GT SPORT: Meet the hero car of the game

The Mercedes-AMG GT is served as the hero car of Gran Turismo Sport and you can really tell it because it was featured in the game's cover art. Getting to know the game's hero car can be as flattering as meeting your favorite celebrity in person but this is no time for flattery because it's time to get some serious matter about AMG's latest halo sports car that follows the footsteps of its powerful predecessor.



So, what is the AMG GT anyway? Premiered at the 2014 Paris Motor Show, the AMG GT doesn't count as a worthy successor to the very brutal and very powerful SLS AMG because of the power out that separates these two but needless to say, the AMG GT's newly developed 4.0L V8 BiTurbo engine produces almost the same amount of torques as the defunct SLS AMG. In the S version, that produces 502HP of power and 478.8ft-lb of torque while mated to a 7-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT. It does 0-60mph in less than four seconds and a top speed of 193mph.

Believe it or not, this is the first-ever turbocharged engine that has two turbochargers bolted inside the engine rather than on the outside of the cylinder banks. This kind of setup optimum response from the turbochargers and low exhaust gas emissions thanks to optimum air flow for the close-coupled catalytic converters. Another great trick is the dry sump lubrication which preserves the oil supply during high G forces and allows the engine to be installed lower, providing better center of gravity.

Performance aside, the AMG GT features an aluminium spaceframe with intelligent material mix on the body which sets the new standards for modern sportscars and resulted to lightweight but rigid sportscars that accommodates rather well with its drivetrain.

Apart from that, the AMG GT comes with other key points that makes it capable on the road and on the track such as electronic rear-axle locking differential, race-derived double wishbone suspension, electronically-controlled damping with AMG DYNAMIC PLUS package, and ceramic high-performance composite brake system.



Having sampled the taste of Affalterbach's offering, the AMG GT still retains the charm point of the old SLS AMG even though its short on power compared to it and that is even with the smaller V8 twin-turbo engine that became the basis for future AMG models, it can still tickle the drivers' fancy. It can bark but this car can really bites the driver with unpredictable patterns of handling it. Going to fast, it may oversteer through the corner, but going too slow, it may trigger understeer, so you may need to be careful about handling this thing which is surprisingly intimidating for a small car with a smaller V8 engine on the front.

You can drive it very gently but don't go too gently on it because there are times you need to be gentle with its behavior and there are times to go for broke so if you going to set blistering fast times or outwit the competition, you'd better prepare for a strategy that involves dealing with the AMG GT's dynamism that requires only the driver's timing to get things right or get bitten by it.





Right, now that I said everything about the AMG GT, how about going for  quick drive round Willow Springs on the AMG GT? This is how I will get to know about the car better in the idea of driving through a technical track to see what is what. Oh, and if you noticed this odd looking AMG GT I'm having, I replicated it after Tej's AMG GT from The Fate of the Furious. If you want it, come, but first, a hot lap round Willow Springs with GT SPORT's hero car.



After a hot lap round Willow Springs, I did it in a 1:30.329, not as fast as what a German industrialist would do but it is clear that the AMG GT requires concentration and timing to get the satisfactory it deserves.



For five decades, AMG has been evolved from once a tuning company that modifies Benzes into the high performance division of Mercedes-Benz, and with a wide selection of high-performance Benzes on the road and on the track, nothing's sweeter than celebrating the AMG's jubilee in every single way and with the AMG GT, the jubilee has just begun for them. It's a great thing the Gran Turismo franchise celebrates the AMG's jubilee by featuring the AMG GT as the hero car of GT SPORT and by evoking AMG knowhow to the spirit of Gran Turismo, the AMG GT colors the picture between the two best things a petrolhead would love in terms of opera, art, and donuts.

Here's to fifty more years, AMG, and if you want to drive the AMG GT for yourself, get GT SPORT now on the PS4.