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Angry supercar has been turned into something more befitting its name for its second generation

Ask the company's new boss, Michael Schiebe, for his take on this, the second-generation Mercedes-AMG GT, and he will tell you it’s a transformative car that improves on the nine-year-old one that it replaces in every single way.

He’s biased, of course, but his comments show the pressure on the new coupé to do more and to do it better than before. AMG is taking a whole new direction with its flagship model, targeting a wider and more diverse group of customers by pushing the front-engined supercar that we came to know and appreciate over the years deeper into traditional luxury grand tourer territory.

Well, it’s in the name, after all. The move comes in response to feedback from owners of the 2014-2022 model. Schiebe says they sought greater long-distance and all-season qualities but at the same time didn’t want to forgo the car’s inherent speed and track-bred heritage. 

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DESIGN & STYLING

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To that end, the GT has gained four-wheel drive and a pair of rear seats, having been fully re-engineered around a new spaceframe that’s shared with the new Mercedes-AMG SL roadster (alongside which the new coupé is produced at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Bremen, Germany).

Made predominantly of aluminium, it also features magnesium and carbonfibre composites in a bid to keep weight in check.

There’s clear familiarity in the exterior styling, with proportions and an overall shape that draws heavily on the long-snouted original GT. It gives the new car instant identity, even if every body panel and every detail has been altered.

At 4728mm long, 1984mm wide and 1354mm tall, the GT has grown in every direction in order to offer more interior space, accommodate those rear seats and enhance its athletic stance.

Engines are the same as in the SL, the GT arriving exclusively with AMG’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 in two states of tune: 469bhp and 516b ft of torque in the GT 55 and 577bhp and 590lb ft in the GT 63 we’re driving here.

That also means the dual-clutch transaxle is gone, in favour of a more traditionally Mercedes layout of a Speedshift MCT nine- speed wet-clutch automatic gearbox bolted directly to the engine. To harness all the power, there’s a fully variable 4Matic+ four-wheel drive system (the old GT was exclusively rear-driven). 

There are no contemporary electrification measures – at least not yet. But that’s not to say AMG hasn’t been busy attempting to improve the engine: it has repositioned the intercooler, revised the inlet and outlet ports, redesigned the oil pan and fitted additional ventilation measures for the crankcase.

All this is underpinned by aluminium-intensive five-link front and rear suspension arrangements. Like the SL, the GT gets traditional steel springs in combination with new adaptive twin-valve dampers, which offer individual compression and rebound rates. 

Both the GT 55 and GT 63 have AMG’s Active Ride Control system that was pioneered by the old Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series and also features on the SL 63. This replaces the anti-roll bars completely in favour of individual oil-based actuators at each wheel to control lean.

There’s a plethora of driving modes, of course, including a drift mode, unlike on the SL. The GT also comes with four-wheel steering as standard. The system provides up to 2.5deg of steering angle to the rear wheels at speeds of up to 62mph. 

Furthermore, the rear gains an electronically controlled limited-slip differential and brake-actuated torque vectoring.

With the increase in dimensions and the adoption of four-wheel drive, the GT is now a much heavier car: some 270kg heavier, at 1895kg. 

AMG’s decision to do away with the rear transaxle and mount the gearbox to the engine has also greatly altered the car’s front-to-rear weight distribution. From a previous rear-biased 47:53, it now favours the front at 54:46.

INTERIOR

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The interior is the same as that in the SL, which looks fittingly sporting and high-tech. Mercedes’ MBUX operating system works very well on the 11.9in touchscreen and has a most impressive voice control system. 

There's also an AMG menu on the touchscreen that can display current power output, torque output, lateral acceleration, power distribution, tyre pressures, fluid temperatures, wheel angles and oil pressure in the active anti-roll system.

However, while there’s no shortage of nice leather in the GT's cockpit, there’s also plenty of cheap-looking plastic that feels out of place in a car like this.

The moderate increase in height has created some extra head room. The rear seats are suitable only really for children, but that’s to be expected in a car like this, and they can be folded down to increase the boot space from 321 to 675 litres. 

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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Neither can you argue with the performance, nor the way it’s delivered, once you’re out on the open road. It may have grown and gained weight, but the GT remains tremendously effective and exciting to drive. There’s great response and intent from the reworked V8, which is mounted well back in the engine bay on magnetic mounts that are designed to reduce load change.

You need at least 2500rpm wound on the rev counter before the pair of twin-scroll turbochargers start to do their best work. Keep the throttle loaded and you’re treated to a truly potent surge of acceleration as the prodigious torque is unleashed through the mid-range. The V8 digs deep, growing ever more intense and characterful all the way up to its 7000rpm redline.

In any of the more sporting driving modes, each application of the throttle is accompanied by a deep rumble of the exhaust through the four rectangular tailpipes. It’s unfiltered fun, with loads of old-school internal-combustion aural charm, including loud crackles on the overrun.

The new gearbox is spectacularly good. In manual mode, its shifts are as fast and determined as those of the old dual-clutch unit and there’s even smoother and crisper operation in automatic mode. The additional two gears aid the GT’s cruising abilities as well: at 80mph in ninth gear, the engine is turning over at just 1800rpm.

The GT backs up its relentless straight-line performance with wonderfully harmonious dynamic qualities. It’s an altogether more fluid and poised car than before. 

RIDE & HANDLING

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Although it shares much of its chassis hardware with the SL, the GT receives its own camber settings, wheel offsets and spring and damper rates. These help to give it an instantly more focused and engaging feel than the soft-top.

It may not be quite as visceral or challenging to drive as the old GT, but what it does offer is far greater confidence and control.

The positives begin with the steering: there’s greater feedback and a more dependable feel to the new electromechanical system. Although the weight distribution now clearly favours the front end, the subtle effect of the rear-wheel steering serves to rotate the rear nicely, thereby improving agility.

And with the variable elements of the 4Matic+ system doing their thing, there’s considerable grip and a good deal more traction; the GT is now significantly more stable and better planted from corner entry to corner exit.

In addition, the new suspension, with its active damping and active anti-roll system, delivers far more effective shock absorption and provides more consistent body control than the previous set-up. You can push hard towards the apex with great conviction. And over mid- corner bumps, which were the bane of the old GT, it’s beautifully settled.

The new coupé is more agreeable on every level, then, whatever the road conditions or driving mode. The move to a four-seat layout may have given it more of a grand-tourer character in terms of packaging, but it has lost nothing in terms of outright driver appeal. 

There’s added refinement to the ride, which while firm in its more sporting modes displays greater compliance and ability to deal with both smaller, high-frequency and larger bumps alike. 

The notorious sensitivity of the old GT on coarse surfaces is also vastly improved in combination with the optional suspension, making the new car quieter and altogether less taxing to drive over longer distances.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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The closer you get to £100k, the less meaningful four or even five-figure differences between list prices become.

For the record, the GT starts at around the same money as a Porsche 911 GTS – a car roughly comparable in performance and efficiency (both claiming combined fuel economy of about 30mpg that you’d struggle to replicate in the real world).

Some of the toys mentioned - AMG Ride Control, electronic differential lock, Race mode - are exclusive to the S and help account for its £14,000 premium

At around £135k, a new Audi R8 V10 Plus appears to cost significantly more, but then our test car got close to that when brought up to a similar spec. Bookending this car’s British-based competition are the Jaguar F-Type R Coupé and the McLaren 540C.

The GT S eclipses the GT in sales volume, too. Some of the toys mentioned – AMG Ride Control, electronic differential lock, Race mode – are exclusive to the S and help to account for its £13,300 premium.

Cutting the roof off of a car invaribly comes with a price hike, understandly, with the GT Roadster costing £11,000 more than the coupé and the GT C, £27,000 more than the GT S. While the GT R sits on its own breaching the £143,000 mark, but crucially Mercedes-AMG won't be limiting production of their range-topping GT.

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VERDICT

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The GT is a fabulously capable car, successfully handling its dual role of supercar and grand tourer by becoming better at both skillsets. It’s night-and-day better than its predecessor, retaining all of that car’s dynamic purpose and talents and adding greater finesse and control, better comfort and much more refinement at all times.

As for pricing, nothing is official yet, but expect the GT 63 to slightly undercut the £172,000 SL 63 at around £160,000. Meanwhile, its main rivals, the Aston Martin DB12 (which uses the same V8) and Porsche 911 Turbo (a flat-six), cost £188,000 and £162,000.

Mercedes-AMG GT First drives