Straight out of the track and into your garage: not something new, and not always true, but the AMG GT R looks as if it can deliver on the promises it makes.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is as good a place as any to make a debut. We’d go as far as calling it the perfect place for the GT R to grab the crowd’s attention and stick one up the nose of the competition, who came up with its full arsenal – but hardly anything we haven’t seen before.
Here’s a quick rundown of the vital stats, in case you missed them the first time out: 585 PS (577 HP) and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft), 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.6 seconds, top speed of 318 km/h (198 mph), 90 kg (199 pounds) lighter than the GT S.
Add the wider tracks, larger grille, active aerodynamics, trick diffuser and underbody, new active suspension, rear-wheel steer, fixed rear wing and nine (!) settings for the traction control and it’s easy to see the guys in Affalterbach haven’t just upped the power and given it a new lick of look-at-me paint with a fancy name evoking the Nürburgring.
The GT R is supposed to benefit from AMG’s experience in developing the GT3 racer and yet, at the same time, remain usable every day. Sounds a bit like another German supercar from Stuttgart with race-car-for-the-road credentials; the one with the engine hung out over the rear axle.
What follows is a quite comprehensive look at the AMG GT R and footage of it at the FoS. Although we’ll have to wait for driving impressions, we can’t help but marvel at how the engineers made the twin-turbo V8 roar and crackle like that and get past the noise regs.