Mercedes-AMG GT review

Here’s something that might surprise you: generally speaking, building a low-volume supercar isn’t as much of a challenge for a big car manufacturer as you might think. Turning your low-volume sports car into a more mass-market machine, like the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe, is rather more testing, though.

Why? Well, supercars, such as the Ford GT and Honda NSX, require some seriously cutting-edge engineering, but when you're only having to produce them in low numbers and collectors are willing to pay big bucks to have one on their driveway, you can afford to charge a big premium to cover your costs. That means an acceptable risk to reward ratio that won’t have the accountants bursting their stress balls like bubble wrap.

But when Mercedes-AMG challenged itself with turning its wild – and wildly expensive – SLS supercar into a practical, and, more importantly, affordable Porsche 911 and Audi R8 rival, the business case got a bit more serious.

The GT Coupe was the result. It's similar in concept to the SLS: a big, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive muscle-car coupe with a seven-speed automatic gearbox. However, the GT’s need to include practicalities, like a decent-sized boot, without costly fripperies, such as the SLS's jaw-dropping gullwing doors, means that its designers and engineers have effectively had their wings clipped.

So what’s it like? Well, the general opinion is that it still looks ace, but does the GT – or the open-top GT Roadster, which you can read about by clicking the link – drive as well as a Porsche 911, an Audi R8, or even more exotic rivals, including the McLaren 570S?

Read on to find out, and when you're ready to make a purchase we may be able to help out there, too. Pop over to our New Car Deals pages and you will find big discounts on many of the new cars on sale today.