LA MOTOR SHOW: E63 "drift mode" not for dummies

Getting Mercedes-AMG's new E 63 sledgehammer sideways will not be an exercise for the faint-hearted or the un-skilled – despite the fitment of a drift mode function.

One of the headline fitments in the new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 performance sedan, due in Australia next year, is a clever setting in which the car's all-wheel drive system apportions up to 100 per cent of drive to the rear wheels.

The system parallels the release of a drift mode function in Ford's new Focus RS, itself a four-wheel drive performance car that uses a twinster clutch pack and clever differential to perform long, lurid slides.

The Blue Oval's offering has come under arguably unfair scrutiny in Australia.

The man who oversaw the development of the Mercedes' version, AMG chief Tobias Moers, has told motoring.com.au the drift mode will not be a device suited to the unwary or the unskilled.

"If you know how to drive, it's easy to drift," said Moers at this week's LA motor show.

"But it's not an autonomous drifting function."

Moers' assertion means getting the E63 sideways will require the same skill and commitment from the driver as an ordinary rear-drive performance car. However, once provoked, the system will assist in the process – crucially, though, without saving you if things go south.

"You have to have the car in ESP off, in RACE mode, and then if you pull both shifters, you then confirm you want to use drift mode. It's very much safety first," Moers said.

"If you let go of the accelerator during a moment, nothing happens. It's very much on the driver to be in control."

Shown in Los Angeles, the E63 is said to be the most powerful E-Class model ever unveiled, with a power output of 450kW.

The headline act in the range is the all-wheel drive E 63 S 4MATIC+, which should be on sale in Australia early in the third quarter of 2017 with an asking price not too far north of the $250,000 commanded by its predecessor.

For that large pile of cash you get a massive output – 450kW and 850Nm – delivered from the twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8  engine (codenamed M177) and 0-100km/h acceleration in just 3.4 seconds.