The technology from Lewis Hamilton’s masterful machine will make this one of the fastest and most desirable four-door cars on the road.
Hybrid technology taken from Formula 1 will make the next Mercedes-AMG sedan one of the fastest cars on the road.
The somewhat awkwardly named Mercedes-AMG GT 63 SE Performance, which will go on sale locally in 2022, gives an already potent sports sedan a helping of hybrid power.
Most hybrid cars aim to drink as little fuel as possible to reduce running costs and vehicle emissions for environmentally conscious owners.
The new GT 63 takes a different approach.
The AMG’s battery system is not built in such a way that it can get as many kilometers as possible out of its electrical storage, but is designed to discharge its energy as quickly as possible.
The result is an overwhelming performance – combined 620 kW and 1400 Nm from a powerful V8 at the front paired with an electric motor on the rear axle.
The combination is good for a 2.9 second sprint to 100 km / h, along with a top speed of 316 km / h.
The car can drive up to 12 kilometers purely electrically – that is significantly less than with everyday plug-in hybrid models such as the latest Mercedes-Benz C-Class – and at speeds of up to 130 km / h.
Engineers at AMG’s German headquarters worked with Grand Prix gurus at the Mercedes power station in Brixworth to convert the 470 kW / 900 Nm 4.0-liter V8 biturbo and the car’s nine-speed automatic transmission with a separate 150 kW electric motor and a two-speed gearbox to work.
One of the discoveries is to use the electric motor as a form of traction control for the big V8 to give the driver improved precision on the track without slowing the car down by braking or reducing power.
A wide range of driving modes allows the owner to choose mild or wild power strategies that work with variable air suspension to suit the pilot’s mood.
Mercedes claims that its new battery has twice the power density of traditional alternatives and that the rear-mounted electrical hardware gives the competing machines superior weight distribution.
Full Australian details and pricing for the machine haven’t been confirmed, but we wouldn’t expect big changes of $ 500,000 or so. While that’s a lot of money – at least double the asking price of the upcoming C63 hybrid sedan – it represents a good amount of F1 technology for about a tenth of the asking price of the upcoming Mercedes-AMG One hypercar.
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