Monday 3rd July 2017

Mercedes-AMG GT4 spied

Four people, 800hp: the F1-infused AMG four-door nears

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The four-door, four-seat mega-Mercedes-AMG is getting closer, after recently being spied testing at - where else? - the Nürburgring. How close? Well, high-speed testing of a car that, beneath the disguise, looks pretty production-spec suggests a reveal could be due at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September, with deliveries beginning in 2018. Pretty close, then. And it looks like there are lots to get excited about.

Note the size of the wheels, for example. The size of the brakes. What appears to be either ready-made air curtain ducts or brake cooling vents in the front bumper. There's lots of stuff hidden beneath the rear camo, from an underfloor venturi to curious slots above the ultra-slim, AMG GT-style tail lamps. The more we look at it, the more we wonder if it isn't a huge deployable rear spoiler beneath there. Or even, dammit, a fixed rear wing, rather like the AMG GT R?

They wouldn't, would they? Well, they might have to, if the mooted firepower of the engine bears fruit. The concept had a petrol-electric drivetrain labelled EQPower+ a name also used on the Merc-AMG F1 racers - and it seems certain the production car will have this, too. Pairing a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with an electric motor charged by regenerative brake energy a la F1's KERS, possibly even using fast-deploying F1 tech for some more track-to-road kudos - oh, and a potential 800hp output. It'll be able to run as a full EV (future-proofing it for cities that may mandate full EVs) or use V8 and electric motor in combination to deliver a 0-62mph time of around 3 seconds. Needless to say, it'll be 4MATIC.

The rear is interesting in another way. The Porsche Panamera is a hatchback: could the four-door GT actually be a five-door? This is disguise doing a pretty good job of exactly that - it'll be a pretty stubby boot opening if it's not a liftback, although that panoramic glass roof also plunges down rather far into the rear screen - far lower than original artists' impressions suggested - so the hatch itself would be a stubby thing, too. Then again, the GT coupe is a hatch: could AMG really get away with compromising practicality by making a four-door saloon version of a two-door hatch?

Don't worry. That horrible fly-splattered mesh at the front won't be staying. It won't be shaped as the camouflage depicts, either - that's a trick of the tape. Hopefully, it'll be wearing the same mesh grille as the concept (and latest model GT coupes), while the sexy slimline headlights of the concept are also being carried across, as is its plunging nose. Oh, and a plethora of sensors in the grille and windscreen means this'll be a super-saloon with self-driving abilities.

Possibly called GT4, the Mercedes-AMG four-seater range will be topped by the EQPower+ hybrid, but more conventional V8 versions will be available in time. We'd wager a diesel is unlikely given the current mood, though - and AMG boss Tobias Moers' proud distaste for them. Plus, there's no need for one if the hybrid ticks the zero-emissions box: double tick if it does so by harnessing F1-grade tech. Needless to say, prices will be six figures for the range-topping showcase, which Merc-AMG will be keen to position above the upcoming CLS four-door coupe. That's why it's going to be so fast. Hopefully, we'll find out just how fast at Frankfurt this autumn.

[Photos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien]

 

 

[DPSFleet]

Love the way Merc AMG just keep banging out these beasts.

[dom1102]

So a mega quick, decent looking, 4 door coupe (hatch?) with a twin turbo 4.0 'hot V' , 4WD and Deployable spoiler. Audi with the S6/RS6 beat it by 5 years! Why has it taken them so long?

[Amanitin]

this looks more like a BMW 8 gran coupe

[numtumfutunch]

Amanitin said:

this looks more like a BMW 8 gran coupe

Front lights certainly have a whiff of Munchen about them

[gumsie]

dom1102 said:

So a mega quick, decent looking, 4 door coupe (hatch?) with a twin turbo 4.0 'hot V' , 4WD and Deployable spoiler. Audi with the S6/RS6 beat it by 5 years! Why has it taken them so long?

The S6/RS6 is a 4 door coupe (hatch)?

[Plug Life]

Jeremy "The Neanderthal" Clarkson's wet dream.

[JamesRR]

dom1102 said:

So a mega quick, decent looking, 4 door coupe (hatch?) with a twin turbo 4.0 'hot V' , 4WD and Deployable spoiler. Audi with the S6/RS6 beat it by 5 years! Why has it taken them so long?

Do you mean the S7/RS7?

[mattf93]

I think this will be one of the best 4 door super saloons on the market when this is properly unveiled. If it has the rear aggressiveness of the GTR/GTC and front end of the R - hope it gets rear wheel steer.
Would be interesting if it will purely available as an AMG or whether they do an all electric version. or a Hybrid?

Not that I am in the market for one but I think its still awesome.

[JamesRR]

Personally I'd go for an E63 over this. Not keen on the big long low shape, like the 6GC it looks sat on to me. Prefer the idea of a normal saloon car body with mad performance.

[scenario8]

The power war is getting silly now, isn't it?

I thought the Lotus Carlton was stupidly powerful at 375 horses, the F40 mental at 475 and the 599 absolutely and utterly ridiculous at 612 (or whatever) and here we are with an uber luxurious saloon pushing out 800bhp.

Yet I'm still pottering about with barely a tenth of that. Where did life go so wrong?

[numtumfutunch]

Me again for the 2nd time on this thread!

Sorry to be a bore but do the two chase cars have any significance or just coincidence?

[kambites]

gumsie said:

dom1102 said:

So a mega quick, decent looking, 4 door coupe (hatch?) with a twin turbo 4.0 'hot V' , 4WD and Deployable spoiler. Audi with the S6/RS6 beat it by 5 years! Why has it taken them so long?

The S6/RS6 is a 4 door coupe (hatch)?

Didn't have 800bhp last time I looked either.

[Yipper]

Gonna be an epic car.

[pSyCoSiS]

Looking forward to seeing the official finished product.

That will be one quick super saloon. 800 BHP 'out of the box' is truly mental!

[BFleming]

Here's what AutoBild reckon it will look like:

[LukeyC]

BFleming said:

Here's what AutoBild reckon it will look like:

Aww It looks glum.

Like a shark slightly fed up with the world.

Edited by LukeyC on Tuesday 4th July 09:01

[Fetchez la vache]

scenario8 said:

The power war is getting silly now, isn't it?
Where did life go so wrong?

At the end of the day it's just willy waving.
Not necessarily on the part of Merc / BMW / Audi who are a company trying to make a profit and will pump out whatever they can make and sell at a profit , but on the potential buyers, lets face it.

Ultimately however, people can spend their hard earned (or otherwise) on what they want - it's not a fascist state. Yet.

Edited by Fetchez la vache on Tuesday 4th July 09:56

[BFleming]

LukeyC said:

Aww It looks glum.

Like a shark slightly fed up with the world.

So, much like the A7 then!

[E65Ross]

Fetchez la vache said:

scenario8 said:

The power war is getting silly now, isn't it?
Where did life go so wrong?

At the end of the day it's just willy waving.
Not necessarily on the part of Merc / BMW / Audi who are a company trying to make a profit and will pump out whatever they can make and sell at a profit , but on the potential buyers, lets face it.

Ultimately however, people can spend their hard earned (or otherwise) on what they want - it's not a fascist state. Yet.

Edited by Fetchez la vache on Tuesday 4th July 09:56

You're assuming everyone who buys these sorts of cars just does so to show off? If so, I think we'll agree to disagree. Some buy these cars because they actually like the cars....

"back in the day" when we had an M5 churning out around 340bhp....were those buyers willy wavers, as well? I assume so....buying a car faster than you actually need.

[j90gta]

BFleming said:

Here's what AutoBild reckon it will look like:

So yet another fugly Merc with more power than anyone thought they actually needed.