Testing the Beauty and the Beast

The dusty, empty grand stand of the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) is, by now, a familiar sight for most of us motoring journos. After its glorious Formula One days, the circuit has been the favourite place for test driving cars of every hue — both ‘Hyper’ and ‘Hyped-up’. Point to note, though, is that the track is still a challenge despite my assumption that I know its every turn intimately.

But last week, two thoughts were in my head as I walked into the pit lane at the BIC to test the newly launched Mercedes-AMG GT R and the GT Roadster. First, the GT R had just a week ago set the lap record at this track clocking it at two minutes and 9.853 seconds, becoming the fastest production car at the BIC. Just for comparison, the fastest lap ever at the track at one minute and 27.249 seconds was set by Sebastian Vettel driving a Red Bull Racing F1 car in 2011. The second thought in my head was another Merc-F1 connect; about the rumour floating around (since confirmed by Mercedes) that the designers and engineers at Affalterbach, AMG’s home-ground, have been working overtime to unveil a Hypercar soon. In fact, next week Mercedes-AMG is set to unveil the Project One, which will be the first commercially available (read Road-legal) vehicle with a Formula One Hybrid powertrain combined with an electric and wheel selective front axle drive concept that will develop a combined system power of more than 1,000hp!

As if there was any dearth for adrenaline, there were more vials lined up with news such as these and then of course, getting behind the wheel of the ‘beasts’ themselves. With the launch of the GT R and the Roadster, Mercedes-AMG now has 12 models in India and three of the GT models — the GT S coupé is already in the portfolio. There are similarities between the three models in terms of design, especially when they are viewed from the rear. But the new GT R and the GT Roadster are way more aggressive and obviously track focused than the GT S coupé. In fact, aside of the long snout and the classic Mercedes sports car proportions, there is a lot less that is common between the three.

Both the GT R and the GT Roadster represent the pinnacle of sporty performance from Mercedes’ stable (ahem, for now). These are truly beasts that come into their own on the race track — accept our sympathies in advance to those that have to sit in traffic while behind the wheel of one of these GTs. But seriously, Merc’s nickname for the GT R is “The Beast of the Green Hell” referring to the car’s time spent at the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany for most of the testing and development work.

Both of them now sport the Panamericana bonnet grille with its vertical chrome slats that make them look like toothy beasts. The low set front bumpers are another feature that adds to the aggressive profile of these GTs; and the fender now sports active aero flaps, and scoops and vents for cooling the massive carbon-ceramic brakes.

There is all manner of new age materials in the new GT R stuff like carbon-fibre panels for the roof, Alcantara seats and titanium for the AMG Performance exhaust.

The GT Roaster, of course, features a retracting fabric roof that opens and closes in 11 seconds. It also has tech like Airscarf, and draught stop for enabling high speed open-top driving, something which I could experience on the track. With the wind howling around the car, the engine’s growl and the exhaust’s crackle and pop it is like a veritable orchestra on the two long straights of BIC. The Roadster and the GT R also have a large rear aerofoil and double diffusers for better aerodynamic efficiency and improved grip.

The cabins of both the new AMG GTs are similar to the GT S with their own unique blend of materials and colours to distinguish their positions in the line up. A lot of signature Mercedes design elements like the knobs, MMI controls and air-con vents make them very much part of the family. The pictures of the cabin you see here are of the GT Roadster. Both these new sports cars can be customised with a range of trim elements under the Designo platform.

The GT Roadster is powered by the AMG 4.0-litre V8 bi-turbo engine, which produces 476bhp of power and 630Nm of torque from as low as 1,700rpm. Both the cars sport the AMG Speedshift DCT 7-speed sports transmission. The Green beast GT R, sports the same 3,982cc engine, but it is tuned to generate another 109 horses of power and a peak torque of 700Nm. Acceleration from standstill to 100kmph takes just 3.6 seconds and top speed is a mind numbing, nearly F1 car-like 318 kmph. At the BIC, the long back straight is the only stretch where the GTs could have been pushed, but even that wasn’t enough to get anywhere near the top speeds.

Both the new GT Roadster and the GT R have wider front and rear wings, which allow for an increase in track width, which dimensionally is one of the reasons for the improved track grip enabling higher cornering speeds.

I got about four laps at the BIC, not enough time to fully figure out the car, but enough to understand its potential. There humongous amounts of power and torque for every millimetre of throttle input. Getting a little excited and I find coming into a turn at what feels like speeds that I can’t handle, but those massive ceramic brakes, the precision of the active rear wheel steering and the poise delivered by the front-mid mounted engine with its 47:53 weight distribution come together in aiding you hold the line on the track.

Both the new GT Roadster and the GT R feature the most motorsport tech that AMG has ever put into production cars. This includes the nine-way adjustable traction control system, as much for ensuring grip in all sorts of conditions, as it is for ensuring great fun to be had on the track. The adjustable coil-over suspension with electronic control was perfect on the track, but is unlikely to offer much help on bad tarmac.

So, taking out this long wheelbase sportscars will be task on our roads. But for sheer presence on the road, for the drama outside and inside the cabins of these GTs and for their sheer performance, these new Mercedes-AMGs are good bargains priced at about ₹2.2 crore.

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