There's a reason beyond commercial interests that this car is what paces the field during a full-course yellow at a Formula 1 Grand Prix. The AMG GT R is over-engineered, overbuilt and powerful as a Mercedes should be, but it has the added dimension of being lithe and lively on a racetrack. If other Mercedes are a sledgehammer, the AMG GT R is a scalpel - precise, sharp and highly effective.

At its core is a handcrafted 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with a lightened flywheel, reshaped cylinders and heads and an aggressive engine-map that makes full use of its 577 horsepower throughout the rev range. Situated in a front-mid-engine layout in a lightened chassis yields a 47-52 front-rear weight bias.

The suspension features adjustable coil-over springs with 3-stage adaptive dampers tuned by Mercedes AMG Ride Control. Drivers have a choice of five different modes to dial in gear-change speed, ride firmness, exhaust sound and more. As part of these modes, there are nine settings for traction control channeled through a seven-speed AMG Speedshift DCT gearbox.

So what does it all do? How about a 0-62 MPH time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 198 MPH. Yet these numbers are only a part of the story. The AMG GT R is a superbly capable track car. Like all great sports cars, it's able to talk to the driver …telepathically. It tells you when there is is grip and let's you know when the edge is approaching. It corners with direct input from the steering wheel, going where you want it to rather than where physics wants it to. The Mercedes AMG GT R is at last, a car with the three pointed badge that can truly be called a "driver's car".