Mercedes and AMG won't be left out of the hypercar game. The maker revealed a hint of its entry dubbed the R50.
For those who think the Mercedes-AMG GT or one of its variants isn’t quite fast enough, there’s reason to hope for the future.
The high-performance arm of Mercedes-Benz is working up something that will kick things up several notches, confirming long-standing rumors of a hypercar borrowing much of its basic technology from the German automaker’s dominant Formula One program.
Known internally as the R50, AMG gave some clues as to what’s coming at the Paris Motor Show. For one thing, it won’t be just for weekend warriors who want to pretend their F1 drivers and head for a day on the track. It will be a road car “you could drive every day,” according to AMG Chief Executive Tobias Moers.
As for timing, if you’ve got the necessary bank account, you won’t have to wait long. The AMG boss also suggested that it would be ready to deliver the first of the hypercars by around 2018 or 2019.
Automakers have long claimed to transfer technology from track to street, whether from NASCAR or endurance series like Le Mans. Those claims have often been overstated, more marketing than reality. But there’s no question that efforts to increase this tech transfer is accelerating as manufacturers face the demand for ever higher levels of performance.
Mercedes now plans to join a small club of manufacturers looking to put F1 technology on the road. More precisely, the German maker is working on the development of what is essentially a street-legal F1 race car.
The new R50 will borrow heavily from its Mercedes F-1 sibling.
We got a first hint of what’s coming during the Paris Motor Show, with a silhouette of what is known internally as the R50. While the silhouette was intentionally vague, it suggested some key elements of the maker’s Formula One model will be carried into production, albeit with less of the wild aerodynamic flourishes. There’ll also be a roof, as a completely open cockpit would make it difficult to use as a daily driver.
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Asking reporters what they might want in a Formula One-inspired street car, Mercedes-AMG tech boss Thomas Weber answered the question himself by suggesting, “’You would combine the best of both worlds.”
According to background comments from AMG insiders and reports that have been surfacing, the AMG R50 will primarily use carbon fiber construction, with a 1,300 horsepower engine mounted in the middle of the monocoque. That would be slightly less than the 1,500 hp Bugatti Chiron, but the R50 is also expected to weigh less, perhaps as little as 2,800 to 2,900 pounds versus Chiron’s 4,200-pound mass.
Sources are talking numbers in the 220 mph range for top speed, and 0 to 60 times of 2.5 seconds or less.
As with the latest Formula One race cars – and a growing number of street models, such as the new Ferrari Aperta supercar, expect the AMG R50 to use electric boost to maximize acceleration, both at launch and for coming out of corners.
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To ensure as much of that power as possible gets to the pavement, meanwhile, all-wheel-drive will be standard. So will four-wheel-steering to enhance cornering.
Though this might become the ultimate driver’s car, the R50 will still offer a variety of safety and driver assistance technologies, some reporting it will include a smart control system capable of assessing the driver’s abilities and automatically dialing up or down the level of controls that would be used to keep the hypercar on the pavement.
As for pricing, don’t be surprised to see a number moving into the $2 million range or higher. That would be no surprise considering the price of the new Ferrari Aperta, as well as the Bugatti Chiron.
Mercedes-AMG isn’t the only maker looking to notch the tech transfer concept up to what might be considered the ultimate level. Aston Martin recently confirmed it is developing its own F1-based hypercar. In this case, it is working with its own racing partner, Red Bull, to pull the Aston 001 together.
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Ironically, Mercedes now owns a small piece of the British automaker and is planning to supply engines for some of Aston’s new street models.