Civilised Beasts

Supercars have traditionally sacrificed usability, reliability and comfort at the high-octane alter of outright performance. But now progress and technology have finally caught up with our need for speed and daily practicality. Want your cake and eat it? Emirates Man takes a look at three very different performance options that can also serve as a daily driver.

Mercedes-AMG GT R

The name might suggest that it is a grand tourer, but don’t be fooled – it will rip your head off

Weighing in at 1,630kg with a rake-adjustable wing and embiggened-gapping grille sucking in precious oxygen from its surroundings is the Mercedes AMG GT R. If you thought the regular AMG GT was the current enfant terrible of the automotive world and was the quintessential Teutonic muscle car and purveyor of bad attitude, then think again. This is its badass brother that (allegedly) abuses steroids and (rumour has it) has probably served some hard prison time that you don’t want to ask too many questions about.

America may have invented the muscle car, but it is AMG – the high-performance division of Mercedes-Benz – that has perfected harnessing bad attitude and brutality into mechanical aggression. The name might suggest that it is a grand tourer; however, even the standard car is a little bit too angry for that description to sit comfortably. With the AMG GT R, a much more purposeful and track focused weapon, the attitude has been dialled up to 11.

The front-mounted 4.0-liter turbo V8 now produces 577bhp and 700Nm torque thanks to revised hot-v-mounted turbocharges and a rise in boost pressure from 1.2 to 1.35 bar. To manage all that power and torque through the rear wheels, AMG has installed its nine stage traction control system, which is ‘borrowed’ directly from the GT3 racecar. It also has a wider track, new suspension settings and active rear steering which, combined with the optional carbon ceramic brakes, leave no doubt that the AMG GT R is unapologetically focused in its aggression.