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This is the 2016 Mercedes AMG GTS.
It's the spiritual successor to the automaker's SLR and SLS supercars.
Only now it sort of evolved into a super sports grand tour meant to compete with the likes of the 911 and the IDR8.
Now [UNKNOWN] profile it, looks to me like the Porsche 911 is the most direct competitor of those two models.
The GTS and it share very similar proportions and a very similar roofline, and if you walk around back it even kinda looks like Mercedes has wholesale ripped off the 911's rear tail light cluster.
However, Mercedes has chosen not to hang the engine over the rear end like the Porsche or over the rear axle like the Audi.
Instead, it's gone with a front to mid ship configuration for its V8.
That means the engine sits ahead of the driver but behind the front axle.
That's how we end up with this extremely long and exaggerated The front hood.
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And one of the biggest differences between the GTS and its predecessors is the doors.
The GTS's doors open and close like this.
Not like this.
Not like this.
But like this.
These are not billionaire doors, people.
[SOUND] Humorous pop-culture references aside, Super Sports, Grand Tour is like the AMGGTR as much as about drama as they are about out-right performance.
So, the lack of dramatic doors to step down to regular doors, this is, well, a bit disappointing for this generation.
Fortunately it's plenty of drama to be had coming out of the tailpipe, especially in this race mode, which is gonna put the active exhaust in its loudest, most aggressive setting.
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We've also got SportPlus, sport and comfort settings, that are going to allow you to dial down the performance and aggression, from fast and furious down to daily driver.
Acceleration from the V-8 engine is locomotive like.
That is to say that it is smooth, it is strong and well, it's loud.
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And the handling of this Grand Tour, even in it's most comfortable mode, it's going to be pretty firm.
The car stays really flat in the turn, then gives you really good seat of the And feedback coming up through the chassis and into these four bucket seats.
The steering on the other hand is a bit over-boosted and doesn't offer as good a fingertip feel as I would like.
But that does kinda help the car feel a little less twitchy and a little more planted.
What I do like is that the steering is very direct and wakes up nicely This thing when you chuck it into a turn, and you can really sort of feel the vehicle working around you, so the seat of the pants feel sort of makes up for the lack of fingertip feel in the vehicle.
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The first thing you think is gonna be With that very long hood we've got out front, which can make maneuvering in very tight quarters a bit tricky.
You've kinda gotta get used to having the length of a Smart Fortwo between the steering wheel and the Mercedes logo on the hood.
The other problem is gonna be with the rear quarter visibility, the blind spots on this vehicle are a little bit bigger than I'd like.
But to its credit, there's not a whole lot of vehicle back there to keep track of.
Ergonomics are good, their not Porsche good, but this is a very comfortable car all the controls are where you´d like them with one exception that´s gonna be the shifter, which is located way back here in probably the worst bit of real on the center console.
With an automatic transmission and paddle shifter´s you´re not gonna be touching it a whole lot when you drive around, so even that It's a little bit forgivable.
Now I know no one came here to talk about fuel efficiency, so I'll just say that during about 250 miles of testing I've averaged about 18 miles per gallon, which is pretty good for a vehicle this powerful when you consider the way that I've been driving.
Regardless of which setting you find yourself in, the GTS does a really good job of making the driver feel awesome, and making the drive feels special.
But it doesn't really feel like a racecar.
Even when you put it in the race mode.
You really start tossing this car around it starts to feel a bit like an Apex road car.
Which is a good thing.
It's very comfortable to drive.
It's very relaxing.
You can go ridiculously fast in this car.
But I don't know if I'd wanna go ridiculously fast on a racetrack.
The 2016 Mercedes AMG GT is a car that will turn heads everywhere you go.
Both with its gorgeous looks and with its extremely loud exhaust note.
Now the thing that I like most about this car is the way that it makes you feel.
If you give the GTS enough road, it will make you feel like a racecar driver on the street, even if it doesn't necessarily back it up with great power performance.
And it is a super sports car in the truest sense of the word.
Later this year, Mercedes will also launch a GT, with NOS, that´s a little bit more toned down with a little less power, and GT three version for those looking for something race ready.
Pricing for those hasn´t been announced, but we expect that they´ll bracket this route in a suit nicely.
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