Mercedes-AMG GT R: Gone But Not Forgotten

It was so loud I complained about not being able to hear myself think. Not something I would write home about in normal course, except here we were accelerating down the back straight of the BIC with a vengeance, eyes peeled for the bump that serves as my braking marker, brain wondering how the accelerative G-forces were being sustained well north of 270kmph. Little did I know this would be the last of the heroically shouty, barrel-chested AMGs before the inexplicable detour down the electrification dead-end.

The Mercedes-AMG GT R was peak AMG. It set the lap record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife and then went on to demolish the BIC lap record. It had a big, serrated yellow knob sitting proud on the centre console to adjust the ESP settings – more intervention in the high-speed corners to save you from the barriers and a lot of pain, less intervention in the low-speed ones to rotate the tail and get a faster, harder, more dramatic exit. It looked as angry as it sounded, ready to bite your head off. The launch cars were all in this lurid green and the bodywork festooned with carbonfibre addenda giving AMG the creative licence to brand it the beast of the green hell. And as scary as it looked, the specs were next-level terrifying – 577bhp from the mighty V8 and only rear-wheel-drive. The AMGs had hot rod character, an intoxicating appeal but could be a bit messy at the limit and require heroic car control. I had none of that, yet I was sending it through T4 of the BIC, one turn of opposite lock, a little cloud of tyre smoke, a wall of thunder from the exhaust. I had yet to full-send a road car at the BIC that was as unhinged as the GT R.

Based off the AMG GT, the R got an additional 74bhp, but it wasn’t just the greasy-nailed hot rodders who had a go at it. The lab-coat guys widened the tracks, added rear-wheel steering, stuck wings on it, and gave it active underbody aerodynamics. The result was 40kg reduction in front axle lift at 250kmph, 155kg more downforce at 300kmph, and handling that used to be the preserve of GT Porsches. Unlike the AMG GT where you felt that the tail struggled to keep up with the aggressive Ferrari-quick front end, the GT R felt connected, instantly responsive, and endowed with exceptional traction in corners. It was the first time I’d experienced Michelin’s Cup 2 tyres and its disgust for understeer. As for oversteer, the V8 had the measure of Michelin’s best. Twirl that yellow knob to slacken traction control and it delivered a degree of tail-out attitude that wouldn’t punish your lack of talent.

The savagery of the performance was breathtaking, but what stayed with me all these years is the thunder and brimstone. The instant gratification the GT R delivered every time you played with the throttle. A soundtrack so epic, AMG taped the whole thing and is now firing the same soundtrack out of the speakers on the GT 4-door Coupe. The GT R might be long gone but its soul, or at least its vocal cords, have found a new home in the hyper-EV.