If you had to bet money on which car would be first to reach 200 km/h (124 mph) between a 510 PS RWD Mercedes AMG GT S and a 610 PS AWD Audi R8 V10 Plus, you’d think that it would be a no-brainer, right?
Well, as a matter of fact, it pretty much is, though on paper there is one little thing that might throw you off in the beginning. Yes, the AMG GT S has 100 fewer PS, will hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.8 seconds, which is over half a second slower than the R8 V10 Plus, which has a top speed of 330 km/h (205 mph) – 20 km/h (12 mph) more than the Merc can manage.
And don’t think of that as being insignificant. About 20 km/h more is what a Williams can manage on the straights compared to say a McLaren-Honda. It makes a huge difference, especially when you can maintain that advantage throughout the rev range.
The thing that might throw you off about this particular scenario is that the AMG GT S has more torque than the R8, quite a bit more. We’re talking about 650 Nm (479 lb-ft) compared to the AMG’s 560 Nm (413 lb-ft), which should definitely make a difference if the cars also happen to weigh about the same…and guess what? In this case, they do.
So without giving anything away, do you still have any doubts as to which one is going to be first to hit 200km/h?
The main questions here are: how does a better torque-to-weight ratio compare to a better power-to-weight ratio, and how big of a part do the transmissions play? Especially when it comes to the number of wheels receiving direct power.
Hit the video below to see just how the two supercars stack up.