Wallpapers: Mercedes’ very angry AMG GT R

Christening your new car the ‘Beast of the Green Hell’ is quite the statement. So is painting it the same colour as The Incredible Hulk. But that’s exactly what Mercedes-AMG did with its 577bhp, mad as a badger AMG GT R.

It’s the hardest and most track-focused version of its GT sports car yet (before the Black Series arrives), using a modified version of AMG’s ‘hot inside V’ 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. With sharper-reacting turbos and a new exhaust system, the R produces 577bhp and 516lb ft, increases of 74bhp and 37lb ft over the next most potent AMG GT, the GT S.

It’s lighter than the S, too, weighing in at 1,630kg. Which combined with the boisterous power output yields a 3.6sec 0-62mph time and 198mph top speed. That means a 0.2sec cut and 5mph rise over that GT S. Those figures put it on par with the (notably more powerful) SLS AMG Black Series, perhaps its spiritual ancestor.

But numbers only tell half of the GT R’s story. What matters to those taking it on track is the pedigree of its chassis. “It combines the driving dynamics of our AMG GT3 racing car with the everyday practicality of the AMG GT”,” says AMG chief, Tobias Moers. And there’s certainly a lot of motorsports kudos to the bits his team have fitted to the GT R