Photo: image edited by autoevolution
For quite some decades now, Porsche’s 911 has been the benchmark in the sportscar realm, so you can’t launch one of these purpose-built go-fast machines without measuring up against the rear-engined creation. The time has now come for Mercedes-Benz’s latest speed toy, the AMG GT, to battle it out with the Porsche 911.
Less than 12 hours separate us from the moment when Mercedes-Benz launched its sportscar, so, for now, the main focus will be a photo comparison, provided in the gallery below.
Not even Porsche dares play with the design of the 911 too much, so it goes without saying that comparing the AMG GT’s styling to that of the Zuffenhausen machine is not that easy.
While the retro roots of the 911’s design are here by definition, the AMG GT doesn’t sport any direct visual link to the Mercedes sportscars of old. Nonetheless, the DNA of the three-pointed star brand is clearly here - the classic proportions of the AMG GT are the ones that tie it to its past, with the front section of the car, long hood included, being the dominant element here.
As for the market comparo, the fact that the Mercedes has two fewer seats may set it apart from the 2+2 Porsche and yet most of the cars in the segment come with two seats. Speaking of this, we never understood what harm could come out of the 2+2 layout. In other words, with the exception of hardcore supercars or super-compact sportscars, we wouldn’t mind if all vehicles of this kind would pack some extra space behind the front area, be it adorned with a pair of extra seats or not.
Zooming in on the model range, the expected price of the AMG GT makes this a contender for the 911 Carrera S, which starts at around 100,000, whether we’re talking about dollars or euro - the pricing of this Mercedes arrives in October, by the way.
As far as the basic figures go, the 462 PS AMG GT sprints from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4 seconds flat, 0.1 seconds faster than a 400 HP* Carrera S fitted with a PDK. Spec up the Porsche with the Sport Chrono Package though and its time will drop to 3.9 seconds. As for the top speed, both sportscars pass the 186 mph (300 km/h) mark by a little bit.
*You can install a power kit that pushes the Carrera S to 430 hp, but, at $17,800, not many buyers go for this.
As far as the power to weight ratio is concerned, the Mercedes’ 3.33 hp per kg goes up against the Porsche’s 3.53 hp per kg.
For now, not even the rumor mill can provide us with an expected price for the 510 HP AMG GT S. It remains to be seen if this will make the financial jump towards the $165k / EUR 151k starting price of the 550 hp 911 Turbo.
The AMG GT may not be a replacement for the SLS AMG, but it does follow the latter’s build recipe, which means we are dealing with the second car built by AMG from the ground up. The Affalterbach maternity brings bonus points for the Merc.
On the other hand, the AMG Dynamic Plus package offered as an option for the GT S model brings dynamic engine and transmission mounts. We can’t help but remember Porsche offered active engine mounts ever since the past 997 generation of the 911. Just saying...
Mercedes’ front-engined, rear-wheel driven (transaxle) coupe will definitely bring a totally different driving flavor to Porsche’s rear-engined recipe and this is where a huge difference is made, so we’ll see you behind the wheel.
Not even Porsche dares play with the design of the 911 too much, so it goes without saying that comparing the AMG GT’s styling to that of the Zuffenhausen machine is not that easy.
While the retro roots of the 911’s design are here by definition, the AMG GT doesn’t sport any direct visual link to the Mercedes sportscars of old. Nonetheless, the DNA of the three-pointed star brand is clearly here - the classic proportions of the AMG GT are the ones that tie it to its past, with the front section of the car, long hood included, being the dominant element here.
As for the market comparo, the fact that the Mercedes has two fewer seats may set it apart from the 2+2 Porsche and yet most of the cars in the segment come with two seats. Speaking of this, we never understood what harm could come out of the 2+2 layout. In other words, with the exception of hardcore supercars or super-compact sportscars, we wouldn’t mind if all vehicles of this kind would pack some extra space behind the front area, be it adorned with a pair of extra seats or not.
Zooming in on the model range, the expected price of the AMG GT makes this a contender for the 911 Carrera S, which starts at around 100,000, whether we’re talking about dollars or euro - the pricing of this Mercedes arrives in October, by the way.
As far as the basic figures go, the 462 PS AMG GT sprints from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4 seconds flat, 0.1 seconds faster than a 400 HP* Carrera S fitted with a PDK. Spec up the Porsche with the Sport Chrono Package though and its time will drop to 3.9 seconds. As for the top speed, both sportscars pass the 186 mph (300 km/h) mark by a little bit.
*You can install a power kit that pushes the Carrera S to 430 hp, but, at $17,800, not many buyers go for this.
As far as the power to weight ratio is concerned, the Mercedes’ 3.33 hp per kg goes up against the Porsche’s 3.53 hp per kg.
For now, not even the rumor mill can provide us with an expected price for the 510 HP AMG GT S. It remains to be seen if this will make the financial jump towards the $165k / EUR 151k starting price of the 550 hp 911 Turbo.
The AMG GT may not be a replacement for the SLS AMG, but it does follow the latter’s build recipe, which means we are dealing with the second car built by AMG from the ground up. The Affalterbach maternity brings bonus points for the Merc.
On the other hand, the AMG Dynamic Plus package offered as an option for the GT S model brings dynamic engine and transmission mounts. We can’t help but remember Porsche offered active engine mounts ever since the past 997 generation of the 911. Just saying...
Mercedes’ front-engined, rear-wheel driven (transaxle) coupe will definitely bring a totally different driving flavor to Porsche’s rear-engined recipe and this is where a huge difference is made, so we’ll see you behind the wheel.
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