The Mercedes-AMG Project One has been making headlines for more than a year now. The German company slowly released bits of information about the upcoming supercar in 2018, but come 2019, and we finally know a bit more about its performance. To put it simply, it's outstanding!

What's Under the Skin?

The Project One draws juice from a 1.6-liter V-6 engine with direct injection and an electrically boosted turbocharger. Rather small for a supercar, don't you think? But there's a twist. This engine isn't a regular unit you might find in a small Merc like the A-Class, but a Formula One mill taken from Lewis Hamilton's race car. This thing spins at speeds of up to 11,000 rpm and sends more than 500 horsepower to the rear wheels.

Because it has a small electric motor to spin the turbocharger, it doesn't suffer from turbo lag and feeds all the extra energy back into the system.

But that's not all. The small V-6 is joined by no fewer than three electric motors, each rated at 160 horsepower. There's one at the crankshaft and two independently spinning the front wheels.

How Much System Power?

The Project One will arrive with a total system output of least 1,050 horsepower. That's around 400 horses less than the Bugatti Chiron, one of the world's most powerful supercars still in production. On the other hand, the Project One delivers notably more than the awesome McLaren Senna, which is rated at 789 horsepower.

Is It Quick Enough for the Competition?

You might be tempted to say that the Project one is far from impressive when compared to the Bugatti Chiron, but power isn't everything. While stunningly powerful, the Chiron is very heavy too at 4,400 pounds. The Project One will tip the scales at significantly less than 3,000 pounds, which will give it a superior power-to-weight ratio.

As a result, the Project One will be as quick or quicker than other high-end supercars on the market. The sprint to 62 mph will take 2.7 seconds, which makes it a tenth-second slower than the Chiron, but also a tenth-second quicker than the McLaren Senna. But the Merc's most important performance figure is its 0-to-124 mph sprint. The Project One will get there in less than six seconds, which is a record for supercars. Yes, it's quicker than the Chiron, which needs 6.1 clicks to hit that speed. Compared to the Senna, it's almost a full second quicker. It's also 1.5 seconds quicker than the cool Porsche 918 Spyder to 124 mph.

Disappointing Top Speed

Although it's powerful and quick, the Project One lacks the top speed of its competitors. Mercedes says it can charge up to 217 mph, which is impressive on its own, but modern supercars can do better than that. The Chiron, for instance, is electronically limited to 261 mph, while the Aston Martin Valkyrie is estimated to hit around 250 mph, just like the McLaren Speedtail. Both the Koenigsegg One:1 and Agera R go past the 250-mph mark, leaving the Project One on par with slightly more mundane supercars from Ferrari and Lamborghini.

It has an EV Mode

The cool thing about this road-legal F1 car is that it can be driven silently on battery power alone. It can only do so for 15 miles before the gasoline engine needs to take over, but it's an important feat for a race-ready road car. This figure is similar to the Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, and the McLaren P1.

2020 Mercedes-AMG Project One Drivetrain Specifications

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2020 Mercedes-AMG Project One.

Everything We Know About the Mercedes-AMG Project One

Read our full review on the 2018 Bugatti Chiron.