V in order to produce 510 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque. It is also rumored to have a list price similar to the F-Type R's, meaning it should be much cheaper than a 911 Turbo. Good so far.
An AMG car also have to sound badass. The GT comes with four driving modes, all tuned to make the V8 bark a bit differently. It seems to be working pretty well.
For those who think that's not enough, AMG is already preparing the Black Series version. Great news for the tire supplier, which I would expect to be either Continental or Dunlop.
A few lucky people have already driven some of the late prototypes, and boy do they have a long nose! But not a heavy one. Apart from the weight savings from the engine, the AMG-GT's space frame chassis also uses mostly aluminum in order to keep the rumored target weight of about 3,300 pounds. Like this:
Don't expect to see a manual shifter in the cabin. It's a seven speed flappy pedal instead, plus lots of fine leather and gizmos that can be familiar from current Mercedes models.
Simply put, the Mercedes-AMG will be hot as hell despite having the stupidest name since LaFerrari.