SHOCK AND AWE

The Mercedes-AMG GT R meets a supercar novice

- TUHIN GUHA

Type 3,982cc, twin-turbo V8

Max power 585PS@6,250 rpm

Max torque 700Nm @2,100-5,500 rpm

Gearbox 7-speed DCT

Drivetrain Front-mid engined, rear-wheel drive

Top speed 318kmph

Performance 0-100kmph in 3.6s

LxWxH (mm) 4,551x2,007x1,284

It’s been at least a week building up to this moment, but is it really happening? How have I found myself at the wheel of the fastest, most capable car to bear the Mercedes, or more fearfully, the AMG name? Even more astonishingly, who would have thought that I’d be coming off my COVID-19-induced driving lull in such an explosive manner?

Speaking of explosions, these musings about my luck are at a far corner of my mind. No one ever told me that driving a supercar for the first time, the overriding emotion would be one of terror. Seeing the Mercedes-AMG GT R in the flesh for the first time doesn’t do a whole lot to assuage these fears. It sits low and wide on the road, as is wont of a supercar. This is even more true with the GT R, which is wider by 46mm at the front and by 57mm at the rear over the standard GT. But what truly grabs attention is the profile. The front-mid engined layout gives it some striking proportions, with the long bonnet morphing into the passenger compartment and then into a sharply falling, almost fastback roofline.