AMG goes all-wheel drive

Rear-wheel drive hero Mercedes-AMG is set to reveal its first all-wheel-drive sports sedan in 2013.

It is expected both the E63 AMG and the CLS63 AMG will add the technology as power and torque outputs continue to climb. And sportscars such as the SL, SLK and SLS will likely follow suit.

The good news for traditionalist is that rear-wheel drive will definitely continue in the Benz hot-tuner’s range too.

“I think we will have both in the future, because some people like rear-wheel drive because the steering is a bit lighter and some people like to drift… But the quicker car will be the 4WD,” AMG engine and powertrain chief Friedrich ‘Frtz’ Eichler said during a media tour of the company’s Affalterbach headquarters in Germany late last week

While AMG already makes SUV models that power all four wheels and is about to introduce the A-Class-based A45 AMG with all-wheel drive, the V8 sports sedans and sportscars at the heart of the company’s range have been steadfastly rear-wheel drive.

Mr Eichler described all-wheel drive as “absolutely necessary”.

“We will not only have the all-wheel drive in the SUVs and the compact cars,” he said. “We also will bring that in our normal sedans, so next year there will be a presentation of our all-wheel drive concept.

He made it clear that Audi’s success with its RS quattro models and Porsche’s widespread adoption of all-wheel drive was also prompting AMG to expand into all-paw grip.

“Our competitor has all-wheel drive concepts in the performance segment so we have to do that too,” he said.

“If you compare the performance and especially the torque, 900Nm and more, you cannot bring that to the street so the traction is a little bit of a problem for us and we can solve that problem with all-wheel drive.”

The mid-life update of the E-Class will appear at the Detroit motor show, and the debut of an all-wheel drive E63 would make sense because the North American market is a fan of the technology and AWD passenger cars sell well in the colder climates to the north of the US.

The ‘series production’ E and CLS are both offered there with the permanent 4Matic system, although Mr Eichler did not specify whether that would be used under AMG variants.

However, he did confirm both mechanical and electric all-wheel drive were being studied at AMG.

Currently the twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 engine that powers the E and CLS63 punches out 386kW and 700Nm, so if 900Nm is Mr Eichler’s threshold point for AWD then it looks like a hefty boost is on the way.

Mr Eichler said that AMG would have to consider the position of its sportscars because AWD sports sedans would accelerate faster and lap faster.

“We have to think about that whether it is a good idea or not,” he pondered. “On the other had we have to improve our sportscars.”

The move to all-wheel drive will not include the M275 6.0-litre V12 engine, which has twisted out 1000Nm for some time in the S-Class, CL, SL and (recently added) G-Class. Mr Eichler defined that engine as a “luxury” rather than performance unit.

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