You all have made it clear that there’s a difference between a Mercedes-Benz and your Mercedes-Benz. You love the company’s cars, but they can get better with a personal touch here and an upgrade there.
If you’re a Mercedes-AMG GT S owner and you think more power and an even deeper, more frightening snarl of an exhaust note would make it just right, take a look at what Weistec has developed.
For $2,950, you can get the tuner’s ECU upgrade for the GT S’s M178 twin-turbo V8. Weistec states it “provides [an additional] 118 wheel horse power and 134 wheel torque at lower RPM’s along with substantial gains in the mid and high range.”
On 91 octane, rear-wheel horsepower peaks at 535 and rear-wheel torque tops out at 580 lb-ft. A stock GT S has maximums of 480 and 454, respectively.
Coupling the ECU boost with Weistec’s $4,249.99 downpipe and midpipe upgrade, which features three-inch low-carbon 304 stainless steel pipes, brings even greater gains in output. Horsepower at the wheels shoots up to a max of 551; torque balloons to 620 lb-ft. The biggest gain in rwhp comes at 4,100 rpm, where Weistec has given the GT S an additional 133 ponies. Weistec squeezes an additional 176 lb-ft out at 3,500 rpm.
Of course, those improvements would only be half as cool if they weren’t accompanied by a killer sound. Hit the play button below to hear how Weistec has given the Mercedes-AMG GT S a wonderfully scarier bark.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
