Get ready for the hardcore Mercedes-AMG GT R

We have some good – if expected – news. AMG has confirmed that a harder, more track-focused version of the AMG GT supercar will arrive this summer. It will sit above the AMG GT S (pictured above), and it’ll be fast and pointy.

Piqued your interest? Thought so. AMG’s big boss Tobias Moers – commenting on how ‘unstressed’ the current, 510bhp 4.0-litre V8 biturbo engine is – told us he will introduce “the next performance level of that engine” in the upcoming GT R.

“The new GT R will set a new benchmark in terms of driving dynamics,” he said. Yikes.

Expect around 600bhp then. Though don’t just expect some tuned up hot-rod. It’ll be a proper track-weapon. “It will be faster on a racetrack than even the SLS Black Series,” he said. Expect some suspension fine-tuning, along with a lovely rear wing too.

But, there’s much more to come from AMG, as you might expect. Here, Moers reveals a little bit more about a busy time ahead for Merc’s performance arm...

About that ‘unstressed engine’. We’ll see the slightly more stressed version in the GT R first, but the next model to benefit from the extra horsepower will be the upcoming Mercedes-AMG E63 (now that we've seen the brand new E-Class, above).

“It’s mandatory that we have around 600bhp in the E-Class segment,” Moers told us. “So expect something like that.” You can also expect sharper steering, finely tuned suspension kinematics and noise.

The introduction of the ‘43’ AMGs too (with the 3.0-litre V6s), has meant the E63 has much more on its plate. “We must meet our AMG requirements, from the gearbox, to the engine calibration… everything.” 

So because the 43s aren’t just boosted engines with a fancy badge on the back, but properly engineered AMG products, the challenge is to create something different for the 63.

Yep, it’s the AMG GT you need, but not the one you’ll get right away. If the GT ‘R’ is packing close to 600bhp, what on earth will a Black Series do?

“Now the idea is to get ready and do something unexpected for maybe a Black Series version,” Moers said with a smile. When pushed on what that might be, he simply said, “it’s too early to talk about that.”

Too early indeed. AMG is planning on a long run for the GT supercar, with loads more variants. So after the ‘R’ – and way before the Black Series arrives, you’ll see...

Picture rendered by rc82 workchop

Again, not the biggest surprise, but a car you’ll see within the next year. “It’s nothing unexpected, is it?” Moers asks us. Nope, and we can’t wait.

“Power output is something,” explains Moers, “there’s a certain level in every segment you have to meet, because otherwise you’re not interesting for customers.

“But just pushing in that direction and diluting the driving dynamics is the most stupid thing you can do,” he adds. “It’s the overall package, the overall personality of the car that counts."

“This is our responsibility regarding the company, regarding the brand, and regarding our future,” he tells TG. “So it’s natural that we are working on electrification, hybridisation of the performance powertrain.

“It’s a different technology, a different technical solution, and this is what we are working on,” Moers added. “Electrification is not something that gives us a huge headache, because I see some nice opportunities to define future performance.”

And unlike his competitors at BMW and Audi, Moers ruled out any AMG performance diesels. “We see a better chance for electrified petrol powertrains,” he said, noting that this opinion was irrespective of the VW dieselgate story that broke last year.

“It fits better worldwide,” he said. “It is a better approach."

“The growth rate of AMG last year compared to the previous year was more than 40 per cent,” Moers tells TG. “We doubled the sales numbers compared to 2013, which was 32,000, up to 68,000. The initial plan for this year is to stay on that growth rate.”

Are you excited about AMG’s future? And what do you think will define a future performance AMG? Let us know below...