Mercedes-AMG GT Concept: Four Doors, 805 HP, and Production Intent
3The hybrid-powered sedan will be fully developed by AMG.
It all started innocently enough. A couple of former Mercedes-Benz engineers plucked a few unsuspecting M-B sedans from slumber and took them back to their workshop to massage the cars’ innards well past the point of reason. A lot has happened in the ensuing 50 years, but AMG—despite having been wholly absorbed by Mercedes-Benz more than a decade ago—still operates with relative autonomy. Transforming Benz models into autobahn burners remains a priority, but AMG is no slouch when it comes to developing vehicles on its own. The latest homegrown effort is this AMG GT concept coupe, which has four doors and thus, technically, is a sedan.
Four-Door Convenience with Style
This concept is referred to as an extension of the AMG GT family, and an eventual production version, a four-door GT, will join the SLS AMG and the AMG GT as the third model to be developed by and exist solely within Mercedes’ in-house performance arm. Indeed, the GT concept is said to give “a sneak preview of the exterior design coming to the series-production model.” Basically, AMG is not content simply to sit on the sidelines while Porsche Panameras and Audi’s A7/S7/RS7 family exit dealerships in considerable volumes (for their segment, at least).Designed entirely by AMG in Affalterbach, Germany, the GT sedan has front and rear fascias and a steeply raked windshield that are unmistakably pulled from the same consciousness as the AMG GT sports car. The grille’s vertical ribs (here painted red on the sides), side gills, and slim headlamps are all current AMG design cues. Shutters in the grille and side air intakes, a large carbon-fiber diffuser, and centrally mounted exhaust outlets serve as functional nods to the devilish Mercedes-AMG GT R. A largish liftgate and a usable luggage area add practicality.
The team behind the GT concept focused on lighting as a headline feature, with the daytime running lamps employing “nano active-fiber technology,” which is essentially a flexible rope light that allows designers to create an instantly recognizable signature look. The LED headlamps are backed up by a pair of tubular “rod lights” that illuminate the ground directly in front of the vehicle. The rear units also use the technology underneath the lens of the wide, narrow lamps. Tiny cameras (no, they don’t double as deer whistles, although they look the part) stand in for exterior mirrors, and carbon fiber is used for the roof, the side sills, and the front spoiler to shave weight. Bronze-finished calipers denote the braking technology aboard—they say AMG Carbon Ceramic—and peek through wheels specific to the show car.
Hybrid Moments
For all the car’s style, it’s the hybrid powertrain that we find most intriguing. Wearing the same EQ Power+ branding—a nod to Benz’s nascent electrified sub-brand—as the company’s Formula 1 car, the concept uses a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 and an electric motor that is directly connected to the rear wheels. Total output is said to be 805 horsepower, and a version of 4MATIC all-wheel drive is used to ensure balanced torque distribution.
Three modes of operation are available—electric, gasoline engine, and combined—for maximum performance. Mercedes claims the control software parallels that used in the W08 AMG F1 racer; it sees the concept charge its battery pack while driving as well as under braking so maximum power will be available when it’s most needed: accelerating out of a corner. Mercedes-AMG hasn’t yet revealed technical minutiae concerning the GT concept but does say that the car can apportion torque to each wheel individually for torque vectoring. The bottom line is a claimed sub-three-second zero-to-60-mph time.
Mercedes-AMG says this car is just the first of what will be a long line of future models. We hope they’re all this tantalizing.
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Please watch: "The Kia Seltos Is Yet Another Small Crossover to Fit between the Soul and Sportage"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBVsi9x0C_w
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