The Mercedes AMG GT R has roared itself to the history books. The luxury sports car set a new record in the legendary Nurburgring.
Marketed as "Beat of the Green Hell," the Mercedes AMG GT R completed the lap with a verified time of seven minutes and 10.9 seconds, according to Digital Trends. With the exception of radical lightweight cars, the Mercedes AMG GT R is essentially the fastest street-legal rear-wheel drive car to complete the Nurburgring lap.
The current title holder for the fastest Nurburgring lap is held by Porsche factory driver Marc Lieb driving the Porsche 918 Spyder. Lieb clocked in at six minutes and 57 seconds, a record he has held since 2013.
With its record, Mercedes' green monster is 10 seconds quicker than the Ferrari 488 GTB. The AMG GT R is also just about two seconds close to beating the Nissan GT-R Nismo which, in comparison, uses an all-wheel drive. The Nissan GT-R Nismo, which was tested in the Nurburgring in 2014, completed the lap with a verified time of seven minutes and 8.06 seconds.
It is important to note that this is not an official AMG lap time for the reason that Mercedes did not use one of its designated racing drivers. Setting the latest AMG record was Sports Auto's Christian Gebhardt. AMG top boss Tobias Moers told Top Gear in November that they are not interested in doing lap records with the Mercedes AMG GT R.
The GT R model used in the latest Nurburgring lap has a bi-turbo V8 engine capable of outputting up to 585 horsepower and 700Nm worth of torque. The green beast can accelerate from zero to 100kph in just 3.6 seconds.
Mercedes will reportedly start receiving preorders for the AMG GT R this month, with the first deliveries expected to be rolled out in March. The car costs around $200,000.