Mercedes-AMG Project ONE: Formula One technology for the road!

 

The numbers

By Stuart Johnston

Let’s get the numbers out the way first. Project ONE has a top speed of  350 km/h-plus (pretty much the same as your average F1-car).  Zero to 200 km/h takes six seconds when using Race Start mode. And power output is in the region of 750 kW.

Concept to final form

As for the rest, well, Mercedes-AMG is still referring to this car shown at Frankfurt this week as a “concept” car, but the details of the car are such that it will not change much at all in final production form. The car was, in fact, driven onto the stage by Mercedes-Petronas F1 ace Lewis Hamilton, and there is video footage of Lewis enjoying himself behind the wheel of the car.

And what a blast it must be. According to an AMG spokesman standing alongside the car at the Frankfurt Messe, some 275 are on schedule to be built.  And, yes, it uses hybrid Formula One technology developed  by Mercedes-AMGT High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth, England, where they do the development for the Formula One cars that are currently contesting the lead in the championship with Ferrari.

V6 turbo + electric power

This technology for the Project ONE sees a V6 turbocharged petrol-engine combine with three (and some might say four) electric motors to give the car its total output of 750 kW. The 1,6-litre V6 features pneumatically-actuated valve closing, rather than conventional steel springs, to enable it to cope with a rev limit of 11 000 rpm.

The electric motors are employed as follows: There is one electric motor for each front wheel,  these producing 120 kW each. And there is a third electric motor directly linked to the crankshaft of the V6 petrol engine, and this engine also produces 120 kW.

The fourth electric engine is in fact part of the turbocharger. The inlet and exhaust turbines of the supercharger are separated from each other as they are located on the inlet and exhaust side of the engine. The shaft connecting the two turbines combines with a 90 kW electric engine; the main function of this unit being to spool up the turbocharger, so that there is absolutely no lag whatsoever.

Project ONE transmission & tyres

The gearbox for the mid-mounted V6 engine and its integrated electric engine is an eight-speed manual, specifically developed for this car by AMG from scratch, for Project ONE. It can be operated in an automatic mode or by paddle shifts. The drive wheels for the petrol engine and its integrated electric engine are, of course, at the rear. The twin front electric motors can operate independently, and varying the torque to the front wheels via a torque-vectoring system.

Putting all that power to the road are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. At the front these measure 285/35 ZR 19 and at the rear 335/30 ZR 20, so the wheels at the rear are slightly bigger in diameter and width. The tyres were specially developed for Project ONE.

Jaw-dropping design

In the weeks leading up to the car’s debut at Frankfurt, Mercedes-AMG leaked some technical layout images of the car and in fact showed the drive-train layout at the 24 Hour Nürburgring race meeting in late June. But the body shape has been a secret until now. In short: it is absolutely beautiful, and is an in-house design by Mercedes-AMG.

“The Mercedes-AMG Project ONE is the hottest and coolest car we have ever designed,” enthuses Gorden Wagener, the Chief Design Officer at Daimler AG. This statement by Wagener makes little logical sense, but we know what he means. And nor does the Project One car itself make sense, but in today’s world where Mercedes as a brand is appealing ever more to the youth market, it makes perfect sense.

Functional as well as fashionable

The shape notably features some Mercedes Petronas design cues, including the shark-fin tail, which is in effect an extension of the roof-mounted air-intake channel for the petrol-engine. The bodywork on the flanks, incidentally, also features some “Petronas” green styling licks, which Mercedes refers to as  a “paintbrush” design, similar to that seen on the 2017  F1 cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

At the rear of the car the large central exhaust and a two-stage extendable rear aerofoil speak of an amazing integration of design, and also the importance of this project to Mercedes. This car has been created to be both incredibly efficient as well as mouth-wateringly beautiful. And perhaps much more than the likes of McLaren and Ferrari has done with its top drawer hypercars, Project ONE speaks of the might and power of the Mercedes-AMG organisation.