The GT S comes with a selection of settings for varying road conditions. For the track, I selected the ‘sports+’ setting which proved beneficial for the next set of corners where the GT S’ agility was highlighted. I could have bumped up the mode to ‘RACE’, which would have made everything more responsive and firmer; but I chose ‘sports+’ because we weren’t really competing in a race, so having a super-stiff car would have made no sense. The car went through corners five, six, seven and eight like a hot knife going through butter. The taut and lightweight chassis handled quick direction changes gracefully, thus allowing me to get on the throttle far quicker than I would usually do. The firm AMG Adaptive suspension kept the car in line without a hint of body-roll. These corners were perfect for highlighting the agility of the car, which is awe-inspiring from the driver’s point of view. The next few corners were no problem for the GT S either as it took them in its stride gracefully.
A perfect suspension, steering, superb chassis, kerb weight of 1.6 tonne, and sticky 265 front and 295 section rear tyres make it a great combination for a fun day at the racetrack (the BIC in our case). Its sublime handling makes the GT S come alive in the true sense of the term and, honestly, it wouldn’t fail to excite even the most censorious critics.
The sports car nature of the GT S can be truly appreciated on a track such as the BIC; however, given that exact same nature, I imagine the GT S will be a task to drive on our roads. For that, however, we would reserve the verdict until we test the car in Pune. With a price tag of Rs 2.4 crore plus taxes, the GT S is a rather expensive proposition but I believe that Mercedes India have already received a few bookings within a day or so of the launch, which speaks volumes about the car.
