Mercedes-AMG One flexes its active aero at Goodwood
The newly minted Mercedes-AMG One has taken to the Goodwood Festival of Speed to show off some of its tricks. Making its first public showing, the Formula 1-inspired supercar took to the event’s 1.2-mile hillclimb to wow the crowd with its active aero shape-shifting.
The AMG One is a showcase of the brand’s technology, derived from its 7-year F1 winning streak from 2014-2020 with Lewis Hamilton at the helm. It boasts a combined system horsepower of 1,049 from its 1.6-liter V6 and four electric motors. Even one of its dual turbochargers has its own electric motor.
On Lord March’s driveway, however, it’s clear that the One is only using a fraction of its abiliities. From the starting gate, it cruises along at a leisurely pace, emitting a UFO-like whine (Mercedes says it can go 11.2 miles on its 8.4-kWh liquid-cooled battery alone).
Unexpectedly, it comes to a dead stop in the middle of the track. The FoS has hosted its share of embarrassing mishaps, but this isn’t one of them. Instead, the AMG One drops over an inch in ride height, an adaptive suspension stiffening track-only setting called Race Plus that comprises one of six drive modes. Suddenly its bodywork splays out like that dinosaur that killed Newman in “Jurassic Park.” Not only does it deploy a rear wing, but each fender has four individual flaps that open to vent air from the wheel wells.
The car then continues on at a brisker rate, but still far short of its 2.9-second 0-62 time or the V6’s 11,000 rpm capability (AMG declines to call it a redline, saying instead that the engine’s been designed to spin at that speed). Nevertheless, a high-pitched F1 note can be heard as the car continues up the hill.
Whether we will ever get to see the Mercedes AMG One on U.S. soil is still up in the air. If we do, though, at least now we know what to expect from its Transformer-esque moves.
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