Mercedes-AMG GT Black series expected to produce around 680hp

Mercedes-AMG is well into developing the swan song for the GT range – the Black Series – ahead of its 2020 launch.

New images of a prototype testing at the Nürburgring show an adapted GT R bodyshell with new bonnet vents necessary to cool the heavily tuned, twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, which is mooted by insiders to put out up to 680hp.

There's also a massive, race-inspired, fixed rear wing that dwarfs even the one on the GT R (which we drove back in August 2017). It suggests that unlike previous Black Series models, which have a reputation for unruly cornering behaviour, there will be a focus on keeping all that power locked to the asphalt through aerodynamic downforce.

The future range-topping coupé will be beaten in acceleration terms only by the limited-run AMG One hypercar when it arrives in mid-2020, AMG boss Tobias Moers confirmed to our sister publication Autocar UK at the New York motor show. “It will be the fastest AMG yet, bar the One. Not in terms of top speed, but lap times,” said Moers. “Driveability is most important but, with balance, it gets good lap times too.”

Currently, the most powerful iteration of the 4.0-litre V8 motor is found the GT 63 4-door Coupé, where it makes 639hp. The expected pushing of the envelope to 680hp would ensure that the Black Series easily surpasses the 585hp peak output offered by the GT R and GT R Pro.

It would also edge it towards one of the category's most radical supercars, the 700hp Porsche 911 GT2 RS. According to Moers, the Black Series will be “great competition with our close neighbour.”

The GT Black Series' extra grunt will be accompanied by a more focused chassis and aerodynamic setup, which may go even further than the track-focused GT R Pro. That car was designed with uprated suspension and aerodynamic upgrades but received no extra power over the regular GT R.

Such a setup should ensure the GT Black Series tips the scales at around 1,575kg, in line with (or slightly less than) the GT R Pro.

The 2020 arrival of the GT Black Series will mark a return for AMG's most extreme moniker after a seven-year hiatus. The last Black Series model was based on the SLS and entered production in 2013.