2017 Mercedes AMG GT R Spotted Testing, Spy Video Included!

2017 Mercedes AMG GT R side image

2017 Mercedes AMG GT R reported to receive track-obsessed performance was spied testing in Germany

Mercedes’ AMG performance division appears to have a busy launching schedule in the next couple of years as the AMG GT is reported to have an ‘R’ badged track-focussed successor spotted testing near the Nurburgring-Nordschleife track in Germany. This has come after the news that the German automaker is planning a heir for the hypercar-defining SLR McLaren that was launched over a decade ago and developed in collaboration with Formula One team McLaren.

The 2017 Mercedes AMG GT R spied testing will come as a more aggressive variant of the GT S that was launched in India last week. With greater power from the 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8, up by somewhere around 40 horses from the 503hp found in the GT S, lower weight, stiffened suspension and active aerodynamics would make it live up to its performance standards as a top of the range model. It is also tipped with a four-wheel steering system for cornering and high-speed stability improvements and an upgraded rolling stock.

2017 Mercedes AMG GT R front image

The race-bred performance package will receive bigger brakes, chunkier wheels and some interior tweaks with more snug seats. All these modifications should help the AMG GT R to hit 100kph from nought in 3.4 seconds – 0.2 seconds quicker when compared to the GT S.

The brand reportedly still contrives a plan on putting into production a substantially more powerful and aggressively-styled Black Series version of the Mercedes AMG GT in the next three years which should coincide with arrival of the rumoured SLR McLaren successor.

The list of competitors waiting in the wings for the new AMG GT ‘R’ variant are Nissan’s Japanese masterpiece the GT-R, Porsche’s track-spec monster the 911 GT3, Chevrolet’s quarter-mile basher the Corvette Z06 and the utterly remarkable McLaren 570S. This street-legal track version could cost around 15 lakh more than the recently launched AMG GT S at a price tag of 2.4 crore.

Other projects AMG currently involved in are to develop a new E63 based on the forthcoming generation of E-Class, a new lightweight sedan replacing the old 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 with a compact four litre engine. It could also get a new nine-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel-drive system replacing the fixed front-rear torque split on the current selling model.

2017 Mercedes AMG GT R rear image

As Ferrari, Porsche, and McLaren continue to reap the benefits brought about by their respective hybrid hypercar divisions, questions on whether Mercedes AMG would join the party had only grown louder lately but to everyone’s disappointment its chairman Tobias Moers put all those thoughts to bed.

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