Mercedes-AMG GT R
This is what you lose with a GT R compared to an SLS Black: gullwing doors, a certain insane street presence, the massive charm of the AMG “6.3” in its most extreme state of prep and tune. This is what you do not lose: raw pace on a racetrack. The matte-green missile sets a new bar for that.
Rolls-Royce Phantom
This is a sizeable machine—nearly 19 feet end-to-end (and nine inches longer if you spring for the extended wheelbase) and wide enough to shade the lane lines on tight bends. But with the benefit of rear-wheel steering, the big Rolls pivots nicely, never feeling ponderous.
Out on the highway, the Phantom rolls along with bullet-train smoothness. The steering wheel is huge and thin-rimmed, pizza-crust dimensions cribbed from the days when a large-diameter wheel meant less arm fatigue for your chauffeur. The theory still works. You guide the Phantom along with tiny wrist and elbow adjustments, the variable-ratio steering light, precise and surprisingly feelsome.
BMW M550i xDrive
It’s the sense of control that comes through the clearest on the M550i. That’s due in large part to the revamped ZF 8-speed Steptronic transmission, which, in this application, feels better to the dual-clutch gearboxes, matched with the V8. Launching from a stop delivers a boost of controllable but fierce acceleration, with shifts banged off both quickly and disturbingly smoothly. Puttering through small towns and villages, the M550i feels like any other 5. But as soon as the last house whizzes by, a drop of the throttle in third gear elicits a wave of torque starting at 1,800 RPM and pulling hard past five grand. The engine is a peach, revving freely up to 7k and providing plenty of motivation for the 4,400-pound sedan, but it’s the set-it-and-forget-it transmission that’s shockingly impressive.
