Mercedes offers a clearer look at the new GT sports car it plans to introduce this autumn.
Two months after revealing plans to launch an all-new high-performance sports car, Mercedes-Benz is offering up some intriguing new details – and a first full rendering of the new AMG GT set to make its formal world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next September.
A teaser video released through Youtube tells us the 2-seater will be powered by a new 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 Mercedes has dubbed the M178. Likely to replace the current 6.2-liter V-8 used in other AMG models such as the Mercedes C63, it is expected to produce a solid 503 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque.
That’s about the same torque as the outgoing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, though the M178 generates around 60 fewer ponies. But the new model is expected to be smaller, lighter – and a lot less expensive, senior Mercedes officials hinting that the new GT will likely start at the upper end of the Porsche 911range.
“We’re going into space the Porsche 911 has had all to itself for all these years,” Steve Cannon, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, recently told TheDetroitBureau.com.
Dubbed the M187, the new twin-turbo V-8 is expected to produce as much as 503 horsepower.
The surprise announcement of the GT followed the first public showing of the new Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe at the New York Auto Show last April, Mercedes AMG CEO Tobias Moers describing the GT as “the ultimate halo car.”
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After showing an earlier teaser video, Moers hinted that, “The extra low seating position and high belt line make you feel like you’re part of the machine.”
But some carefully selected images of the GT’s cabin showed it will be no spartan affair, finished off in red leather and chrome, with a level of refinement that appears to rival some of Mercedes’ most expensive sedans and coupes.
Indeed, there’s actually a hint of Porsche in the interior design, with all key vehicle controls clustered around the center console, “arranged like cylinders in a V-8 engine,” suggested Moers.
The latest video puts most of its emphasis on the new M178 engine which will get a significant boost from twin turbos generating up to 17.4 psi of boost. By mounting the intercooled turbos in the “V” between the two banks of cylinders, it should suffer from minimal turbo lag under flat-to-the-floor acceleration.
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The Mercedes GT will adopt a lightweight design that uses an aluminum spaceframe.
While borrowing from existing Mercedes powertrain components, the new engine also adopts a dry-sump lubrication system. That will allow the engine to sit about 2.2 inches lower, improving the vehicle’s overall center of gravity. Meanwhile, a special nano-coating will help reduce frictional losses with the forged pistons.
The Mercedes-Benz GT has already been spotted a few times during testing at the famed German Nurburgring, and spy shots confirm the teaser video’s impression of an extremely long news and short rear deck, while also hinting at what appears to be a pop-up wing that would likely be intended to improve high-speed downforce.
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The maker previously noted that the GT will use a “true lightweight” aluminum spaceframe package that could result in performance numbers in line with the old Mercedes SLS, and in line with what competing Porsche 911 models deliver. One other big difference from the old SLS is that the new Mercedes GT is expected to abandon the earlier supercar’s gullwing doors.
(Click Here to check out the Youtube video teaser of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz GT.)