Want a road car capable of being a track-driving ‘pro’? AMG has just the product.

IN track-racing, two cars makes a team, right?

 So it kinda makes sense that New Zealand has been allocated just a pair of examples of the closest thing you can get to an AMG GT3 racing car – the Mercedes-AMG GT R Pro.

While our allocation is quite potentially the smallest for any recipient country – Australia, for instance, gets 15 – just being on the list is something of an achievement, as AMG is only building 750 examples of this road-legal, but utterly track-prepped weapon.

Price? Well, of course, it’s expensive. At $420,000, the GTR PRO carries a $85k premium over the GT R Performance, which might seem a touch steep as the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 has been carried over from the standard GT R, so it still produces 430kW and 700Nm of torque.

But it takes a whole heap of special stuff not seen on the regular model, starting with $25k worth of carbon fibre bits hanging off the body. Plus a whole heap of race-level underskin enhancements.

As you’d expect from a car that has been designed to provision the ‘ultimate’ track experience… well, ultimately, only until the far more honed, properly bespoke AMG Project One comes along. That thing will be far more exotic and far more expensive than any current performance AMG.

And speaking of that, as much as the GT R Pro has ‘unbeatability’ about its look, it’s not actually the fastest or most powerful GT in the current NZ stockpile. That’s still the four-door, which makes another 40kW and has a faster overall top speed. It’s also all-wheel-drive, to better cope with all that animal.

Still, so much about the Pro suggests it would in no way be a disappointment. AMG’s proposition that it can still be driven to and from the circuit (unlike the AMG GT4), and takes lessons the company has acquired racing the coupe in the GT3 and GT4 categories around the world seems to resonate fairly.

As today’s mandatory Nurburgring Nordschleife video explains, the difference between a GT R Performance and the Pro comes down to improvements to the handling. Plus soe weight reduction.

There’s a new AMG coil-over suspension system that allows the driver to tailor the set-up, with adjustments to the spring pre-load as well as the compression and rebound of the dampers, based on their preference and the track they’re on.

There’s also adjustable front and rear torsion bars, with the former made from lightweight carbon fibre. The same material is used extensively across the car, with everything from a rear-end underbody panel to the front splitter, diffuser and even the seats made from carbon fibre in a bid to cut kilos.

Mercedes has upgraded the brakes, with carbon ceramics fitted as standard, behind 20-inch forged alloy wheels; finished in titanium grey exclusively for the GT R Pro.

The aerodynamic package reshapes, with a pair of aero flics added for great stability, vented front wheel arches, rear wheel arch extensions while keeping the GT R’s fixed rear wing. If you want to go further, it’s possible, but only with an after-market tuner. The video here shows the car after it has been with one such specialist.

More power, more aero still makes it more … well, as the film shows, ‘enthralling’ seems the right word.

But even as it comes from AMG, the GT R Pro is no wuss. They claim it can lap the 20km Nordschleife in seven minutes and four seconds, which is 6s quicker than the AMG GT R.

It’s enough of a race car to take a Track Package that delivers a partial steel roll cage and a pair of four-point racing harnesses (as well as regular lap sash belts), but not so much as to lose its luxuries. The racing-style seats – as well as the rest of the cabin – are trimmed in a combination of Nappa leather and Dinamica upholstery.

The daily drive seatbelts are finished in designo silver and there’s a retractable cargo area cover to keep your valuables out of sight. Mercedes will also throw in an AMG car cover.

The GT R Pro stands out for one other reason – it’s the final product overseen by the legendary Tobias Moers, who for some daft reason (and surely it can be nothing less than a pay offer by Lawrence Stroll?) has departed as chief of Mercedes’ AMG division to become CEO of beleaguered maker Aston Martin.

Moers has bumped Andy Palmer, with immediate effect. The Briton launched some great new cars but the past year has been one of terrible losses, a steady and catastrophic share price fall, and a descent into near-bankruptcy.

What can the German do to turn things around? Aston is a tough gig. But Moers has talent.

Aside from a successful record in building up AMG as Mercedes’ in-house tuner, he developed the stand-alone Mercedes AMG SLS supercar and was in charge of AMG by the time the GT launched. He’s also overseen the AMG One.

So is this the German brand protecting its investment in Aston and building for a take-over? Well, apparently not. Daimler, Mercedes’ parent, is adamant that Moers has left their employ.

Still, the links between the brands are close, now. As you surely know, Aston uses AMG V8 engines in the Vantage and DB11 V8, and Mercedes electronics in all its cars. The AMG nameplate is also on the powertrains of the Racing Point Formula One outfit that will from next year become Aston Martin Formula One. 

Daimler has a five percent stake in Aston Martin and the team principal of Mercedes Formula One, Toto Wolff, recently personally invested more than $100 million into Aston Martin.

 Meantime, if you’re up to Pro standard, the cars will be available exclusively from the country’s two AMG Performance Centres, in Auckland and Christchurch.