The most aggressive and potent version yet of Mercedes-AMG’s GT supercar has been teased for the first time prior to a world premiere at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 24.

Mercedes-Benz had plenty of letters and numbers to pick from for the track-devouring edition of their AMG GT, but somehow they ended up using the letter ‘R’, which sounds like am odd choice given how everyone and their mother associates the resulting naming combo with Nissan’s supercar-eating GT-R.

Placed above the 456hp (462PS) base and 503hp (510PS) ‘S’ models, but below the future Black Series edition, the first addition to the AMG GT’s range since its launch in 2014 is a hardcore interpretation of the German supercar aimed at the likes of Porsche’s 911 GT3 RS and McLaren’s 675LT.

AMG has been coy about the GT R’s details, but we expect the upgraded twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 to produce anywhere from 550 to 600 horses. Torque should also rise and together with a revised seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, help improve upon the GT S’ 3.8 second run to 100km/h (62mph).

The GT R will be lighter than the 1,645kg (3,627 lbs) GT S, with parts of the body believed to be made from carbonfiber, while benefitting from uprated brakes, wheels and tires, suspension, steering, and as you can see from the teasers, from a racier bodykit too. We don’t get the whole picture, but we spotted the beefed up wheel arches, fixed rear wing and the new front grille with the vertical slats reminiscent of the W194 300SL Gullwing racer from the 1950s that was recently used on the AMG GT3 prototype.

This won’t be the last we hear from Mercedes on the GT series, as the Germans plan to introduce additional models over the next few years.

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