No coupe E 63 AMG but wagons ho

Blame the Yanks! The AMG range for the American market would just be too complex with the addition of an E 63 coupe, Mario Spitzner, Director of Branding, Marketing and Sales at Mercedes-AMG intimated during the Carsales Network's visit to AMG HQ in Affalterbach, Germany earlier this week.

"Actually, we've had requests for the car," he admitted. "Yes, it would have been a nice AMG for sure, especially in our biggest market, the USA. We realised it's just too many models, so we just decided to not do it.

"Never say 'no', but it looks like [the E 63 coupe won't go ahead]."

AMG engineer Roland Kreitzer summed up the 'no-go' for the coupe as a matter of "strategy" and "economics". He said that in effect, AMG couldn't justify the development of the car for the likely sales volumes.

Curiously though, it appears that the performance tuning shop is gearing up for an E 63 version of the E-Class wagon (pictured) – the latest version of which debuted at Frankfurt overnight. Kreitzer did place the high-performance wagon in the same basket as the coupe, indicating that the prospective sales volumes are important to both cars' viability, but the wagon can succeed where the company believes the coupe wouldn't.

AMG doesn't say as much, but the coupe platform being different enough from the sedan and wagon platform seems to be a tipping point in the argument against the E 63 coupe.

"The wagon is a car not with a high volume, but I think it's well established in the European market," said Kreitzer.

"The [AMG] wagon will get its market introduction in March next year."

Both men were addressing Australian journalists attending AMG's plant the day before the Frankfurt Motor Show. The visit to AMG was a stop-over during the drive program for the E 63 AMG sedan.

Mercedes-Benz had laid on a drive program for the new car, running from Stuttgart, north to Frankfurt via Affalterbach, along some autobahnen -- the E 63's natural habitat. The Carsales Network also attended the European launch of the E 63 AMG back in July.

Powered by AMG's hand-built 6.3-litre all-alloy DOHC V8, the E 63 develops a prodigious output of 386kW and 630Nm of torque. AMG claims that the car is 8kW more powerful than its W211-generation predecessor, yet is also nearly 12 per cent more frugal, recording a combined-cycle fuel consumption figure of 12.6L/100km burning premium unleaded. Electronically limited to 250km/h, the E 63 in Germany will be offered with an option to raise the top speed to 300km/h.

Drive to the rear wheels is channelled by the MCT seven-speed sports transmission, which is an epicyclic box, but the torque converter is replaced by a compact multi-plate wet clutch.

AMG advises that the lower-mass clutch responds faster than a torque converter. There are four drive modes and, in the fastest, shifts can take place in 100 milliseconds. That is the 'M' (manual) mode. The other three modes are 'S+' (Sport Plus), 'S' (Sport) and 'C' (Controlled Efficiency).

Coming equipped with paddle shifters, the E 63 offers the driver the option of changing gear manually, or left to itself, adapting automatically to the driving style and 'double-declutching' on downshifts.

A race start function can be programmed for optimum acceleration from a standing start.

During shifts, the E 63 can cut back engine operation by disabling as few as two to as many as six of the eight engine cylinders.

The E 63 rides on a unique suspension system developed by AMG. Electronically controlled damping and specially-tuned front coil springs are complemented by a self-levelling air-spring system at the rear.

For the front suspension, AMG has swapped over to a tubular anti-roll bar, new control arms, new wheel bearings and hub carriers that provide higher a degree of negative camber. The front track has also been widened by 56mm over that of non-AMG E-Class models.

At the rear, the car adopts a new subframe and more negative camber.

Boasting a ratio of 14:1, the steering is claimed to be 22 per cent more direct than the steering in the standard Mercedes E-Class models. AMG has also fitted a new, more rigid, steering column for improved feel in the E 63.

Stability control (ESP) for the E 63 is shared with the SL 63 and C 63 AMG models. Three modes are selectable by the driver: ESP on, ESP Sport and ESP Off. AMG fits the E 63 with cross-drilled discs, but the car can also be ordered with the option of ceramic discs. 18-inch alloy wheels are shod with 255/40 R18 tyres at the front and 285/35 R18 tyres at the rear.

Kinetic energy during braking is converted to electrical, reducing the fuel used to drive the alternator. Not so much to save fuel as to optimise performance, AMG has also set up the alternator to stop drawing power from the engine during acceleration.

Safety features fitted to the E 63 AMG comprise seven airbags (dual front, side-impact, side curtain and driver's kneebag), seatbelt pretensioners, load-limiters and active headrests. Intelligent active safety measures include Blind Spot Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Speed Limit Assist, Attention Assist and the radar-based BAS PLUS, which extrapolates the necessary braking effort on the fly to avoid a collision. In the event that the driver takes no avoiding action in the first instance, this system generates visual and audible alarms. If the driver doesn't respond to that, the system will initiate braking as a prelude to automatic emergency braking.

Mercedes-Benz will launch the E 63 in Australia in the fourth quarter of this year.

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