The GT S is the new flagship for Mercedes-Benz’s high-performance sub-brand, AMG. Mercedes-Benz
AMG GTS_solarbeam
Base price is expected to be around $115,000. Mercedes-Benz
Pressefahrveranstaltung Mercedes-AMG GT S, Laguna Seca, Nov 2014, designo iridiumsilber magno, Leder Exklusiv Nappa red pepper/schwarz
Compared to past Mercedes halo cars, that's a good deal. Mercedes-Benz
Pressefahrveranstaltung Mercedes-AMG GT S, Laguna Seca, Nov 2014, brillantblau, Leder Exklusiv Nappa maron/schwarz
Equipped with a new 4-liter V8 biturbo engine, it’s expected to run from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. Mercedes-Benz
AMG GTS_solarbeam
Unlike many sports cars du jour, the GT S retains a hydraulic steering arrangement, which communicates the feel of the road to the driver. Mercedes-Benz
Pressefahrveranstaltung Mercedes-AMG GT S, Laguna Seca, Nov 2014, designo iridiumsilber magno, Leder Exklusiv Nappa red pepper/schwarz
In its debut guise, the GT S proves to be one hell of a starting point for a new line of sports cars. Mercedes-Benz
Pressefahrveranstaltung Mercedes-AMG GT S, Laguna Seca, Nov 2014, brillantblau, Leder Exklusiv Nappa maron/schwarz
The GT S’s demeanor is still a bit on the beastly side due to the big power-fat tire mashup, but that setup’s potentially twitchy handling dynamics are mitigated by the car’s balanced setup, intuitive feedback, and responsiveness. Mercedes-Benz
AMG GTS_solarbeam
The crisp immediacy and rich aural symphony of Mercedes’ now defunct, naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 engine is missed, but the new turbocharged mill does make a strong case for itself. Mercedes-Benz
Pressefahrveranstaltung Mercedes-AMG GT S, Laguna Seca, Nov 2014, designo iridiumsilber magno, Leder Exklusiv Nappa red pepper/schwarz
There isn’t much of anything behind your snug, carbon fiber-backed seats (though the oh-so-European hatchback hides a small trunk), but you do feel a sense of spaciousness. Mercedes-Benz
AMG GTS_solarbeam
The GT S is wickedly quick, glued down, and capable on the road. Mercedes-Benz
Pressefahrveranstaltung Mercedes-AMG GT S, Laguna Seca, Nov 2014, designo iridiumsilber magno, Leder Exklusiv Nappa red pepper/schwarz
Top speed: 193 mph. Mercedes-Benz
Pressefahrveranstaltung Mercedes-AMG GT S, Laguna Seca, Nov 2014, designo iridiumsilber magno, Leder Exklusiv Nappa red pepper/schwarz
On a computer screen it looks small and flat, with a tail that recalls a mashup of its forbear, the SLS AMG, and the sloping, half century-old tush of the Porsche 911. But in the flesh, the 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT S presents a grab bag of unfamiliar complex curves. With subtly scooped surfaces and angled sheet metal, each feature comes alive from a different point of view.
Seen from above, its convex nose appears to reference the AC Cobra 427, while the slender tail lamps seem like a nod to the BMW Z8. All of which begs the question: Doesn’t this two-seater from Affalterbach remind you of everything and nothing you’ve seen before? In a weird way, yes—and that’s just the beginning of the mind-melt that is the 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT S, the all-new sports car from the 128-year-old German carmaker.
Gullwing Roots
The GT S is the new flagship for Mercedes-Benz’s high-performance sub-brand, AMG. Equipped with a new 4-liter V8 biturbo engine, it’s expected to run from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and start for around $115,000. Those numbers put it on the same level as the juggernaut that is the Porsche 911, along with foes like the Audi R8 and Jaguar F-Type Coupe. The price also represents a comparatively attainable alternative to past range-toppers like the SLS AMG ($275,000 in its most expensive form) and its predecessor the SLR McLaren, whose starting price approached the half-million dollar mark. Consider the GT S a comparatively attainable halo car.
While the GT S marks a step down in price, Mercedes-Benz had enough confidence in the car’s performance to host its press launch at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, home to 2.238 miles of legendarily tight turns. On top of its most famous feature, the 5 ½ story drop-off that is the Corkscrew, there’s also some high-speed, off-camber stuff and a straightaway that features a wet-your-pants blind kink at its fastest point. Game on, AMG.
Mercedes-Benz
Swing the GT’s doors open horizontally (how conventional!), and the exterior’s familiar unfamiliarity extends to the interior. Seated behind the rather large steering wheel (capped with a triple-pointed star, of course), the cabin’s position feels reminiscent of the SLS, with the space carved out for occupants tucked behind the sizable proboscis that houses the 503-horsepower V8. There isn’t much of anything behind your snug, carbon fiber-backed seats (though the oh-so-European hatchback hides a small trunk), but you do feel a sense of spaciousness. The headroom feels expansive enough for a Yeti. The center console is housed in a sculptural section of bare aluminum. Knurled, racecar-style dials are angled toward the driver, driving home the theme of purposeful functionality: This car is about meant to be driven.
The doors and the rear hatch slam with the heft we’ve come to expect from Daimler products. That feeling of solidity stands in contrast to aggressive weight savings measures, epitomized by an aluminum and magnesium body shell that weighs only 509 pounds. Though US specs aren’t final, the official curb weight for European models is 3,461 pounds, 109 fewer than the outgoing SLS AMG GT. 53 percent of that mass is balanced on the rear wheels, thanks to an engine that’s positioned rearward and a gearbox that sits behind the passenger compartment, at the rear axle.
Turbo Concerns
The GT is AMG’s first sports car set up with a “Hot V” configuration (that is, turbochargers nestled between the cylinder heads), which enables compact packaging and greater thermal efficiency. The powerplant draws engineering inspiration from the CLA45 AMG’s engine, which squeezes 355 horsepower from only 2.0 liters—a figure so lofty, it held the crown as the most powerful four-cylinder engine on the planet.
The average red-blooded enthusiast typically has three primary issues with turbocharged engines: the exhaust note (or the lack thereof), throttle response, and turbo lag. The GT S solves each. Fire up the car, and topic number one is addressed almost immediately, especially when aggressive drive modes are selected and open the fully variable exhaust vanes. Engage first gear by yanking the center-mounted shift handle up and back, and the engine sounds intensify into bass-frequencies burbles, inspiring pointed questions for Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers. “No,” he later answers against the din of trackside GT S flybys, with a look of intrigue in his eyes. “We did not need to reproduce the exhaust sound. There is no sound symposer.” What you hear is all natural engine. Moers concedes, however, that auditory enhancements could be incorporated into future variants.
Mercedes-Benz
As the tach needle creeps up the dial, there’s no jarring point where turbo boost kicks in. The engine pulls strongly as the revs climb and the burbles louden, defeating any extraneous unsexiness from other mechanical matters like the high-pressure fuel pump, which runs as staggeringly high as 2,900 psi (and thus, could have created a mighty unsexy racket). The result is an organic, viscerally pleasing engine that makes all the right sounds despite its turbocharged configuration.
The dual-clutch 7-speed transmission’s gearshifts are quick and smooth. When Sport+ or RACE mode is selected, they take on more urgency. The crisp immediacy and rich aural symphony of Mercedes’ now defunct, naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 engine is missed, but the new turbocharged mill does make a strong case for itself with its high energy density, smooth power buildup, and light weight (460 pounds, dry).
Aim that pointy snout where you hope to go, and the wheel feels a bit heavy but deft in your hands. Unlike many sports cars du jour, the GT S retains a hydraulic steering arrangement, which communicates the feel of the road to the driver. “We didn’t need to use electric,” Moers says with borderline smug satisfaction, and we’re thankful for it. Though there’s a certain feeling of physical heft as the massive nose changes direction, turn-in is quick and immediate, recalling none other than the mighty SLS Black Series, a limited production, high-performance exotic whose near-cartoonish physical proportions were easily defied by its responsive dynamic capabilities.
Seat of the Nomex Pants
The carbon-backed seats in the GT S communicate remarkably well with the driver’s posterior—partly because of their ground-huggingly low altitude and position dead center between the fat, staggered 265mm and 295mm tires. Easy turn-in, prodigious grip, and solid mid-corner tracking rule until traction gets dodgy, at which point the rears break away with predictable, manageable slides. When the more permissive “Sport Handling” mode is selected, mid-corner throttle stabs trigger those 479 pound-feet of torque with near instant response, sending the tail sideways in a hurry when you’re in the meat of the powerband, which plateaus in the massive expanse between 1,750 and 5,000 rpm.
Mercedes-Benz
I lacked the foolhardiness to switch off all electronics on the track, though a brief straight-line, traction control-free stint produced a triumphantly smoky tire-spinning launch, revealing the deep wells of the V8’s power. In the car’s most permissive setting, the onboard computers allow enough yaw angle for playful drifts which are easily fine-tuned with quick countersteering, a delicate but aggressive right pedal, and the commitment to stick with the program. Once you build the confidence to wrestle with the GT S’s high levels of mechanical grip and torquey mid-range power, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca becomes less of a daunting battleground and more of a smallish asphalt playground.
My only significant break in confidence came when the engine suddenly and arbitrarily limited its RPMs well before redline—first in fifth gear on the main straight, then in third gear while approaching turn five. The limp mode wasn’t accompanied by a warning light, but quite possibly reflected a hiccup from engine management code that will likely be rewritten before cars reach showrooms in the second quarter of 2015. After pulling into the pit lane and relinquishing the car to an onsite mechanic, I lapped other cars for another two hours or so, without incident.
The GT S’s demeanor is still a bit on the beastly side due to the big power-fat tire mashup, but that setup’s potentially twitchy handling dynamics are mitigated by the car’s balanced setup, intuitive feedback, and responsiveness. Brakes are commensurately powerful, and our optional carbon ceramic-equipped stoppers were strong enough to inspire later and later braking, with the added benefits of more burbles and irregular pops from the V8, thanks in part to sneaky engine programming which allows tiny amounts of unburnt gasoline to exit through the exhaust system.
Able to hit 60 mph in a claimed 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 193 mph, the GT S is wickedly quick, glued down, and capable on the road. It could devour your driver’s license in two moments flat, the most potentially devastating spec in this two-seater’s premium fuel-powered arsenal.
About That Whole “GT” Thing…
While the electronically adjustable suspension offers enough variability to provide a comfortable ride, the bucket seats lack the long distance comfort that the model name seems to imply—which reminds me to ask Moers about that whole “GT” thing.
Mercedes-Benz
“It doesn’t stand for Grand Touring,” he says, admitting that a version of the car is already being developed for racing homologation—which makes any insinuations towards comfy, long distance travel a moot point.
The two initials lend themselves well to suffixes for future spinoffs, Moers says, like ‘R’. “Isn’t GT R already taken?” He pauses, transmits a tractor beam of a stare back at me, and utters a definitive “No.” The one word response confirms everything I suspect about this curvy car: It is both singular and universal. Its core essence isn’t about its high-dollar predecessor, but rather about the bigger, grander, more iconic idea of a sports car which will undoubtedly unfold and refine itself as its inevitable spinoffs take form.
In its debut guise, the GT S proves to be one hell of a starting point, a promising seed with countless possibilities for spinoffs. But strip away the engineering, the technology, and the marketing, and the Mercedes-AMG GT S simply becomes a strikingly original way to hurdle two adventure-seeking individuals through space—a magnetic quality that promises to make the German brand more relevant than ever to a new generation of driving enthusiasts.
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