After treating my senses to this wonderful sounding engine, I was enchanted by its blistering acceleration, courtesy of 510 horses and 650 Nm that reside inside that V8. However, when I gently tapped the throttle while exiting the pit-lane at the BIC, the GT S behaved in a very German way, civilised that is. Despite the massive V8 being turbocharged, the power delivery was smooth and linear with no noticeable traces of turbo-lag, even at low RPM. At the exit of the pit-lane, when I nailed the throttle, the GT S simply lunged towards C1 with gusto. I was kicked back into the seat as this pouncing German attacked the corner. Going through C2, hard on the throttle, the GT S hugged the inside line without an issue. The sensation of that acceleration is very difficult to describe; it’s simply brilliant.
Heading towards what probably is the slowest corner on this track, C3, the agility of this car was clearly palpable. Hugging the kerb through C2, before braking hard was a surreal feeling as the brilliant anchors pinched the ceramic brakes, slowing the car down in no time. The GT S’ brilliant steering works overtime when you attack C3 as you have to turn more than in other corners. The steering precision is superb and the feel sublime. The moment I exited C3, I was back on the power, unleashing all the 510 horses as I kept flipping through the seamlessly shifting seven-speed, dual-clutch AMG Speedshift gearbox. We have experienced the might of this gearbox earlier, but on the GT S, it feels much faster than on any of the AMGs I have driven in the past.
The back straight somewhat allowed me to exploit the power of the massive V8. However, following a lead CLA 45 AMG, I wasn’t able to take the GT S anywhere near its top speed of 310 km/h. Nevertheless, it did manage to reach 210 km/h with more than half the back straight still to be covered. The power delivery was so rapid that I found myself on the edge before the GT S reached 210. It comes alive when you push it hard; however, it is always advisable to respect so much power if you really want to enjoy it.
