Hell Raiser

‘Beast of the Green Hell’ sounds like some sort of mythical monster your grandma would tell you scary stories about. What it actually is, as Gavin D’ Souza found out, is just a s scary – a hardcore AMG sportscar.

- Gavin D’ Souza

Three laps of the Buddh International Circuit, that’s what we’ve been given with the ‘Beast of the Green Hell’. And as I’m rolling out of the pit lane, helmet on, hands gripping the Alcantara-wrapped wheel tightly, sat pretty much ‘on’ the rear axle, staring down the long bonnet, all I want is to let it loose. But the camera car in front of me begs to differ. “We’ll just quickly get some shots in the bag on the first lap and then it’s all yours,” they promise. Sigh.

LAP 1: WARM UP

I use this frustrating, low-speed trudge to re-acquaint myself with the Mercedes-AMG GT. This is the R, the new, most potent and track focused version – for now – of AMG’s flagship two-seat sportscar, and it’s packing a long list of upgrades from the ‘regular’ GT S that’s already on sale here. In the cabin, however, not much has changed, and that’s a good thing. There’s a bit more Alcantara in place of leather, the upholstery is now all black and our test car has some nice yellow stitching and seat belts too. There is one new item I notice though; a bright yellow knob just beneath the central AC vents that says ‘TC’. I prod and twist it, it does nothing; strange.

The seats are the same as before – seemingly thin and hard, but in reality, motorised and vastly adjustable. Sure they are a bit snug and firm, but still a far cry from an all-out racing seat, which is what you do get in some other ‘trackready’ road cars.