The hardcore Mercedes-AMG GT sports car is due to go on sale in 2016AMG is hard at work on a harder, faster version of the GT road car ahead of a 2016 launch, with inspiration taken from its GT3 racer
Mercedes-AMG has released a new preview video which is believed to reveal the sound of the upcoming hardcore GT sports car.
Scheduled to go on sale in 2016, the most sporting version of the GT will take inspiration from the GT3 racer which was unveiled at the Geneva motor show in March. Targeted to compete with Porsche's 911 GT3, it's already known the hot Mercedes-AMG model won't take the GT3 moniker for production, but nor will it use the Black Series title.
Speaking at the Geneva show, Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers said: "The Black Series name stays. It will be necessary in the future, but for now the base cars are so good. The Black Series must be at the top of the hill, but I don’t know when or on what model yet.”
The preview video doesn't give much away, but the sound of a high-performance model can be heard at the Hockenheimring.
Early spy pictures reveal the new model will receive a large fixed rear wing, as well as new winglets on the bonnet to channel air flow to the rear. A more extreme front bumper can also be seen.
The target for the car, said Moers, is a package that excels in every area. “I don’t want to make a dragster that’s only good for doing 0-100km/h [0-62mph] in 2.8sec. We need more power, less weight, better aerodynamics and different suspension, but the targets should be the power-to-weight ratio, driveability, lap time and tremendous feel.”
The aim for the new car will be to reduce weight by 80-100kg compared with the 1570kg S version of the GT, a task Moers admitted would not be possible without using different materials. “The car is already 80kg lighter than the SLS and has a similar power-to-weight ratio, so to lose much more weight we will need to use carbonfibre, as we have with our Black Series models.”
He was less easily drawn on how much additional power will be extracted from the new twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine, although he admitted that it would be fair to speculate it will be around the 550bhp mark, a near 10% power increase on the more powerful (503bhp) of the two engines available for the GT at launch.
Making that power from the engine should be straightforward, because the V8 shares its internal architecture with the 2.0-litre four-cylinder motor used in the likes of the A45 AMG, from which 355bhp is already extracted. He added: “That doesn’t mean we can get 700bhp from the V8 – it is not as simple as that – but the V8 is currently very understressed.”
A 550bhp GT weighing 80kg less than the standard car would provide a power-to-weight ratio of 369bhp per tonne, compared with the 312bhp per tonne of the current Porsche 911 GT3. That should be enough to knock its 0-62mph time back from 3.8sec to a traction-limited 3.6sec.
Top speed is unlikely to increase from the current 193mph, because Moers is keen to equip the car with considerable downforce, even at the expense of extra drag. AMG now employs an entire department of aerodynamicists for the first time in its history.
The new car will also receive wider front and rear tracks to boost mechanical grip. The entire package should cut 10 or more seconds off the GT’s Nürburgring lap time, which currently stands at 7min 30sec with the car using, as Moers put it, “standard tyres, not special compounds designed to last just a few laps.”
Power for GT3 race car, meanwhile, comes from the same 6.3-litre V8 engine as 2010’s SLS AMG GT3, which produces around 600bhp. The engine is connected to a six-speed sequential transmission.
Such outputs give the GT3 a clear advantage over the standard GT road car, which gets 503bhp from its twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine in its most powerful form.
The GT3 was presented at the Geneva show in matt grey paintwork, and features a widened body, large air intakes at the front, a new diffuser and a prominent rear spoiler.
Racing modifications include a stripped-out interior and an integrated steel rollcage. Weight-saving measures include replacing the standard engine cover, doors, front wings and aprons, side skirts, diffuser and boot lid with new elements made from carbonfibre. Double wishbone suspension has also been fitted.
“We are entering a hard-fought, hotly contested competitive environment with the new Mercedes-AMG GT3," said Moers. "The high technological standards are spurring us on to push to take pole position with our new customer racing car. You can only give credible proof of your ambition to lead if you're beating the very best in the game."
See what GT3 models the new Mercedes-AMG will be up against
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