Not just any Mercedes, either: it's the new GT R, the latest incarnation of the Mercedes-AMG GT, a rear-wheel-drive sports car with a 4-liter V8 producing 577 bhp. Drive Australia reports:
The most track focused road car from the German car maker has set a blistering time of 7:10.9 around the 21km Nurburgring track in Germany.
This is the fastest time ever set by a rear-wheel drive road car. The only road cars to post a quicker time are the Porsche 918 Spyder, Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce and Nissan GT-R Nismo.
The time was set by German automotive magazine Sport Auto.
There's more at the link.
Note the steadiness of the GT R. Even in the mid-200-kph range, it's like riding on rails. Watch the video in full-screen mode for best results.
I wouldn't mind one of those for the occasional fast run to Amarillo or Dallas-Fort Worth . . . but I'll have to sell a metric buttload of books to afford it!
Peter
Why does that make me think of the old GB race plane? (Hardware so powerful and touchy you had to be absolutely expert to keep from killing yourself.)
ReplyDeleteA metric buttload... how much exactly does that weigh in imperial units? :-P
ReplyDeleteIt's about 2/3 of a $h!t-ton, which is around 7/8 of a metric $h!t-ton. ;-)
DeleteHe only got into the 180s once... :-) Most of the time he was between 55 and 140 mph. :-D
ReplyDeleteLoved the crackle of the exhaust note at the beginning of the video, somebody did that part right, you just don't hear that anymore on newer cars.
ReplyDeleteI saw 305 KPH at one point towards the end. It did seem to stick to the road quite well.
Yes, I would imagine a metric assload of money would be required to get your hands on one.
For those who don't know how much that is, it is just slightly less than a shit ton.
Metrics, ya know.
Great ride - what was the Porsche that passed him? A 918R? Amazing how it kinda ran away from this really fast Mercedes!
ReplyDeleteI would have said that the Porsche was most probably a 911 GT3.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is more race car than street car, even the latest incarnation (the 991 series) from 2013 has almost 100 HP LESS than claimed for that Mercedes - yet it vanished into the distance.