Fuel-frugal plan for AMG
AMG's sustainable performance strategy will begin to flow through to production models within two yearsNo one is immune from the social movement towards a greener future -- least of all a technology company such as Mercedes-AMG. The modifier of high-performance sports sedans and coupes has high-tech remedies in the pipeline to keep pace with changing legislation and consumer demands.
Some of these remedies were outlined by Chairman of the Mercedes-AMG board, Volker Mornhinweg, when he met with Australian journalists at the Frankfurt motor show last week. The Carsales Network was present as a guest of Mercedes-Benz.
The company chairman was reticent on some subjects -- mentioning for example that AMG would decide late this year or early next year, whether it would co-develop an A/B-Class platform vehicle for its own range. But he was prepared to speak more openly on the subject of the company's drivetrain strategy in the immediate near future.
AMG will introduce direct injection fuel delivery, turbocharging and lastly, cylinder cut-off. All three engine technologies are expected to be commercially available to AMG buyers by 2012. In fact, Mornhinweg anticipates the turbo will be here "maybe a little bit earlier".
"Direct injection is an important topic," he says, before adding that turbocharging would allow AMG to reduce displacement and save fuel over a longer period, without sacrificing the power for performance motoring. But it's the cylinder cut-off technology that may yield the most significant fuel-saving benefits.
"The next technology is cylinder cut-off, which we are currently developing in our labs," says Mornhinweg.
"And then we can really achieve, in 2012... We can have a car with tremendous performance, but also with a lot of responsibility. That means you can then drive a car on that level [of performance] around about eight and a half litres per hundred kilometres."
According to Mornhingweg, AMG is working on "a totally new system, which is much lighter and much faster". Unlike systems already in the market, from Chrysler and General Motors to name two, the AMG system will run in four-cylinder mode "over a longer period of time..."
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