The new Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series is the most hardcore AMG to date

BY CALLUM HUNTER

WITH a pricetag of $796,900 plus on-road costs, the new Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series is comfortably the brand’s most expensive model currently offered in Australia and, given its Black Series nomenclature, also happens to be the most hardcore offering to date.

Powered by twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, the GT Black Series churns out a stratospheric 537kW from 6700-6900rpm and 800Nm from 2000-6000rpm, all of which is fed to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The engine in question is actually the same one as found in all of AMG’s ‘63’-badged models, however in this application it has been given a few not-so-minor tweaks to make it as potent as possible…

The GT Black Series is the most extreme AMG production vehicle to date.

The crankshaft has been swapped out for a new flat-plane one, the turbos have been upgraded (bigger) as have the intakes and intercoolers while the transmission has been remapped and had its cooling system beefed up.

In fact so much has been done to this powerplant that it actually carries its own unique engine code.

Being about more than just power though, the mad devils at AMG have also gone to town on the Black Series’ chassis, suspension, aerodynamics, styling, brakes, tyres and driver aids with most of the new bits coming straight from the parts bins of the AMG GT3 and GT4 racecars.

The GT3 and GT4 racing parts bin raiding is clear for all to see.

Starting at the front and working back, the gaping front fascia is lifted straight from the GT3 car – as are all of the aero features – the bonnet is all-carbon-fibre and features a raft of slashes, vents and ducts; all of which are functional.

The silhouette follows the familiar cab-back GT shape with the enormous GT3 wing being the only real, but very obvious, deviation from normality and it’s a similar story at the back too.

Here, the wing is rivalled for the limelight by a new carbon rear apron featuring an integrated diffuser and quad-exit exhaust tips – it would be impossible to mistake the GT Black Series for anything other than a racecar.

The rear wing is one of the car’s most defining features.

To match the ferocious firepower and styling, the Black Series rides on a beefed-up version of the GT R’s double-wishbone suspension set-up and scores the same spherical rear wishbone bearings as the racecars to ensure neither toe-in or wheel camber are affected during hard cornering – exactly what the Black Series is designed for.

Virtually every aspect of the Black’s suspension is able to be adjusted and fine-tuned, including the ride height, spring preload, wheel camber and front/rear torsion bar stiffness.

To help it cope with and survive on public roads – not just racetracks – physical bump absorption comes courtesy of a tweaked version of the GT R’s adjustable coil-over set-up which is then paired with the familiar AMG Ride Control adaptive damping system.

While clearly track-focused, the GT Black Series is fully road-legal.

As with any modern AMG, the characteristics of the suspension and powertrain can be altered via the AMG Dynamic Select drive modes or Drive Unit with three suspension modes on offer – Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus.

No strangers to going fast and with a very particular goal in mind – more on that below – AMG engineers evidently took note of one of F1 legend and Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s most famous quotes, “Adding power makes you faster on the straights, subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere,” and as such compiled the Black’s body almost entirely from carbon-fibre and aluminium.

Other weight-saving measures include the use of thin, lightweight glass for the front and rear screens, carbon-ceramic brakes, hollow-tube steel for the rear axle and 19-inch front/20-inch rear forged light alloy wheels.

Some serious engineering has gone into creating the GT Black Series.

To help keep the body as stiff and rigid as possible, carbon shear panels have been installed throughout the structure and underpinnings.

Customised Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R MO tyres have been employed to help the aggro coupe cling to the tarmac, measuring 285/35 ZR19 up front and 335/30 ZR20 at the rear.

When all is said and done, the huge combination of brute force, GT3 levels of aero and relatively light weight results in the Black Series getting from 0-100km/h in 3.2 seconds and a sub-nine-second dash to 200km/h before maxing out at 325km/h.

This is the fastest production car ever to have lapped the Nurburgring.

In terms of straight-line performance, there are faster cars available for less money, but none of them will lap the Nurburgring in 6 minutes and 43.6 seconds, making the new GT Black Series the fastest series-production car ever to lap the legendary track.

It’s gobsmacking to think that only 10 years ago, AMGs and especially the Black Series cars were tail-happy, sideways sliding V8 brutes that seemed to have little regard for lap times.

That all changed with the emergence of the SLS Black Series and now the GT Black Series has taken things to a whole new level.

The GT Black Series builds on the precedent set by the SLS Black Series in being more focused and track-honed.

To prove it isn’t just a one-off, AMG is currently locked in a tit-for-tat battle with Porsche over bragging rights for the ‘executive’ car lap record (GT 4-Door Coupe vs Panamera Turbo S) with Merc currently holding the advantage.

Just 28 GT Black Series are coming to Australia and surprise, surprise – they’re all spoken for.

Protect your Mercedes. Call Shannons Insurance on 13 46 46 to get a quote today.