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| Chrysler boss Zetsche says ME a possibility if enough interest is shown |
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Let the numbers speak for themselves: power is 850bhp, engine capacity six litres, cylinders 12, turbochargers four. The car weighs roughly 1310kg, less than a Porsche 911, itself considered a relatively skinny machine. But we've two-and-a-half times the power of a 911. The rear tyres are 335/30 ZR 20 ultra-stickies. Transmission is a seven-speed sequential, with two clutches so there's no lapse in going from one cog to the next. All of which means a zero-60mph sprint of 2.9 seconds, and zero to 100mph in 6.2. Those performance numbers aren't targets, they've actually been achieved, which means this is no ordinary show car.
But show car it is. Just a one-off. So far anyway. What the blazes is Chrysler playing at, putting all this engineering effort into a car that it won't sell? Ah well, it might sell it. Which is how come I'm at Laguna Seca Raceway in California, strapped in to the ME Four-Twelve, its removable steering wheel clipped into place between my hands, and I'm sweating profusely despite the fact it's a cool morning. If the result of articles such as this is a series of pleading letters (and fat cheques) floating down on Chrysler's doormat in Detroit, then Chrysler chiefs might just relent and put it into production. At anywhere between £150,000 and a cool million. We'll look more at the car's past - and possible future - in a minute. But if you'll excuse me, right now there's 850bhp at my back and an empty racetrack in front.
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| Four turbos nestle up to the massive V12 |
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The mighty V12 - an AMG V12 six-litre unit, not dissimilar to the one supplied to Pagani, but with four turbos - is already rumbling away at idle. There's no clutch pedal. The transmission, built in Britain by Ricardo, is similar in principle to the one that debuted in the Audi TT V6 DSG, and indeed the one Bugatti intends to use in the Veyron, the only car that will eclipse the ME Four-Twelve for power - if not performance because it's at least a third as heavy again. To the left of the steering wheel is a downshift paddle, to the right one for upshifts. At rest, a selector in the centre console is pointing at N. Pressing the brake pedal to activate a safety interlock, I twist it to D (there's also a R position obviously). Clunk. The machinery drops the first set of cogs into place. I tickle the throttle.
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