Whenever we think we’ve seen the most hardcore Mercedes-AMG GT, the German automaker one-ups itself. That’s the case with the GT Track Series. It’s a track-only special edition that’s lighter, more powerful and more outrageous than the Black Series that preceded it.
The seriousness is pretty obvious from the outside. It has even more aggressive splitters and wings than before, many of which are adjustable either for more downforce or less drag. Carbon fiber makes up much of the body including the hood, fenders, side skirts, trunk lid and rear bumper.
On top of that, the car has been stripped as bare as possible, all to get the weight down to 3,086 pounds. There are hardly any comfort items to speak of in the single-seat cabin save for air conditioning, and the optional ventilated helmet and seat system as well as a drink system. In place of all that is a custom racing wheel, carbon fiber seat, five-point harness, roll cage, multifunction instrument screen, safety nets, escape hatch and a fire suppression system, all meeting FIA standards.
The carbon-intensive body hides the most powerful version of the Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V8 yet. Like the Black Series, it features a flat-plane crankshaft, but it has “motorsports” injectors and a new tune that brings output up to 778 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. Power goes down a carbon fiber torque tube to the six-speed sequential transaxle at the back.
The suspension and brakes are motorsport-quality, too. It features four-way adjustable suspension with adjustment for rebound, damping and ride height. The anti-roll bars are adjustable, too. The brakes use steel rotors measuring 15.4 inches up front, and 14 inches at the back. The front calipers have six pistons while the rears have four. It all rides on 18-inch forged wheels with tires that measure 325-mm wide. Additionally, brake bias, traction control and ABS are all adjustable.
Mercedes is only building 55 examples of the Track Series, as it’s a celebration of AMG’s 55th anniversary. Each car starts at 369,000 euros, or about $406,000. In addition to the car, owners will receive training on how to use the car, along with a support line, and the availability of an engineer for track events for help setting up and running the car.
Related video:
Source: www.autoblog.com