Mercedes-AMG has revealed the technology behind its forthcoming Project One hypercar, which is due to be unveiled at the Frankfurt show in September. And the hardware lives up to the hype: The ultimate AMG will have a fiendishly complex powertrain borrowed from the all-conquering Mercedes grand prix racers, with additional electric motors driving the front wheels to help deliver a total system output north of 1,000 hp.
The heart of the car is a 1.6-liter turbocharged V-6 based on the engine that powered Lewis Hamilton to the 2015 World Driver’s Championship. The heads are the same, as is the block, but the pistons and crankshaft have been changed to lower the compression ratio in order to get the engine to meet emissions regulations around the world. And although the original race V-6 would rev to a dizzying 13,500 rpm, the Project One’s version is limited to 11,000 rpm. Idle speed has also been brought down to 1,000–1,200 rpm instead of the race car’s 3,800–4,000 rpm.
This main power unit is bolted to a brand-new eight-speed automatic transmission, which drives the rear wheels. AMG engineers say they decided against a dual-clutch transmission because it would have been too heavy and would have had trouble keeping up with the little V-6’s ultra-high rev limit.
AMG hasn’t confirmed numbers, but the internal combustion engine develops at least 700 hp with the help of a massive single turbocharger and two electric motors. The unusual turbocharger is identical in layout to that used in the Mercedes F1 car. The exhaust turbine is located at the rear of the block and connected to the compressor, which is located at the front of the block by a shaft that runs through the vee of the engine.
A 107-hp electric motor mounted concentrically on the shaft (called the MGU-H, for motor generator unit-heat) is used to keep the turbo spinning at all times and to harvest excess energy generated by the exhaust and feed it into the battery pack. Mercedes-AMG development engineer Jan Feustel says the system means the engine has the response of a naturally aspirated V-8 despite the size of the turbocharger. Not all that 107 hp is used to spin the turbo—the motor’s power rating is also a measure of the amount of energy it is able to recover. “It could be smaller if it was to just to rev the turbo,” says Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers.
The second electric motor, mounted low on the engine and called the MGU-K (motor generator unit-kinetic), develops 161 hp and is connected directly to the crankshaft, where it performs the same task as in the F1 racers, delivering a power boost when needed. In an F1 Mercedes that power is only available for a short period. In the Mercedes-AMG Project One, however, extra power will be available for longer and over a wider range of operating parameters.
Key to that capability is an 800-volt battery pack with four times the capacity as the one in the Formula 1 car. Capacity aside, the battery pack is otherwise identical to that used on the track, right down to chemistry, cooling, the way the cells are arranged, and the connectors. “You don’t want to know what it costs,” Moers says.
The extra battery capacity is also used to power the 161-hp motors connected to each of the front wheels. Like the Acura NSX, the Project One will use the motors for traction and performance and to actively vary the torque sent to each front wheel to enhance agility through corners. The AMG system looks significantly simpler than Honda’s, however. The motors are internally the same as the MGU-K, and like the V-6 engine itself, they are remarkably compact. Project One’s whole powertrain reportedly weighs 926 pounds, and 220 pounds of that is the battery.
With 322 hp of electric power at the front wheels, Project One will also be able to be driven with the V-6 internal combustion engine shut down. Pure EV operating range is not great—about 15 miles—but the Project One is not designed to be a daily commuter. However, it will be a daily driver, Moers says. Unlike with the Bugatti Chiron, there’ll be no special key required for owners to access the car’s full performance.
In addition to the powertrain, AMG revealed Project One will feature a sophisticated race car–style, height-adjustable pushrod suspension front and rear, giant carbon-ceramic brakes, and forged center-lock alloy wheels, 19 inches up front and 20 inches at the rear. The Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires—285/35ZR19 front and 335/30ZR20 rear—have been specially developed by Michelin to cope with the massive downforce the car will be capable of developing.
Project One will lower itself closer to the tarmac in Track mode—just like the new Ford GT—and although Moers won’t elaborate, he hints the car’s aerodynamics will be just as bleeding edge as the powertrain. “It’s not sensible to have such a sophisticated powertrain without sophisticated aerodynamics,” he says .
Bringing genuine F1 powertrain technology to the street has been a challenge. That highly strung internal combustion engine has had to be made to meet all global emissions standards, and the electric drive systems, a vital element of Project One’s performance capability, added weight. But the biggest challenge? Noise, vibration, and harshness. As in a Formula 1 racer, the Project One’s engine is a structural element of the chassis, bolted at the front end to the car’s carbon-fiber tub and at the rear to the transmission (to which the rear suspension is attached). “F1 guys don’t care about NVH in an engine,” Moers says, “and a V-6 is … not the best idea regarding NVH.”
Project One is right at the very limits of what is technically possible for a road-going automobile, so much so the powertrain has been lifed to just 30,000 miles before it requires major—and expensive—refurbishment. That’s not an issue for customers in this rarified market segment, Moers says. “The only thing people ask us,” he says, “is if they need a Formula 1 team or special support to run the car. No. You just push the start button, and you go.”
AMG plans to build 275 Project Ones, and all have been sold, with approximately 50 coming to the U.S. No official word on pricing, but it’s safe to say that if you have to ask, you can’t afford one.
It might be one of the edgiest, most technically advanced road cars ever built, but Project One is more than just a nice way to celebrate AMG’s 50th anniversary. It points to a future where AMG’s fastest, most potent cars will be plug-in hybrids. “It is going to be the future,” Moers says. “With hybrids you add performance and you increase efficiency. What’s wrong with that?”
The Mercedes-AMG Project One is therefore intended to redefine the notion of ultimate performance under the AMG brand. “If you have a strategy and you want to move into a new era, a new dimension of performance,” Moers says, “it’s good to have something that opens the door in a very authentic way. This car is it.”
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