AMG GT R - Der Tag

[Housey]

That is a beautiful car, love the haunches on the back.
Fair play on being able to afford such a machine

Cheers.

The car did have another small brain fart this evening. I had taken a drive to look at some investment properties in Shropshire (I hear that’s a good reason.....so obviously that is what I was doing.....we did look in some estate agent windows in Shrewsbury) and I had both braking assist and TC total brain fart “me no worky” messages that needed me to turn off and on again. That seemed to reset it but will need to speak to the dealer to find out what. The 2 x error messages vanished after the rest but does seem all the systems are a little bit flakey.

Putting that to one side, what a ******* car.

 

[Housey]

Arrived with 3989 miles so managed to enjoy the car a bit

Washed it for the 3rd time this evening and today was the first day when the Cup 2 tyres started to show their worth. When you get them warm they do offer immense traction and the wheel spin goes. Really rapid car, faster than the R8 and feels sharper too due to 4WS.

 

[Housey]

Was going to ask you what you thought of the 4WS, I read a few people say it feels odd mainly because you nearly sit on the rear axle so the rotation feels stranger to most cars as its front mounted engine is so far back

It does feel a touch odd at first, like a big Caterham in some ways but you soon tune into it. The steering is very sharp off centre so that takes some recalibration and very direct due to the 4WS but once again these are things you become use to fairly quickly if you've driven a few cars. Its sheer width and length of bonnet are the fist thing you think about, but few miles in you are placing it like and not even considering the bonnet anymore, well until you scrunch your first curb as you park nose in.

 

[Housey]

What are the services like on this? Are they like Ferrari type services, i.e. you have to go to Merc and there is a very defined service schedule or is it like a normal car if you see what I mean?

Next service, due in June is around £1000 so nothing like Ferrari or Lamborghini money, more like Porsche money. I believe that is plugs and gearbox oil too.

 

[Housey]

Yes 458 was first with service pack and warranty I think and that is superb!

 

[Housey]

With respect to the Burmester sound system, are you playing it over Bluetooth or a wired connection? If it’s Bluetooth, try using a wired connection as I’ve seen reviews saying Bluetooth connections are disappointing.

Yup, this improves it!

I fiddled with the screen trying to sort it and failed, but when I put media settings into the centre of the speed/rev counter it showed iPod and I selected that and much better sound. Better sound and more than enough for my old ears. Good shout @Bear

 

[Housey]

This is my dream car atm, but in red

I wanted Red actually, the one that was the US car launch colour was epic....but try and find one.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...z-amg-gtr-is-the-car-i-won-t-forget-from-2017


Oooooooof

But happy with my colour now and would not go to red now.

 

[Housey]

The colour is Hyacinth Red Metallic I think, it’s the same colour on my car Show Us Your Motors!

Designo Hyacinth Red I think, so same as yours.

I did consider the green, but loads in that colour and I think I would tire of it are a bit. The matt grey colour I have on mine was not actually a choice, but it grew on me more and more and then I found the one I wanted and there you go.

 

[Housey]

I must admit I am surprised to see you owning a Matt coloured car. It seems a bit Youtube star/football playery to me, at least it’s not white though!

Oh I never think about stuff like that, I’m 53, it’s lost on me completely. Never liked football and the people I follow on YouTube are far from shiny teethers than you could care to imagine. I like the colour of the paint, simple really.

Right, I need to sell some Romanian hookers.

 

[Housey]

So, here's a question Housey. So, I've owned my SRT8 now for a couple of months and as we all know, after a while of owning we now see the things that were either hidden, you didn't notice etc i.e. the things that you look and go I didnt' notice that. So, on mine, I've noticed a couple of boot scratches that I'd not noticed, the gloss on the calipers is looking a little worn, and a scratch/dig in the chrome on the rear.

So, what do you now see that you didn't see when it' was in a garage all waxed up etc? Anything or you think you've got lucky?

The car was mint and I never got to see it, I bought it blind.

There is the smallest of nicks I mean 2mm size next to one of the buttons on the centre console and......that's it. There was a small chip at the side of the door gap on the rear wing edge, but the seller showed me that on video and you would not have spotted it without it being pointed out. I don't like the PPF on the roof line as I can see the line (it's on the front surface to protect the main hit points) and I might have the entire roof done, but the car is immaculate and I have found nothing of concern.

The entire front end is PPF'd and I have done 50% of the miles the car has done in its life in the last 6 weeks for perspective. I effectively have a £162,000 car I paid £100,000 for....using the approved (and signed off) man maths.

 

[Housey]

It is filthy and sitting in the garage looking sorry for itself. I have always used my cars, never abuse them (if you exclude rear tyres on my E Class that is...) and always maintain them to high standard. In my experience used cars are much less prone to the foibles and niggles that impact garage queens. The fact my car needed a few grand of warranty work to replace some sensors is evidence of that. It will get washed and cleaned inside and out this weekend, which will be the forth time in my 6 weeks of ownership.

 

[Housey]

Is there anything special you need to do with the matte/frozen paint jobs?

Not that I am aware of specifically, but I have bought some Swissvax products that are supposed to be designed for such paint. Whole front end is PPF'd anyway so you are just washing plastic really and there are various PPF'd elements around arches etc and the roof, which is partly done and what isn't done is carbon fibre anyway. I use a snow foam to pre clean then go to work with all new washing mitts etc and use towels to dry off, which are so much nicer than leathers.

 

[Housey]

I had cause to call on the brakes in an emergency yesterday.

On a road I know well I came into a left hand blind bend to be confronted by 6 cars doing 5mph behind a pair of bikes. Back of a golf zooming towards me I moved to go down the right of the line by instinct as nothing coming as I stamped on the lot in the bend. Not only did it stop me well short the car didn’t become unbalanced at all, very impressive. Incredible poise and I know some of my previous cars would have been trying to swap ends.

The ride is quite stiff and it does move around a fair bit on bumps so needs respect but it really is a fast car and I can see why it laps the ring so quickly. Enjoying it hugely.

 

[Housey]

It’s a real problem round these parts too as so many of the B roads are lined by hedges. If you really ‘drive as fast as you can see’ you’re doing 20mph in anything as low as a sports car.

This is the issue as the “you were going to fast if you could not see” is unrealistic in some situations. Reality is you often make judgement calls else you would simply never be able to move. In this instance I was not speeding for example I’ve never been confronted with stopped cars in that area in my life. Judgement was therefore logical.

 

[Housey]

So some thoughts after nearly 3000 miles covered.

It really is very fast with torque to spare and the ability to pick up pace rapidly in any gear, though 7th is a long gear and tends to slow it down a bit. It took me some time to get use to the lower red line, I was used to on the V10 so hitting the rev limiter a couple of times, but now I am tuned in to that it is no problem. It feels a bit quicker than the R8 was and is certainly much quick lower down.

The ride even in softest settings is harsh and the R8 had better damping. On a well known road to me the R8 would be a quicker car as the GTR would be more unsettled, which speaks to the quality of the fixed damper set up on the R8 V10 Plus in Mk1 form, which was one of its real strengths. The GTR is very much like my GT3 was. Find a good road (or race track) and it is incredible, but come onto a badly cambered or bumpy road and it needs attention all the time. It will move around lots but it doesn't feel like it will throw you off the road where as the GT3 did and would.

Tyre temp is key to the car and when cold it is like driving on ice. Front end push as it pushes the tyres sideways, rear end sliding at slight throttle, really needs respect, but get the temp up and it just goes where you point it, loses the wheel spin and is so fast. I can see why this car is so quick at the Ring, it has been optimised for that (and perhaps compromised for British roads) but it is a spectacular car to drive and enjoy and keeps you on your toes.

Get's really positive comments from petrol heads and other motorists, mostly because many have no idea what it is outside of a Merc but it is very loud not least on overrun when the pops and bangs are a touch too loud if I am being honest. It scared me at first, cracks and bangs like Thors Hammer.

In summary, bloody love it.

 

[Housey]

3000 miles in 6 weeks?

Skillz right?

 

[Housey]

I expect you're on first name terms with the cashier at the local Shell garage

It is a thirsty thing.

 

[Housey]

3000 miles already yes well done, do you think you will be chopping it in before the mileage gets too high with depreciation ?

Nah. Always used my cars and taken the hit.

 

[Housey]

So a little bit of an update for anyone interested.

I took the car for its annual service to Macclesfield Mercedes on the 12th which ended up taking until late morning of the 13th to complete. It seems the plug replacement was a bigger job than planned so they asked for some more time to "make sure it's 100% right as a car like this we want to be right!", which I of course concurred with. Smidge annoyingly I was half way to them when they called (30 minutes in, but if they needed time I was happy to turn around and give them more).

I decided to let them wash the car after initially telling them not to and was promised "I have told them to be extra careful" and to be fair for a garage wash it was.....average. No marks I could see and better than when I dropped it off filthy so all in all fair enough I suppose. I spend and hour drying my car, all doors, boot and bonnet open, you all know the drill, but unreasonable to expect that level of attention.

One annoying thing that I only picked up to his PM was they had charged me £30 for the loan car! I have never paid for a loan car in my history of cars but now, £30 it is. I was about to make the call to the dealer but looking at my bill the sum off the parts is significantly less than I paid, so I will leave it. The bill is over 3 pages of utter confusion and all I can conclude is it's around £150 less than I was told it was going to be, so I'll move on.

So I leave the dealership (to thumbs up and nice comments from a few people....ah the joy of a special car) to head home when....5 minutes down the road....



Soooo back I head and they take out a smidge of oil. My conclusion is they put the right amount in, but didn't let all the old stuff finish emptying and it was a smidge over. The sensors on this car have a mind of their own too....more and that in a minute. The AMG specialist came out and explained what he had done, the extra checks etc, so happy to put this down to one of those things. Next time, 1/2 litre less and a 1 litre bottle for me to top it would be ideal.

So sensors....

On 3 different occasions now, twice pulling off a drive way and today, under hard acceleration coming onto a duel carriageway around a long sweeping bend I have had the electronics crap themselves! Previous 2 times was traction control related telling me I have none, fixed by turning it off and on again and nothing logged. Today was a bit more worrying, engine management light, engine cutting, then going to fixed yellow.....fixed by turning it off and on again with no messages left in the service list.

It is proving a touch temperamental, not least when you add the fact it had £4K of warranty bits swapped on a fundamentally new car. Again those were sensor and engine mounts, from reading a really common issue.

The weather in this country, not least heavy rain makes the tyres a real compromise. I have been out today, a nice warm day and when the tyres have heat they are magnificently grippy. Move to heavy rain and they give you death feelings. So exploring options to move to a PS4S. The current tyres, after 7K miles have 3-4mm on them so probably past their best, not least when it comes to rain but they are a shallower tread anyhow.

I love the car, it is proper special, but I hope it stops farting its brain when I push it.

 

[Housey]

Current mileage is 7,334 and it was circa 3,900 at delivery, so heading towards 4000 miles added

Last 2,886 miles has seen average consumption of 17.5mpg