With the soon-to-be-released Mercedes-Benz AMG GT aiming squarely at Porsche’s 911, recently leaked photos of a race-spec AMG GT3 may point to an even higher performance AMG GT hitting the market in the near future. Rumor suggests that the SLS AMG GT’s 6.2-liter naturally-aspirated V8 may make its way under the hood of the AMG GT3, though it is still possible to see the racecar equipped with a highly-tuned version of AMG’s new 4.0-liter Bi-Turbo unit.
The AMG GT3 will retain much of the standard AMG GT’s aluminum space-frame chassis, though a large portion of its body will be made from carbon fiber. The interior, too, will see a complete race treatment, with a roll cage, multifunction steering wheel, and a race-oriented digital information display. The photos also show seats sculpted entirely of carbon fiber, leading us to wonder if AMG will take a line from the LaFerrari’s book and mold the GT3’s seats directly to the tub.
Of course, no spec race car would be complete without the accompanying aero and performance upgrades–the massive rear wing and flared wheel arches will make for immense downforce at high speeds, while a newly-developed 6-speed sequential manual gearbox will be specially tuned to swap ratios at lightning speeds.
The AMG GT3 is set to race first during the 2016 season, qualifying in the FIA-GT3 class along with a series of other GT3 classes. It will be fascinating to see how the AMG GT3 stacks up against the likes of the McLaren P1 GTR and Ferrari’s race-spec LaFerrari, which is slated to launch in the near future.
Mercedes AMG is set to announce the AMG GT3 at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show, so please stay tuned at TFLcar.com for more updates.
Please enjoy this TFLcar.com video review of the launch of the 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series.
Frank caught automotive fever early in life. Hailing from a long line of car fanatics, he was able to recite the year and model of every car that passed him by age five. His passion and love for the automobile have only grown since then. When not thinking about cars, he is reading, writing, learning, or dreaming about them. His area of expertise is in the realm of German and Italian cars, of which Porsche is a favorite. Frank currently resides in the heart of NASCAR country in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his family. He enjoys driving exotic cars in the beautiful Carolina weather.
