AMG GT Black Series Is The Fastest Unmodified Production Car To Lap The Nordschleife

Another week, another record claimed in the world of fast cars. Yet this one is the least surprising. Every “racecar for the road” product gets developed around the famous Nürburging Nordschleife. These tests usually include a lap record attempt to further validate the new car’s track prowess. So when Mercedes finally revealed the AMG GT Black Series, we knew it was going to set a new ‘Ring record and it has. The road-legal production series AMG GT BS set a lap time of 6min43.616seconds. Check out the onboard video of the record attempt here:

As mentioned in the AMG GT 63 S 4-door lap record, there are now TWO lap times stated. One is for the complete 20.832km circuit as officiated from 2019 and the other is the previously accepted 20.6km version which has been the standard for announcing Nürburgring lap times. So, the 6min43.616s time is for the 20.6km section which was also used for the official ‘Ring times of the recent record-holders: Lamborghini Huracan Performante, Porsche 911 GT2 RS and the now dethroned Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. However, the GT Black Series is still slower than modified GT2 RS MR which took 3 seconds less for the same stretch. The time taken to complete the new official Nordschleife lap was 6min48.047seconds. As more carmakers conduct new lap record attempts, we can expect the times to become standardised yet again for the 20.832km of track.

Mercedes conducted the lap record attempt for the AMG GT Black Series on the same evening as the four-door AMG GT which means the track conditions were sub-optimal: dim lighting, damp sections on the track and low temperatures. This suggests that the road-legal GT3 racecar should be able to go even quicker on a good day if Mercedes try it again next spring. 

Another interesting aspect of the Mercedes press release regarding the AMG GT Black Series Nürburgring lap time was that it included the various settings of the car that managed the record time. Check it out:

• Front splitter extended into “Race” position
• Lower and upper wing blades of the rear spoiler adjusted to middle position
• Adjustable AMG coil-over suspension lowered by 5mm at the front and 3mm at the rear
• Front axle camber adjusted to -3.8 degrees
• Rear axle camber adjusted -3.0 degrees
• Adjustable anti-roll bars in the hardest setting
• AMG traction control set between 6 and 7, depending on the part of the track
• Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R MO tyres (soft compound)

All these settings are accessible to the customers as well but these will vary from driver to driver. This setup was prepared for Maro Engel, the driver who then set the astonishing lap time. “It’s really impressive how much downforce the Black Series generates and how confident and reliable it can be driven, even at the absolute limit. My hat is off to the developers from Affalterbach for what they have put on wheels here. And I’m very pleased that I was able to demonstrate these fascinating engineering skills with this great lap time,” said Engel.

Every customer of the AMG GT Black Series gets to make the most of those adjustable settings along with the newly developed flat-plane 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 that makes 730hp and 800Nm. Luckily, it also gets composite ceramic brakes as standard and they’ll need them.

What do you make of the AMG GT Black Series’ ‘Ring lap time? Do you think an Eiffel-based racing outfit should fine-tune one to go even quicker as Manthey Racing did with the GT2 RS? Which upcoming track-based supercar do you think will be the first to do a sub 6m40s time for the full lap? Share your thoughts and answers in the comments below and be sure to subscribe to The Auto Loons for more cool updates from the car world.