The Mercedes-AMG GT-R Pro may be fast, but it sure isn't cheap

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Mercedes-AMG's GT is one hell of a lovable grand touring car. It's attractive, easy to live with, and packs one of the best engines in the business: the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 from AMG. In some ways, though, it leaves some performance on the table.

The AMG GT is softer than some of the more hardcore products from its rivals, and for those owners who want to take their car to the track, that's a problem. Thankfully, Affalterbach launched a solution to that in the form of the Mercedes-AMG GT-R Pro which has all kinds of fun suspension tweaks to make it just that much more of a weapon on track.

While we've known about the GT-R Pro for a while now and even driven it -- we weren't sure just how much of a premium AMG was going to charge for it over and above what it asks for the standard non-Pro GT-R, which starts at just a hair under $160,000. That changed on Monday when Mercedes announced pricing for the Pro, which almost immediately made our eyes water.

If you're lucky enough to convince your friendly local dealer to sell you one of the 750 GT-R Pros, you can expect to pay $199,650 before destination or any kind of dealer markup, according to an announcement made Monday by Mercedes. So then, what exactly does your extra $40,000 buy you?

Lots of extra carbon fiber, mostly. You get a bigger wing, different splitter and diffuser, carbon-fiber fender vents and an adjustable front anti-roll bar that made from -- yep, you guessed it -- carbon fiber. You also get a manually adjustable coil-over suspension. What you don't get is any more power, not that the AMG GT-R really needed it anyway with its already healthy output of 577 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque.

So, now knowing the GT-R Pro's price in addition to its performance specs, is it worth the small premium you'd pay over a Porsche GT3 RS? Maybe -- if you really wanted something that makes a V8 roar rather than a flat-six howl and if exclusivity was super-important.