Mercedes-AMG Unveils 1,000-HP Project One Hypercar In Frankfurt

As any good superhero movie will tell you, there's more than one route to freakish and corruptible amounts of power such as getting bitten by a spider or being dropped into a vat of toxic waste. In the car world, that's not much different. Bugatti uses large quad-turbo W16 engines that require cooling units galore to attain its legendary status. Mercedes, however, has just opened a new can of worms by using its Formula 1 engineers on this creation, the highly anticipated Project One Hypercar unveiled at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show.

Rest assured, it produces more than enough mind-bending numbers to compete with a Chiron, but Mercedes' means to its high-horsepower end couldn't be more different. Let's start with the engine, a 1.6-liter V6 boosted by an electrically-assisted turbocharger, both of which get mounted in the hypercar's midsection and provide the drumbeat. Or more like the drum sprint. Despite its ability to putt along in stop-and-go traffic, it can be revved to 11,000 RPM. Total power output is over 1,000 horsepower, but despite the impressive Formula 1 tech, that's not all due to the engine's might. Like the current generation of hypercar heroes from Ferrari, McLaren, and Porsche, the AMG Project 1 is a hybrid.

A total of four electric motors help the Project One top out at 217 mph and more importantly, accelerate out of corners as if a rocket was strapped behind that shark fin wing. One motor powers the electrically boosted turbocharger in order to eliminate lag while another is placed directly on the combustion engine with a link to the crankcase. The final two power the front wheels. Total engine output sits at 670 horsepower while the front wheels split a 321 horsepower sundae. Of course the electric motors have no issue getting the torque down but the gasoline engine is mated to an automated 8-speed manual transmission for maximum acceleration. Just how quickly does it get up to speed?