AMG GT R beats the lap record at BIC

The Mercedes-AMG GT R is all set to launch in India on August 21. Also known as the ‘Beast of Green Hell’, the most hardcore AMG has been developed at the legendary Nurburgring. We already have the GT S in India, but the top-of-the-line, track specific R variant gets additional gadgetry to make it even faster. And that has been already demonstrated as the GT R has already broken the lap record at the Buddh International Circuit by a massive, 4.5 seconds. The earlier lap record was set by SLS AMG, back in 2013. The car was driven by Christian Hohenadel, AMG’s own test driver and was supervised by FMSCI. The GT R managed to lap the circuit in just 2:09.853 minutes.

Powering the GT R is an AMG 4.0-litre twin-turbo unit with an output of 576bhp, 73bhp more than the previous top-of-the-range engine in the GT S. The peak torque of 700Nm is available between 1900 and 5500 rpm. It is mated to a revised seven speed DCT, with ratios more suited to a race track. The specially developed titanium exhaust system not only delivers a proper race car audio track, it also saves 6kg of weight compared to the AMG GT.  The AMG GT and AMG GT S have a mid-engine and transmission in transaxle configuration on the rear axle making for a beneficial rear-biased weight distribution of 47.3 to 52.7. This adds to the new suspension on the AMG GT R with active rear-wheel steering and uniball joints.  Overall the new AMG GT R is 15 kilograms lighter than the AMG GT S, despite incorporating far more technical features such as the large rear aerofoil, the rear-wheel steering, the active aerodynamics, and the body and chassis reinforcements.

We will be driving the AMG GT R and the AMG GT Roadster at the BIC this month. Stay tuned for our review.