SPY PICS: Mercedes-AMG GT R Black Series edges closer

You can’t stop progress, or so they say in the classics. At least that appears to be the case in Europe, where Mercedes-AMG has been busy readying its new GT R Black Series for showrooms around the world.

Despite the much-maligned Coronavirus, our spy photographers managed to capture the flagship performance coupe testing this month at the famed Nurburgring and on some of the German circuit’s surrounding roads. It was also snapped blazing through Northern European snow fields.

We understood the new Mercedes-AMG GT R Black Series was originally going to be revealed at the Nurburgring 24 Hour endurance event in April, before being released in global showrooms later this year.

With the global reveal now uncertain, this is the closest we may get to the production version for now.

What’s clear is the Mercedes-AMG GT R Black Series will be right at home on circuit, as evidenced by the fitment of a roll cage in these spy photographs – ala Porsche 911 GT2 RS.

The most obvious physical difference between the Black Series and regular AMG GT models is an oversized rear wing with an adjustable flap.

There’s also aggressive bonnet venting, a big front splitter, quad exhaust outlets and more muscular guards to support its track readiness.

Riding remarkably low to the ground, the GT R Black Series will offer loads of downforce and active aerodynamics.

What’s under the bonnet of the Black Series remains the subject of speculation, but it won’t be merely a pumped up version of the GT R’s 430kW/700Nm 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8.

Mercedes-AMG chief Tobias Moers told us last year that the new Black Series powertrain will be unlike any AMG engine before it.

“Expect something different,” he said. “We never did something like this with an engine before – for AMG it’s the first one.”

The loose translation is we can expect otherworldly power figures, especially given AMG’s previous SLS Black Series pumped out 464kW of power back in 2012. At least 500kW is the rumoured number.

“There’s nothing common with the GT R [engine]. It’s still a 4.0-litre engine, twin-turbo, but a different engine,” Moers said.

In terms of the engine mods, we can tick a few things off the list. For instance water injection, which arch-rival BMW M has dabbled with. AMG says it won’t follow this path, and also indicates EQ (electric) boosting is not on the menu this time.

“No water injection, still a combustion [engine with no hybrid boost],” confirmed Moers.

That apparently rules out a more powerful version of the electrified 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 in the upcoming Mercedes-AMG GLE 63, GLS 63 and E 63, all of which develop 450kW/850Nm plus an extra 16kW/250Nm via a 48-volt mild-hybrid system.

Perhaps the only that leaves is a flat-plane crank version of AMG’s biturbo V8…

“You know, when we brought the GT R to the market everybody said to me, OK what are you going to do with the Black Series? I told everybody, it should really be a step [up],” Moers told us in the past.

“We took our time to get all the things together, but now we’re there. We’ve got the car on the track, at the Nordschleife. We’re doing other things. It’s something really surprising.”

Either way, it’s clear that given the current king of the AMG GT world, the Mercedes-AMG GT Pro, has already been ruled out Down Under, the rarer and more potent Black Series will be the unrivalled king of the AMG GT line-up.