That’s the kind of transformation we’re talking about with the circa-$420k (but TBA) Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, and not because AMG has been watching one-too many YouTube videos and straight-piped its 911 rival. This is way more serious than that.
Yes, the seventh Black Series, and the successor to the spectacular SLS Black from 2013, follows the ‘more power, less weight, big wings, bigger price’ formula automakers reach for when they want to make a fast car faster. The same one used by McLaren to turn the 720s into the incredible 765LT we recently drove.
But AMG has done something radical to give the ultimate incarnation of the GT a completely different character: switched to a flat-plane crank for its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8. Ford did the same thing a few years ago when it created the Shelby GT350, and the effects here are similarly transformational. Hit the starter button and the V-8 settles to an impatient rat-tat-tat idle, like it’s pissed that it’s wasting time in the pit lane when it could be bouncing off its limiter out on a track. And just to add to the sense of foreboding, the track in question is Germany’s Lausiztring, where former F1 driver and now Paralympian, Alex Zanardi, lost his legs, and F1 contemporary Michele Alboreto lost his life.
We’re using a mix of twiddly infield turns that don’t show off the Black’s imposing new aero features, and two parts of the speedway banking that fortunately do, because there’s no run-off to save you from hitting the wall if you mess things up. The most obvious of those aero devices is the giant bi-plane rear wing, but the two-position, electrically-adjustable front splitter that juts out for track use from below the new bigger grille is going to be every bit as important if we’re to have any hope of keeping up with DTM legend and AMG brand ambassador Bernd Schneider in his GT Black.
Those devices exert up to 882 pounds of downward pressure at 155 mph, but the use of carbon fiber for the hood, fenders and roof, plus lighter windshield glass, means there’s less mass than in the next rung down the AMG GT ladder, the GT Pro.
Where the R’s V-8 makes 577 hp at 6250 rpm, the Black kicks out a massive 720 hp between 6700-6900 rpm. Torque is up from 516 lb-ft to 590 lb-ft and the 0-60 mph time falls from 3.5 seconds to 3.1. At 3616 pounds (down 70 pounds versus the GT R) it’s still a heavy car compared to something like the McLaren 765LT, and according to AMG’s figures, which say it’ll get from 0-124 mph in “under nine seconds” compared with well under seven for the Macca, it’s clear there are quicker cars in the class.
