Having spent some time digesting this now, heres my take on it.
After the disappointment of the gen 2 GT launch, being a gen 1 GTR owner, i was dismayed in the backwards step of the new model.
I understood why mercedes did it, to appease their older client base, who demanded a less extreme and more practical GT car. They mentioned they continue to make the SL due to heritage and halo effect, even though it not being a big seller, and a coupe version of that also helps to justify the chassis development cost and plugging the holes left by the canning of some other mercedes coupe models.
However for me, as a younger MB customer, I felt alienated in that the brand which I have come to love (and abandoned audi RS and porsche for) , & only adopted due to the appeal and track performance of the AMG GTR range and up, would no longer have a product in their portfolio that I aspired to own from a perfomance driving perspective. On paper im probably the typical enthusiast porsche GT3 owner, but was “stolen” away adding to porsches bottom line simply and purely because of the AMG GTR.
And I think what really needs to be reflected is the strength of the Halo car pull.
Mercedes, which in my mind was always a premium brand, but not necessarily a product that I imagined myself owning until my older years, has transformed into me wanting nothing but mercedes vehicles on my drive and so in turn spending more money with mercedes.
A previously staunch VAG product shopper, particularly their sporty models, has now resulted in me dropping that brand completely, partly due their over reliance on photocopier SUV’s and lack of “vorsprung durch technik” and partly due to the great ownership experience of mercedes.
So the halo pull of the AMG GTR has resulted in my household having gone through and in some cases still owning, 1 x e-class, 1 x c-class estate, 1 x c-class coupe, 2 x GLB’s, and when the day comes that my wife and I have some children, I will probably add a amg gt63 4 door coupe or g-wagon as the daddy duty vehicle.
So back to this new car. Seemingly previous rumours being correct, from the AMG engineers at spa, and Mercedes representatives at brooklands who also said a new sportier model was coming, it leads me to believe that this new vehicle will be a limited production mass produced vehicle in the same vein as the AMG GTR/SLS. Basically enough models produced to satisfy client demand without over saturation.
Additonal rumours I didnt share previously also by an event at brooklands, it was spoken that the newer model would be “extreme” and a AMG GTR replacement on “steroids”
And that it will be an easy answer to whatever porsche decides to do with the 992 RS ranges.
This also ties in with the AMG engineers at spa saying the new replacement product has to be better than the outgoing car for track driving. The current GT car being lauded for being easy to drive, and kind to its tyres. Its one of the oldest cars on the grid, yet still leading and winning major championships even whilst being one of the most heavily BOP’ inflicted vehicles. And mercedes sold alot of them, its been a very successful GT3 program.
Now onto the new cars design.
Long bonnet, akin to the SLS and gen 1 GT. Mid engine transaxle setup pretty much confirmed.
The rear haunches, very similar to the gen 1 GT car from the limited pictures we have, cabin looks perhaps a bit further back, a shallower rake on the window, the entire car looks visually longer than the gen 1 GT, but that could be due to the fact it seems to be lower slung.
Following the silhouette of the car cover, the design looks more exotic, the bonnet appears to have more curvature, and do we see side vents in some of the pics ala black series?
Which brings me onto another “rumour” that alot of the learnings from the GT blackseries will work its way into the base models of this new car.
Mirrors look similar to that of current MB vehicles, alloys from the current mercedes GT63, no gullwing doors, and the front end has adopted the new GT lights and continues the same style gt3 evo/blackseries/gen2gt front panamerica grill.
The gen 1 GT was on a shortened SLS chassis, so im wondering if these new car is indeed longer. Question marks on the width, it does look wide. Did they make it longer for more aero efficiencies?
The wing is huge, swan neck, will it make it to the road going versions? I hope so. Atleast as a option.
So far, so good, its looking very promising, flat plane v8, i would suspect atleast 700ps, shame it will lose some character in the sound unless the AMG engineers do something nice with unequal length headers of similar.
In my head, with the covers removed, Im expecting something distinctive AMG with an added extra exoticism, that will really make this car stand out and look exotic.
The only drawback I can see with the design so far is that it will probably be the least practical GT benz in the range. But you cannot have everything.
I was planning on a ferrari 812 next, but now, if im correct and its a proper series production, with an obtainable price, I will be sticking with mercedes.
So heres my wishlist.
700hp +
6.0 v12 NA ala pagani (never gonna happen)
4.0 v8 biturbo 700+ ps
Brake cooling from factory
GT blackseries level downforce
Active aero
3 way electronically controlled dampers
No hybrid tech
1400kg weight
Bespoke bucket seats
Mclaren 720s level straight line performance
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