When you tell your friends that you drive a GT R, the first question will always be, Nissan or AMG? Both share the same nameplate, oddly enough, though with a minor difference in spacing and punctuation. How Mercedes has gotten away with naming it the same as a legendary Japanese icon dumbfounds me, considering how much money brands spend to protect their trademarks. And it’s not like the silver star lineup is any less confusing because of it. AMG have axed the previous GT and GT S trims for the Canadian market, and now only offer the GT C, GT R, and GT R Pro, the first two also in Roadster variants. But hold your hats, because there are also four-door variants that share the same name but are based on an entirely different platform and look completely different. That’s the GT 43, 53, 63, and 63 S. Got that down? Good. Because once you peel back the layer of marketing jargon, you’re left with a remarkably pure sports car that is so unique and so well-rounded that it really doesn’t matter what you call it. The AMG GT R is simply one of the best sports cars we have ever driven.
And the competition isn’t exactly lacking either. With a starting price of $190,400, the GT R squares off against some heavyweights like the Porsche 911 GT3, Aston Martin Vantage, and Audi R8. It’s a good thing then that the 2020 model year brings some minor changes to the table, including new exterior bits and a refreshed interior.
What hasn’t changed is the powertrain, carrying over a hand-built, 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 pushing out 577 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and carbon fibre driveshaft. 0-100 km/h is dispatched in 3.6 seconds, which isn’t mind-blowingly quick when you compare it to the competition. It’s slower than the Nissan GT-R (roughly 3.0s), BMW M5 Competition (3.3s), and only on par with the Porsche 992 Carrera 4S (3.6s), not the GTS or Turbo models. Even the S 63 AMG Sedan is one-tenths of a second faster. So what gives? Well as any pro racing driver will tell you, straight line speed isn’t everything when it comes to performance.
Like we mentioned before, whatever interior space the GT R lacks, it more than makes up for with its massive rear trunk. It can swallow up twice as much volume as the Porsche 911, and with a hatchback-like liftgate and a deep, wide recess, we were able to stow all of our fishing and camping gear for the weekend. In went the foldable chair, collapsable tent, and our fishing rods. Even then, there was still more space to fill it up with duffle bags and suitcases. All it takes is some smart packaging and a few rounds of Tetris.
