Mercedes AMG GT details announced

On the heels of AMG’s ultimate GT – the 430kW AMG GT R due next year – comes more detail on the entry GT coupe - and buyers of the base model won’t have that long to wait.

To date, AMG’s super-coupe has soldiered on solely in 375 kW GT S guise, at $295,000. It will be joined within the next three months by the entry GT which, with less power and torque and a smaller list of standard and optional equipment, will be priced in the region of $265-$270,000.

Still, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman at the Goodwood Festival of Speed insisted that this was, after all, the AMG GT: “It’s not a boulevard car.”

In GT guise, the 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 produces 340kW and 640Nm (versus 375kW/650Nm in GT S) and is 0.2 seconds slower to 100 km/h (4.0 vs 3.8 seconds). That’s despite the GT being 30kg lighter, at 1615kg.

The GT rides on a similar suspension, but will likely lack the S’s Active Ride Control. Wheels will be 19”, as on S, but with 255/35 front and 295/35 rear rubber, versus S’s 265/35 and 295/30. Carbon-ceramic brakes won’t be optionally available on the base GT.

For all the style and performance that suddenly becomes just that little bit more attainable in the GT, the same Mercedes-Benz spokesman expects the more expensive GT S to outsell it by about five to one. A total of about 100 of the AMG coupes will be sold in Australia this year.