Merc-amg’s Panamera
New GT to gun for Porsche’s
The new four-seat GT will give buyers a more exclusive, faster alternative to the MERC-AMG E63
Mercedes-amg has confirmed its fourwheel-drive GT Concept will enter production. The four-door is due to go on sale in the UK in 2019. It’s the third uniquely styled production model to be developed by AMG, following the SLS and the GT sports car.
Rather than using the aluminium spaceframe platform of its two-seat siblings, the four-seat GT Concept is based on Mercedes’ MRA (modular rear architecture) structure, which has already been employed by a number of AMG’S more recent super-saloons.
The GT — known internally under the official codename X290 — will directly rival the Porsche Panamera and become a linchpin in AMG’S plans to establish itself at the forefront of performance hybrid powertrains.
Together with the company’s upcoming Project One hypercar, the four-seat GT will usher in a new generation of hybrid road cars capable of providing zero-emissions running when required.
The GT Concept uses a new petrol-electric powerplant developed with help from Mercedes’ High Performance Powertrains division in Brixworth, which also develops the company’s Formula 1 race engine.
The concept’s set-up mates AMG’S twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 with an electric motor mounted within the rear axle assembly. This layout is claimed to provide the GT Concept with an almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Power output is rated at 805bhp — 202bhp more than the twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 develops on its own in the Mercedes-amg E63.
For the production version, AMG will offer the GT with a choice of different engines in a move mirroring that of Porsche with the Panamera. Included will be the latest evolution of its twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 in a number of different outputs, alongside a hybrid alternative running a milder state of tune than the GT Concept.
The combustion-engined versions are expected to offer up to 620bhp, with the hybrid likely to reach beyond 700bhp.
AMG boss Tobias Moers said the new four-seat GT will give buyers a more exclusive, faster and dynamically adroit alternative to the E63, with which the new AMG model shares key elements of its mechanical package.
With a large, liftback-style tailgate, it is also set to be more practical than the E63 and its hot-formed high-tensile steel and aluminium floorpan and a mostly aluminium body will make it lighter than the 1955kg E63, too.
Add in the lower centre of gravity and the four-door GT will be a completely different proposition from the E63.
Moers said: “Really, [the MRA platform] just gives us a floorpan. It doesn’t limit us in terms of engineering in any big way. The production car will receive its own, unique wheelbase and track widths and we can also provide it with the same active aerodynamics, four-wheel steering and ESP systems that you see on the GT.”
Before the production version of the GT Concept is revealed, Mercedes-amg plans to provide a further glimpse of what to expect with a follow-up concept showcasing the car’s restyled interior. Expect it to surface later this year as part of AMG’S ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations.