Halloween is almost upon us, and the peeps at Mercedes-AMG couldn’t pass this opportunity to promote their wildest road-going car to date. The roaring engine of the GT Black Series is the real star of the featured video, which is certain to bring a smile to your face with its amusing plot.
Derived from the M178 dry-sump V8 found in lesser GT models, the LS2 is flexing numerous modifications. The most dramatic improvement over the M178 is the flat-plane crankshaft, which sounds very unique due to the characteristic firing order (1-8-2-7 4-5-3-6 as opposed to 1-5-4-8 6-3-7-2 for the M178). With less rotational mass than a cross-plane crankshaft, the LS2 in the GT Black Series also happens to rev 200 rpm higher than a GT R.
The most powerful V8 production engine from the mad professors in Affalterbach delivers 730 PS (720 horsepower) between 6,700 and 6,900 rpm while torque is rated at 800 Nm (590 pound-feet) between 2,000 and 6,000 rpm. Those are phenomenal numbers for a 4.0-liter mill, especially if you compare them to the 4.0-liter powerplant used by the McLaren 720S.
Tipping the scales at 1,540 kilograms (3,395 pounds), which makes it lighter than the track-focused GT R Pro, the GT Black Series isn’t for the faint of heart or for Average Joes because it has lapped the Nurburgring in 6:43 and because it costs a ridiculous $326,050 sans optional extras.
“The performance, looks, and driving dynamics of the GT Black Series are second to none,” says Tobias Moers, former big kahuna at Mercedes-AMG and current head honcho at Aston Martin Lagonda. “This project was a fantastic closure to my work at AMG, for which I am truly thankful.”
Not long now, the GT will be redesigned from the ground up on the AMG-developed platform of the new SL for the 2022 model year. The R232 is offered only with AWD and the wet-sump M177 for the time being.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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