Listen to the Mercedes-AMG One Hypercar Hustle Its 1,000-HP V6 on the Race Track
The exhaust note sounds rather…well, you be the judge of that.
Since its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2017 in concept form, we’ve known that Mercedes-AMG has been working on a new Formula One-derived hypercar called the One. And while its development isn’t news, there hasn’t been much in the way of a teaser in terms of seeing the car in action, outside of company supplied press photos of the Project One test mule. That is, until now.
For what appears to be the first time (that we know of), the Mercedes-AMG One was finally captured in motion and with audio, giving us a taste of what to expect from the automaker’s latest hypercar, which is expected to produce over 1,000 horsepower and cost over $3 million.
The clip shared on Instagram is brief and hails in from user zalasin via lamborghiniks. It appears to grab a shot of the Mercedes-AMG One’s prototype test mule doing a quick drive-by at an undisclosed racetrack. The short clip also shows it decelerating while approaching a corner at pretty high speed. As it drives by, you can hear the high-pitched whine of its electric motors and turbocharged F1-derived V6. Despite its small displacement of just 1.6-liters, the hypercar is rumored to have a speed over 220 miles per hour, and be paired to an F1-derived eight-speed single-clutch sequential transmission.
Again, the clip doesn't reveal all that much, but this is pretty much our first glimpse at the Mercedes-AMG One in action.
To many, the One's exhaust sound appears to be quite a let-down, as indicated by some of the comments on the video. However, it's probably safe to say that judging a vehicle of this caliber by this lonely piece of footage isn't fair. Especially without knowing if this is a pre-production model or possibly operating on a specific drive/power mode, or maybe even at a fraction of its performance capacity. And while it surely doesn't sound that amazing, let's not forget that F1 cars' exhaust notes have also drastically changed over the last decade. In the end, only time will tell.