Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series – fastest production car on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, 6:48.047 lap time

If you’ve ever doubted the true prowess of the aero-frenzied C190 Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, its latest feat will shred those to bits. That’s because the feral coupé has just set the record for being the fastest series production vehicle to lap the 20.832 km-long Nürburgring-Nordschleife track.

Two official times (certified by a notary) were recorded. The GT Black Series covered the 20.6 km-long track (measured without the T13 long straight) with a time of 6:43.616, while the full lap time (including the straight section at T13) is 6:48.047. That puts it at the very top of the street-legal “sports cars” category, and number one among standard, unmodified models.

Okay, quick recap. The AMG GT Black Series is a front-engined, rear-wheel drive car that’s powered by a hand-built M178 LS2 4.0 litre twin-turbo petrol V8 producing 730 PS and 800 Nm of torque. Upgrades include new camshafts and exhaust manifolds, larger intercooler, and larger compressor wheels for the turbos (rams 1,100 kg of air per hour compared to 900 kg/hour for the GT R).

A beefier seven-speed AMG Speedshift 7G-DCT dual-clutch transmission sends drive to the rear wheels, and tasked with transmitting that power is a carbon-fibre driveshaft. All in, it does the century sprint in 3.2 seconds, zero to 200 km/h in under nine seconds, and tops out at 325 km/h.

Piloting the unmodified beast was 35-year-old GT3 racer Maro Engel. For this run, the GT Black Series had its aeros set to “Race” mode, and the adjustable AMG coilover suspension was lowered by 5 mm up front and 3 mm at the back. Camber values were maxed out at -3.8 degrees up front and -3.0 at the rear. The standard Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres were fitted, and braking was also managed by the standard-fit AMG ceramic high-performance composite brake system.

After setting the record lap time, Engel said: “That was a really impressive ride. With speeds of up to almost 270 km/h in the Kesselchen section of the track or well over 300 km/h on the long Döttinger Höhe straight, the AMG GT Black Series is significantly faster than my GT3 race car.”

“To finally drive around the Nordschleife in 6:48.047 minutes with a production road car in these track conditions is really awesome. Like my GT3 race car, the AMG GT Black Series offers a lot of adjustment possibilities, all of which enabled me to create a setup that was tailor-made for me,” he added. You may watch his blistering run in the video below.

What makes the achievement more impressive was the fact that track conditions weren’t the best. Lighting wasn’t ideal, certain demanding sections of the track hadn’t fully dried, ambient temperature was seven degrees Celsius, and the asphalt temperature was 10 degrees Celsius.

Timekeeping was precisely measured by Wige Solutions, a neutral specialist. An independent notary also certified the condition of the vehicle, its tyres, and other measurements. The classification of the vehicle classes is based on the official categories of the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (“Kraftfahrtbundesamt” KBA). So, are you impressed?

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