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| 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT |
For the past five years, the SLS AMG wowed us not just with the gullwing doors, which others suspect that it's a bit of a show-off, but also the brute force reminiscent of American muscle cars thanks to its V8 engine. Now that the SLS AMG is gone, we are going to miss such a thing but now, Mercedes-AMG created a new, no-nonsense, sportscar with a no-nonsense personality that will hopefully give the silver arrow fans a move on from the burly SLS.
The all-new
Mercedes-AMG GT may be as smaller than the SLS it replaces but unlike the SLS, this is all about making sense in terms of dynamics rather than performance, and this is somewhat great for people who want to have a sportscar that is very accessible and very maneuverable than the SLS, which big torque results to chew its own tires off after several miles. This has a brand-new 4.0L V8 engine, which is smaller than the outgoing 5.5L V8 BiTurbo engine as seen from the SLS AMG GT, but mind you, the performance, despite its lower power output, is almost similar to the SLS AMG's. In the range-topping S model, whose V8 engine produces 510PS of power and 650Nm of torque, the 0-100kph time is 3.8 seconds and flat out at 310kph.
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| 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT |
Such performance is thanks to science and aerodynamics thanks to some extensive use of space-age chassis and aluminum bodywork. In the past, most AMGs love to become cannibals on the road and when they go around corners, they're starting to behave like savages or beasts in the wilderness. For this new model, it's becoming less than a tiger, and more of a cheetah because it's a well-balanced and accessible car with its newfound maneuverability that can handle the bends better than tail-happy ones, even with the likes of the Jaguar F-Type Coupe R. It even comes with an array of settings which can be adjusted to match your driving style. If you go for the AMG DYNAMIC PLUS on the S model, you can really push the AMG GT to its limits and discover its hidden potential underneath its small body.
Mind you, just like the F Type Coupe R, this car tends to misbehave and you can slide through corners just for fun, not for setting lap times on track days.
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| 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT interior |
Apart from the dynamics that make the AMG GT a brilliant car to drive regardless of anyone's skills, it has a great noise too despite a small engine. It may be less similar to the SLS's but boy, isn't that burly? It's like your granny's yaya who often shows her teeth off when she makes some hilarious stuff. It's also surprisingly civilized too in terms of comfort and design, well, the spoiler in the S model looks a bit disturbing for a car like this, but nevertheless, it's a well-behaved design. There are no gullwing doors that blow themselves up when upside down, so no further embarrassment will ever happen when your car got flipped over.
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| 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT |
The all-new AMG GT is priced at around 115,430 Euros, which is somewhat more expensive than the more powerful Jaguar F Type Coupe R but more affordable than the Porsche 911 GT3, meaning that at that price, the AMG GT is a great weekend getaway car and a great track day car at a same time. If there are any doubts, I admit, it's not as wild as the SLS AMG I truly love but even though it's not in the same league as the SLS, I admit that the AMG GT is one of the sensations of 2015, you can count on it.
Photo: Daimler AG
