Mercedes-AMG has unveiled its most unhinged customer racing car to date, the GT2 Edition W16—a track weapon so potent it makes a standard G63 look like a pensioner’s mobility scooter. Limited to just 30 units, this is Affalterbach’s idea of “casual fun”: 830 horsepower, push-button turbo steroids, and a roofline low enough to shave the ankles off small wildlife.
Under the bonnet sits the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 you’d find in the GT2, but here it’s been turned up until the dial snapped. Hit the Push2Pass button and you’ll summon an extra 100 horses, 200 Nm of torque, and the kind of acceleration that turns your organs into modern art. Torque? 1,000 Nm. Top speed? Somewhere north of 320 km/h, because apparently 300 wasn’t uncivilised enough.
The aerodynamics are less “subtle tweaks” and more “Formula 1 cosplay”: active louvres, a Drag Reduction System, magnesium wheels, and a wing that flattens itself like a sunbathing lizard when you want more speed. Even the mirrors have been sharpened for airflow. It’s basically an F1 car’s angry cousin who skipped etiquette lessons.
Inside, it’s carbon everywhere, a splash of PETRONAS green, and a steering wheel festooned with buttons that make PlayStation controllers look under-equipped. Kimi Antonelli—yes, the one currently piloting Mercedes’ F1 car—has even scrawled his name on the sill plates of each one, just in case you forget this is motorsport’s golden child on four magnesium legs.
There’s no road homologation, no racing series constraints, and no chance you’ll leave with loose change: €679,000 before taxes. But you do get a handover ceremony on a European circuit, a meet-and-greet with the F1 team, and your own racing suit and helmet, because if you’re going to frighten yourself silly, you might as well look good doing it.
In short: it’s the fastest, loudest, most over-the-top AMG GT yet. And if you manage to get one of the 30, congratulations, you’ve just bought yourself a sledgehammer with a starter button.