Photo: original image by autoevolution
Mercedes has stepped up its sportscar game in a big way with the launch of the all-new AMG GT yesterday. This 2-door is not only a beauty, but it's also motivated by a twin-turbo 4-liter V8 engine and is sure to become the talk of the town, thanks in no small part to the design.
Throughout the arctic testing sessions and the thousands of miles combing the Arizona deserts, looking for mechanical flaws, engineers had one predominant topic of discussion: let's take down the Porsche 911.
However, with a looooong hood and visceral V8 sound, it's all too easy to get distracted and compare this to a Jaguar F-Type Coupe. We'll allow ourselves to get trapped in a fictional kindergarden discussion in order to figure out which of these two is the sexiest.
If you're to look at things purely from a design point of view, there really isn't much in it. Both have very sexy lines; both fit the perfect sportscar height (two-wheels tall); and both have plenty of curb appeal.
The front reveals similarities between the philosophies of Jaguar and Mercedes-AMG. Huge bonnets are presented as the biggest single uninterrupted panel on the car, in both cases bulging in the middle as a symbol of power and over the wheel arches to suggest agility. Amusingly, the central grilles are almost the same, but the side ones give points to Mercedes.
It's much the same story round the side, with only the hind quarters showing some noticeable differences. The liftback hatch on the AMG model appears wider and we find their taillights preferable as well, which is not to say Jaguar has done a bad job. But, while the F-Type evokes the past, German designers were allowed to be more fashion-forward.
Even though both cars come with big V8 engines, the Jaguar F-Type Coupe and Mercedes AMG GT never match their outputs anywhere in the range. The only model that comes close to the 510 PS of the top-spec GT S coupe is Jaguar's older F-Type V8 S Roadster, boasting 495 PS from its 'charged 5-liter.
Not surprisingly though, the richer of the two companies found ways to do more with less. The F-Type Coupe R (the most powerful model in the range) uses 550 PS and takes 4.2 seconds to reach 100 km/h. Even the basic AMG GT with only 462 PS is faster, while the full-fat 510 PS model needs only 3.8 seconds. This has to do with the wight of the vehicles and the twin-clutch AMG box grabbing gears faster than the universal ZF 8-speed auto.
Didn't Jaguar say they made the F-Type from aluminum? They must have gotten the order wrong and used railway steel instead.
The final argument in this battle can't be made until October, when prices for the AMG GT S will be announced. However, the rumor mill has it this will be a competitive Mercedes product, costing about €100,000 in Germany, somewhere between $100,000 and $130,000 in the US and £85,000 in Britain. A quick check will reveal that the F-Type R Coupe is painfully close to those numbers in every market. It looks like the Brits might be in trouble.
However, with a looooong hood and visceral V8 sound, it's all too easy to get distracted and compare this to a Jaguar F-Type Coupe. We'll allow ourselves to get trapped in a fictional kindergarden discussion in order to figure out which of these two is the sexiest.
If you're to look at things purely from a design point of view, there really isn't much in it. Both have very sexy lines; both fit the perfect sportscar height (two-wheels tall); and both have plenty of curb appeal.
The front reveals similarities between the philosophies of Jaguar and Mercedes-AMG. Huge bonnets are presented as the biggest single uninterrupted panel on the car, in both cases bulging in the middle as a symbol of power and over the wheel arches to suggest agility. Amusingly, the central grilles are almost the same, but the side ones give points to Mercedes.
It's much the same story round the side, with only the hind quarters showing some noticeable differences. The liftback hatch on the AMG model appears wider and we find their taillights preferable as well, which is not to say Jaguar has done a bad job. But, while the F-Type evokes the past, German designers were allowed to be more fashion-forward.
Even though both cars come with big V8 engines, the Jaguar F-Type Coupe and Mercedes AMG GT never match their outputs anywhere in the range. The only model that comes close to the 510 PS of the top-spec GT S coupe is Jaguar's older F-Type V8 S Roadster, boasting 495 PS from its 'charged 5-liter.
Not surprisingly though, the richer of the two companies found ways to do more with less. The F-Type Coupe R (the most powerful model in the range) uses 550 PS and takes 4.2 seconds to reach 100 km/h. Even the basic AMG GT with only 462 PS is faster, while the full-fat 510 PS model needs only 3.8 seconds. This has to do with the wight of the vehicles and the twin-clutch AMG box grabbing gears faster than the universal ZF 8-speed auto.
Didn't Jaguar say they made the F-Type from aluminum? They must have gotten the order wrong and used railway steel instead.
The final argument in this battle can't be made until October, when prices for the AMG GT S will be announced. However, the rumor mill has it this will be a competitive Mercedes product, costing about €100,000 in Germany, somewhere between $100,000 and $130,000 in the US and £85,000 in Britain. A quick check will reveal that the F-Type R Coupe is painfully close to those numbers in every market. It looks like the Brits might be in trouble.
Google News