CAR and Driver - March 2017

0 9 6. C A R A ND D R I V E R. MA R / 2 0 1 7

BERND SCHNEIDER DOESN’T CARE. He doesn’t care that every
fiber of our being knows he should have started braking 100 feet
earlier. He doesn’t care about road-racing conventions. But most
importantly, he doesn’t care about physics. Because he doesn’t
have to. Mercedes-AMG’s latest track special, the GT R, does
that for him.
Entering an off-camber, 180-degree left on the Algarve Inter-
national Circuit near Portimão, Portugal, the five-time DTM
champion grenades the brake pedal with his left foot, instantly
sending the chassis into convulsive ABS fits. With the car writhing
for longitudinal grip, he cranks the wheel in a seemingly vain
attempt to dive for the apex. Somehow, though, it works, the ABS
trilling in overtime. And with his right foot still partially commit-
ted to the throttle, the GT R turns. As the apex nears, Schneider
releases the brake and mats the
throttle, relying on the GT R’s
advanced traction control to deliver
power to the ground. There is no sub-
tlety here, no consideration given to
separating braking, steering, and
throttle inputs, no concern for tradi-
tional technique. Rather, this is a
wholesale commitment to go-fast
technology, and it requires stones.
The GT R delivers the former; the
latter is up to you.
Schneider, who steps in only for
high-level track development at
AMG, reveals a level of heretofore
unseen progress. The inclusion of
left-foot braking and brake/throttle
overlap abilities into the GT R’s pow-
ertrain and stability-control cali-
bration demonstrates that the team
at AMG isn’t just fooling around with
track driving. They’re seeking speed,
convention be damned.

Don’t think of the GT R as a GT S with

its boost cranked up. This is a comprehen-

sive revision to make an already fast car

even faster. Being a longtime purveyor of

excess horsepower, AMG’s greatest

strength still lies underneath the hood,

where its twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8

resides. At 577 horsepower and 516 pound-

feet of torque, the GT R’s dry-sump power-

plant produces 74 horsepower and 37

pound-feet of torque more than the GT S

model. Boost, which rises from 17.4 to

19.6 psi, is a big part of that equation. A drop

in compression from 10.5:1 to 9.5:1 accom-

modates the boost increase. The Borg-

Warner turbochargers housed in the

engine’s valley get bigger compressor

wheels, and the cylinder heads’ exhaust

ports get milled to improve flow.

The rear-mounted transaxle, incorpo-

rating an electronically controlled limit-

ed-slip differential, has the same basic

seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox used in

Tech Warrior

Wider, lighter, and more powerful than the GT S, Mercedes-AMG’s
GT R also turns up the tech. _by Josh Jacquot

Pull-the-

chute braking

stability,

encourages a

good caning,

wider is better.

Commit-

ment required

to achieve

greatness,

tech detracts

from driving

experience.

tech highlight

FANCY PLASTIC

Weighing 30.6 pounds, the carbon-fiber

torque tube connecting the GT R’s engine and

transaxle acts as a stressed member of the

drivetrain and is 17.6 pounds lighter than the

aluminum unit in the GT and GT S versions of the car. This

component is made by loading dry carbon-fiber cloth and

three preformed unidirectional laminates into a mold. Resin

is injected, and temperature and pressure are carefully

controlled to cure the materials. The design provides better

fatigue strength than aluminum and limits collision failure to

a small crush zone rather than breaking or buckling.