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New 2018 F1 safety car: The Mercedes AMG GT R

New 2018 F1 safety car: The Mercedes AMG GT R

Deeq

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blogentry-114362-0-83516500-1521683037_thumb.jpgThe Formula One 2018 season is kicking off this weekend, and the warm-up lap is going to be led by the most powerful Safety Car the sport has ever seen. This season, the Mercedes AMG GT R will be the safety car of choice – and as you probably already know, it’s a savage bit of kit.

 

blogentry-114362-0-52681900-1521683041_thumb.jpgProducing 577bhp from its 4.0-litre V8 biturbo engine, the mid-engined AMG GT R is also has a top speed of 197mph – making it the fastest course car ever. While no match for the F1 cars behind, the AMG GT R does have its own racing DNA, and borrows many parts from the even more hardcore AMG GT GT3 racer. What’s more, active-aerodynamics, rear-wheel steering and nine-way adjustable traction control give it an edge on the road.

 

blogentry-114362-0-67469500-1521683044_thumb.jpgThe Safety Car version of the GT R gets F1 signage and a light bar on the roof, and Mercedes says the positioning of the latter is a result of extensive wind tunnel tests. Inside, things are much the same, but two iPads give the co-driver all the essential race info such as the position of cars on track, lap times and the international TV broadcast.

 

blogentry-114362-0-23764700-1521683047_thumb.jpgHoned and tested at the Nurburgring, the newly unveiled Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R even has a colour named after the famous circuit – AMG Green Hell Magno. The world debut may have taken place at Brooklands Mercedes-Benz world in England's leafy Surrey, but there’s no doubt as to where this car’s spiritual home is.

 

The third member of the rapidly expanding AMG GT family, the R is Merc’s most powerful production car since the SLS AMG Black Series – although Mercedes maintains the GT is a very different car.

 

blogentry-114362-0-03655800-1521683050_thumb.jpgThe GT R has a Nurburgring laptime likely to dip under 7min 20sec, according to Tobias Moers, the head of Merc's AMG division.

 

Just like on the standard car, they’re fitted inside the V configuration, in a system Mercedes refers to as ‘hot inside V’. Benefits include a more compact engine design and faster responses from the turbos. They've been uprated to give greater boost pressure and liberate more power – 577bhp to be precise; 74bhp more than the AMG GTS and a full 84bhp more than the Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

 

 

Is it the coolest safety car of all time?




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