Mercedes-AMG GT-R Caught Hot-Lapping the Nürburgring

That sound you hear, the one splitting open the spring air in the west German forest? That’s the sound of the Mercedes-AMG GT R—the next addition to the Mercedes-AMG sports car family—tearing the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife a new arschloch during testing. And damn, is it a joyful noise.

The video, caught by a YouTube supercar spotter known as cvdzijden, shows a camouflaged car that’s clearly closely related to the AMG GT-S recently driven by our own Brett Berk. But even though the car is only visible for a few seconds each lap, it’s hard to miss the differences between the current car and this new version. Up front, the mighty single-bar front grille has been replaced with a milk crate, and a pair of small air diffusers have grown out on the far ends of the front bumper. Out back, the ass end has sprouted an enormous, non-retractable spoiler, while the tailpipes seem to have migrated to the center of the bumper.

Thanks to a recent Top Gear interview with AMG head honcho Tobias Moers, we already know quite a bit about the GT R. It’ll be significantly more powerful than the GT-S; Moers even made a point to comment how “unstressed” the AMG 4.0-liter V8 was in 503 horsepower GT-S tune. Don’t be surprised to see the GT R pumping out around 600 horsepower.

And it’ll kick serious patootie on the track, too. “It will be faster on a racetrack than even the SLS Black Series,” Moers said. (For what it’s worth, the SLS Black Series lapped the ‘Ring in 7:26.)

We also know that the Mercedes-AMG GT R won’t be the ultimate performance version of the AMG GT series. That honor will likely go to a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, which Moers coyly hinted would be coming down the line eventually. “The idea is to get ready and do something unexpected for maybe a Black Series version,” he told Top Gear, reportedly boasting a sly look on his face.

We won’t have to content ourselves with camouflaged test track footage of the GT R for long, thankfully. Our favorite detail from Moers’s little TG chat? The AMG GT R will be revealed this summer.

2017 Mercedes-AMG GT-R Testing HARD on the Nurburgring