Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and AMG GT S Feature – Part l

Boy oh boy, does this car turn heads! Burbling out of my lane at 7am, it has already cricked 63 necks. Now I don’t know if it’s the sunburst yellow paint, the noise it’s making or its explicitly phallic shape, but I know for a fact that the first AMG GT S in India has comfortably passed the Indian attention grabber test.

The GT S is the first car to debut AMG’s new M178 engine

I’ve been waiting to drive this car in India for a long time because the last time I drove it was at its launch in San Francisco. I hated driving it there. The problem with driving in America is that they will take your pants off if you try any autobahn-storming tricks, so the GT S may as well have been a Toyota Prius for all the speeds I did. Yes, we did get a couple of laps at the Laguna Seca raceway but on the whole, that drive was like a teaser. I got an inkling of what Affalterbach’s new headliner could do and left with a feeling that there was plenty more in store.

Almost a year after that drive, the GT S is in India and my long awaited day of discovery has finally arrived. Today, I’ve brought the AMG GT S to a road I know really well, a road that has no potbellied policemen in Tata Sumos looking to make a quick buck. Braaap!

Two turbos, 503bhp, 650Nm of torque  and a huge shot of adrenaline

You miss the drama of opening gull-wing doors (worth at least 300 cricked necks) but Mercedes-AMG is saving that trick for a bigger, more special model in the future. So, the AMG GT S gets regular doors and when you drop down in to the low seats, the high centre tunnel makes you feel like you are sitting in the cockpit of a powerboat. The seat is a bit too snug for my 34-year old butt but I set it at its lowest and glance around the cockpit. It’s all high quality aluminium and carbonfibre and is a bit intimidating. After the 911 Turbo, the AMG GT S has a more restricted view and an impossibly long bonnet that doesn’t set you at ease immediately, but AMG’s playful side is visible in how the eight AMG buttons on the centre console are arranged to indicate there’s a V8 powering this car. Thumb the starter button and suitably angry noises explode out of the tail pipes. The stubby gearlever is placed far back on the centre console; to use it, you have to raise your elbow to clear the transmission tunnel, slide your arm back till your hand is next to your waist and hook your fingers on it. Its positioning is mildly irritating and the gearlever is so far back because ahead of it is Merc’s new COMAND touchpad controller and, in a nod to its American customers, two big cupholders. In another nod to America, this sportscar can carry two full size golf sets in its boot and, in no nod to Indian roads, there’s no spare wheel. Well, none of its rivals carry one either.

Also, let’s face it – carrying golf kits around isn’t why you buy an AMG GT S. You buy one because you want it to power slam your adrenaline glands and here the GT S does a damn good job. A 911 Turbo and the Jaguar F-Type R have more power and the AMG’s 0-100kmph time isn’t as quick as its rivals, but what it lacks in numbers, it makes up by being an excellent hammer. I mean that in a good way.

Despite being turbocharged the GT S blares out a great imitation of angry american muscle

The GT S was the first car to debut AMG’s new M178 4-litre twin turbocharged V8. It’s the same as the one in the C63 S we tested last month and is essentially two CLA 45 AMG 2-litre engines joined at the hip. The two turbos sit squeezed in the space between the cylinder banks (AMG calls it a ‘hot inside V’) and it makes for shorter airflow tracts that help the turbos spool up faster. So, you’ve got an engine that starts pulling hard from the first millimetre of throttle travel and then piles on thick layers of thrust as it revs higher. It feels rather un-turbocharged in this respect and sounds rather un-turbocharged too. Well, it doesn’t sound as mental as the F-type R’s naturally aspirated bark, but the AMG’s pipes sound very American Muscle and if that wasn’t enough, throws in almighty pops and bangs to scare the locals.

The engine sits just ahead of the cockpit and shovels its 503bhp and 650Nm of torque to the seven-speed dual-clutch transaxle via a carbonfibre propshaft that weighs just 4kg. Weight distribution is 47:53 front to rear and AMG says the body shell weighs just 231kg.

The plush interiors of the AMG GT S is nothing less than a cockpit

Open the hood and you’ll be surprised by how far back the engine sits in the chassis. The V8 sits behind the front axle and this, along with a body that’s 90 per cent aluminium and has a magnesium front cross-member, points at how AMG wants this car to turn quickly. The lack of understeer provoking weight in the nose means there’s an astonishing amount of front end grip. And, with a quick, two turns lock to lock steering, the GT S is a very darty car.

You won’t win any arguments with 911 Turbo owners on acceleration runs – the GT S’s launch control assisted 0-100kmph time is 3.8sec – but you know what? That figure hardly matters. On a winding road like this, the GT S is huge fun. Thanks to the variable locking differential at the rear, it can be tail happy but isn’t as tail happy as the F-Type R. It doesn’t snap oversteer like the F-Type R either and the rear axle seems to be able to sort out grip levels progressively and smoothly. In the Jaguar, the fun comes from managing its wayward tail while the AMG is more precise and easier to drive fast and hard on the limit. Also, in the AMG, the nose doesn’t go light when you accelerate hard like it does on a 911 Turbo and the GT S’s double wishbone suspension and electronically controlled dampers manage to keep tyre contact patches firmly glued to the road, bumps and all.

There’s too much fun in the twisties than just 0-100 kmph numbers

Speaking of which, the ride is firm and gets firmer as you progress through the drive modes – Economy, Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Race – but this firmness is good. It tells you how much you can push the envelope and it’s not too tiring.

On the whole, the AMG GT S is fun, extrovert and fast without being unmanageable. It has got decent ground clearance (yes it does!), so you can actually use it on our roads. Most of all though, it’s the noise it makes, the attention it gets and how much fun it is when you’re really pushing it that might tempt you to buy one. It may not be as quick as a 911 Turbo nor have its all-weather pace and it isn’t the trumpet that the Jaguar F Type R is. But what the GT S does is tread a fine line between these two. Do you happen to have an estimated Rs.2.5 crore lying around?

Mercedes-Amg GT S specifications:
Engine: V8, 3982cc, twin-turbo
Transmission: 7-speed, twin-clutch
Power: 503bhp @ 6250rpm
Torque: 650Nm @ 1750-4750rpm
Weight: 1645kg
0-100kmph: 3.8seconds
Top speed: 310kmph
Price (ex-showroom, Delhi, est): Rs.2.5 crore

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG specifications:
Engine: V8, 6208cc, naturally-aspirated
Transmission: 7-speed, twin-clutch
Power: 583bhp @ 6800rpm
Torque: 650Nm @ 4750rpm
Weight: 1706kg
0-100kmph: 3.8seconds
Top speed: 317kmph
Price (ex-showroom, Delhi) Rs.2.5 crore