If you thought the 720-horsepower, flat-plane-crank Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series was awesome, you're not alone. Mercedes evidently thinks it's pretty rad too, and that's probably why it's charging pretty much double the price of the next-best AMG GT for the privilege of owning one.
In its home country of Germany, the order books for Affalterbach's latest and greatest track car have opened, and the car will start at the equivalent of over $389,000 (335,240 euros). The AMG GT R Pro that falls directly underneath the Black Series costs "just" $199,650—about half of what a Black Series will cost. Is Mercedes-AMG's most powerful V8 road car ever really worth the premium over its GT R Pro underling? Let's compare and contrast.
As mentioned, the Black Series makes a dominant 720 hp from a flat-plane-crank, 4.0-liter bi-turbo V8. The GT R Pro, meanwhile, uses a regular cross-plane-crank, 4.0-liter V8 also with two turbos that produce 577 horses. The Black Series gets from zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds and tops out at 202 mph, while the GT R Pro gets to 60 in 3.5 seconds and hits a max speed of 198. Both cars inherit aero, suspension, and weight-saving technology gleaned from the company's GT3 racing program but, again, the Black Series just offers more, including a more gaping grille, a bigger rear wing complete with active center flap, and a whole lotta carbon fiber.
Oh, and that traffic-cone orange color (officially known as AMG magma beam) is a Black Series exclusive.
Viewed purely as a driving machine, then, is the Black Series AMG GT really double the experience of a much cheaper GT R Pro? Probably not (although we wouldn't object to Mercedes-AMG trying to show us otherwise). Whether it's worth it as a collector's item and status symbol, however, is likely a completely different story.
A Mercedes-Benz spokesman told The Drive that official U.S. pricing will be announced at a later date. That said, don't expect this car to magically be sold at any significant discounts once it comes stateside in early 2021.
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