The release of a new Forza game is always a big occasion. You spend the prior year guessing what the cover cars will be (I’ll have you know I called the AMG One/Bronco combo back in July), where the game will take place (I guessed Japan), and what as-yet-unreleased concept cars will make an appearance. That last one always puts an interesting wrinkle in manufacturers’ plans: Getting your concept into Forza means a ton of publicity, but it also means you have to supply real, hard numbers for things like power and weight. And for the Mercedes-AMG One, those numbers don’t quite line up with what we’ve been told to expect.
When the Mercedes-AMG One was revealed, specs trickled out of Stuttgart slowly. First came the 1,000 horsepower figure, which was then updated to “somewhere between 1,000 and 1,100.” Weight was supposed to be somewhere between 2,866 and 3,086 pounds, with a top speed of over 218 mph. Years after the reveal, the closest thing we have to official specs is an appearance in a video game — one that seems to dash the optimism of AMG.
Out of all those facts and figures, only the top speed remains the same in Forza (250 mph is technically above 218). That famed four-digit horsepower and BRZ-esque curb weight were lost somewhere on the way to Playground Games’ digital rendition of Mexico, giving way to some far less impressive figures.
Rather than “over 1,000" horsepower, the One in Forza Horizon 5 makes only 877 — still substantial, but somehow “37 more horsepower than a Dodge Challenger” doesn’t seem to be worth $2.7 million (or the 30,000-mile engine rebuild period). The curb weight has gone from near-GR86 to heavier than a decked-out Camry. For a car meant to compete in-game with the McLaren Senna, that’s a substantial weight increase.
Whether or not these Forza specs match the eventual completed car is yet to be seen. With Mercedes still testing the One on the Nurburgring, it’s unlikely even their tunes and information are entirely finalized. However, one thing’s for sure: I will absolutely be building a Volkswagen Beetle to try and take on this multimillion-dollar supercar.