Mercedes-AMG Promises to Bring Formula One Tech to the Street with Project One Hypercar

Mercedes-AMG Promises to Bring Formula One Tech to the Street with Project One Hypercar

Published: September 14, 2017 | By: American Luxury Staff

Mercedes-AMG finally revealed its Project One hypercar this week.

The F1-inspired street-legal racecar is the most anticipated new model introduced by a major automaker this year. Touted as the first street-legal F1 car in history, it borrows much from the Mercedes-AMG Formula One hybrid racer that has been a competitive powerhouse for the past several years, taking home championship wins in 2014, 2015, and 2016. And, the company reports, all F1 expertise garnered since Mercedes returned to the competition in 2010 is contained, in some way, within the Project One.

The Project One’s engine comes directly from the Mercedes-AMG racecar, a regulation 1.6L turbocharged V6 engine connected to an electric motor. This electric motor also acts as an energy recycler during braking; the ICE/electric motor combination gives the rear wheels the bulk of the juice: 670 horsepower. The electric motor is called the MGU-K, or motor generator unit, kinetic.

There are, however, three more electric motors in the Project One’s design. The MGU-H, or motor generator unit, heat, is connected to the single, split-shaft turbocharger, keeping it rotating at high RPM and negating turbo lag in the process. And it, too, can generate electricity, as can the two motors which drive the front wheels.

It’s all quite technical. The bottom line is that, all told, the car manages 1,000 horsepower from its combustion engine and four electric motors, and its design is brilliantly efficient.

The car also receives an eight-speed sequential with optional paddle shift, a super-stiff suspension that is derived directly from F1, and a F1-inspired two-seat carbon-fiber body. The car’s active aerodynamics surpasses the performance potential of strict adherence to F1 regulations. The cabin, as expected, is F1 inspired all the way.

Limited to just 275 units at $2.7 million, the Mercedes-AMG Project One is already sold out.

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