Mercedes-Benz will offer its racing customers a GT3 specification car based on the SLS AMG. The front-mid engined gullwing model will be tested throughout this year and will be available to customers in time for the 2011 season.
Built to current FIA GT3 regulations, the SLS GT3 loses around 160kg in weight thanks to a stripped out interior and the use of carbon composite materials in its bodywork. Featuring the same dry-sumped 6.2-litre V8 as the road car, the racer's output will likely be reduced via air restrictors to adhere to the GT3 championship equivalency formula.
The GT3 category is increasing in popularity, with off-the-shelf customer cars now offered by Audi, BMW, Porsche and Ferrari among others. The SLS GT3 will be developed fully by Bernd Schneider before it's offered to customers. Thomas Rappel, AMG's Senior Manager of Product said: "the series production car provides a perfect basis for a competitive racecar," adding, "the temptation was too much for the racing team at AMG."
Developed with assistance from HWA - the company that builds AMG's DTM cars - the SLS GT3 uses a six-speed paddle shifted transmission sourced from Hewland. A limited slip differential also features. Wider and aerodynamically enhanced bodywork covers the increased track and improves engine and brake cooling, with downforce increased by a low front splitter and enormous rear wing.
Prices have yet to be confirmed, but an AMG insider suggested the price differential between the SLS and the SLS GT3 will be equivalent to that of Porsche's road cars and customer racers. Tantalisingly, AMG's people suggest that the GT3 is just a starting point, hinting that a Clubsport model for the road will be offered in the future.
Read our First Drive of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
Kyle Fortune - 25 Mar 2010