this year marks the 55th anniversary of hans werner aufrecht and erhard melcher founding a little company called amg. over the last half-century and change, that affalterbach-based company has come to represent some of the most extreme sports cars on the road and the racetrack. not one to let a milestone anniversary pass without some fanfare, mercedes-amg has just unveiled its most powerful customer car yet: the mercedes-amg gt track series.
not to be confused with the former black series model, the mercedes-amg gt track series is a track-only weapon not suitable for road use. the car is based on last year’s roadgoing black series, though the team at amg no longer had to be concerned with such trivial things as government regulations. instead, the automaker utilized its knowledge from gt3 and gt4 racing to push the already crazy machine to its most extreme form. under the hood still sits amg’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo v-8, retaining the flat-plane crankshaft of the roadgoing model. thanks to the addition of some custom motorsports injectors and a new tune, the v-8 now cranks out 734 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. those figures represent gains of 14 hp and 37 pound-feet, respectively.
that power is now fed to the rear wheels via a sequential hewland hls six-speed racing transaxle. an adjustable racing differential is in place to help keep things orderly around the track. mercedes-amg has also fitted a set of four-way adjustable bilstein dampers, complete with individually adjustable high and low-speed settings for rebound and compression. putting that suspension to the ground is a set of 18-inch wheels, chosen due to the availability of competition tires in that size. behind those wheels sits a set of motorsports-grade steel brakes, which feature adjustable brake balance like a proper racing car. speaking of adjustability, the track series also comes equipped with 12-mode racing traction control and abs setup.
the aerodynamics package from the black series has also been upgraded for this track-only variant, including a higher-downforce front splitter and a revised rear wing. even more carbon fiber has been used in the car's hightech silver magno bodywork, which helps to drop the curb weight to just 3086 pounds. that’s pretty impressive when you consider mercedes-amg stuck the full suite of motorsports safety equipment into the gt track series, including an integrated roll cage, a fire suppression system, and even an extrication hatch in the roof. that all combines to ensure the driver safety cell in the track series "meets the latest fia standards," mercedes says.
the stripped interior looks ready for a proper racer, donning a steering wheel designed in collaboration with cube control, as well as a bosch ddu 11 driver display unit. the bucket seats look incredibly cool, and mercedes-amg says they provide higher levels of safety than standard fia-approved buckets. here's hoping no one ever has to test that claim.
mercedes-amg will only build 55 examples of the gt track series, with each example carrying an msrp of $405,575. customers will have to deal with mercedes-amg directly if they'd like to purchase one, as the track series is being sold directly to consumers. that does come with some benefits, as the purchase includes technical training prior to delivery, engineer support for track days or club events, a race weekend support line, and access to a supply of spares.
the mercedes-amg gt track series takes an already ludicrously capable car and turns the knob up to 15. for that reason alone this thing will certainly be remembered as a high point of this era for amg, even if the owners simply squirrel these things away. i hope that doesn't happen, because the world deserves to see these special cars flexing their might.
from: road & track