Buying Guide Mercedes-AMG GT S C190

After the SLS, the GT is AMG’s only other standalone creation that isn’t based on a Mercedes model and, as far as we’re concerned, it’s absolutely stunning. Unveiled in 2014 before going on sale in 2015, the GT was developed with assistance from Lewis Hamilton and was designed to compete with – and beat – the best sports cars on the market.

ULTIMATE PERFORMANCE MERCEDES BUYING GUIDEC190 AMG GT

WHY YOU WANT ONE

The GT undeniably took some inspiration from the SLS for its styling but did away with the gullwing doors and softened off the looks to bring it more in-line with Mercedes’ contemporary design language, all the while keeping that long bonnet and sloping rear roofline. To keep weight down, the GT features an aluminium space frame chassis and body and a magnesium bonnet and, for optimal weight distribution, a front-mid engine layout was chosen, with the whole of the M178 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 mounted behind the front axle line. A dry-sump lubrication system also allowed the engine to be mounted lower in the chassis while power is sent to the rear wheels via an AMG Speedshift seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and all models came fitted as standard with an LSD.

At launch, there were two models available, the 462bhp GT and the 510bhp GT S, with the hardcore GT R, Roadster and GT C arriving in 2017 before the car’s facelift that same year. Whichever version of the GT you opt for, you’re in for a wild ride as even the base model cracks the 0-62mph sprint in 3.8 seconds and boasts a 191mph top speed while the GT S will hit 62 in 3.5 seconds and peaks at 202mph, making this an insanely fast machine in every flavour. It’s also incredibly engaging and exciting to drive, with contemporary reviews raving about the chassis and praising the car’s handling and dynamics. It was clear from day one that AMG had created an absolute masterpiece with the GT and it’s a car that deserves to be right at the top of your shopping list if you have the funds at your disposal.

WHAT TO PAY

GTs start from £55,000, with depreciation having done some serious work over the past five years or so as the starting price for the base car was almost £97,000 and we doubt many GTs made it out of the showroom without breaking the £100k barrier. Despite coming up to being six years old and being a car that’s perfectly capable of serving as an everyday proposition thanks to a decent-sized boot and perfect driving manners, it’s clear that people who bought GTs did so to enjoy them on high days and holidays as mileages are low across the board. The two cheapest cars we found were both Premium Pack-equipped GT S examples with just under and over 40,000 miles and at around £60,000 you find GT Ss with around 30,000 miles and GTs with under 20k. It appears that the GT S was by far the most popular model as they outnumber regular GT Ss significantly, and around £68,000 will get you a GT S Premium with comfortably under 20,000 miles. Roadsters start at around £70,000, with cars at this price point having covered around 20,000 miles or less and for just £73,000 you can pick up a car with around 3000 miles.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

With the AMG GT being a newer car there’s not that much to worry about at this stage, plus it came with a four-year/50,000-mile warranty but that does mean that cars will now be coming to the end of that warranty period, so that’s something to be aware of. There aren’t specific problems to look out for as such, just issues that have been covered by recalls, but as this is down to the owners to get them taken care of never assume they’ve been done and check the status of any recalls online. A very small handful of early GT S models suffered an issue with the bonding between the carbon fibre propshaft and the transmission flange; GTs built between May 2018 and the end of October 2019 were recalled to fix a potential leak from a turbo oil feed line and ECU software was updated on Nov 2014-March 2017 cars. A recall was issued on April 2018-November 2019 GTs to sort out an ESP control unit software issue, and another on the software for the radar control unit on Feb 2017-July 2019 cars. Another one was for the replacement of the front seat belts on July 2017-March 2018 cars and poorly manufactured belt buckles on some later cars were replaced.

VERDICT

With gorgeous styling, a superb chassis and incredible performance, the AMG GT is an extremely special machine and one we would love to have on the drive if we had the funds. If you love it and can afford then there’s absolutely no reason not to buy one. As a pure, true modern sports car that will always feel like an event and will always leave you grinning from ear to ear, the AMG GT ticks all the boxes and then some and is a true dream machine.

Low and wide, the AMG GT has masses of road presence Cabin is the perfect blend of luxury and performance. Dry-sumped 4.0-litre twin-turbo M178 V8. Dramatic styling looks stunning from every angle.