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Oluwafemi Awodele
2 weeks ago
Overview
Honorable mention..
Mercedes-AMG ONE
The Mercedes-AMG One is first and foremost a hybrid supercar. A 1,049bhp technical showcase for what Mercedes can achieve when it really puts its collective brain (and many Euros) to a near impossible task – like putting the engine from a 2016 Formula One world championship-winning racing car into a street-legal vehicle. And selling it to people without the skills of George or Sir Lewis. Gulp.
But the AMG One is also a story in itself. A car that was first presented in 2017, promising deliveries in 2019. Or 2020. Then there was a global pandemic, a critical parts shortage, and even by the time Mercedes’ dominant F1 form started to slip in 2022, the British-built One still wasn’t ready.
At long, long last – following AMG boss Tobias Moers leaving to join Aston Martin, before being red-carded from the British rival as well – the One is finally in production, with the 275 customers starting to receive their £2.3m toys in the autumn of 2022. Deliveries will be complete by Christmas 2023
A quick interlude now to explain or remind just how complicated this car is. At its heart sits a 1.6-litre single turbocharged V6. The turbo is effectively split between the intake and exhaust and this allows a 120bhp electric motor to sit amid it, spooling up the boost long before exhaust pressure would have it ready. This is what F1 commentators call the MGU-H and it effectively reduces turbo lag.
On the back of the internal combustion engine, which produces 566bhp (a staggering 353bhp per litre) is a bigger 161hp electric motor (MGU-K, to F1 commentators) and they both drive the rear axle. Each of the front wheels has another 161bhp electric motor, which F1 commentators don’t have to worry about.
Peak combined power is a claimed 1,049bhp and no torque figure has been published because it is too difficult to calculate. Given that half the work is undertaken by electrons, we can probably summarise it as ‘plenty’.
more: https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/mercedes-benz/amg-one
