Mercedez Benz News AMG Plans More AWD Models

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

November 19, 2012

Mercedes-Benz's performance arm, AMG is looking to using AWD in more of their vehicles.

"We will not only have all-wheel-drive in the SUVs and the compact cars, we will also have that in the performance sedans," said Friedrich Eichlers, AMG's of engines and powertrains.

The reasoning with going towards AWD is due to the amount of power the current crop of AMG vehicles is overwhelming the rear wheels.

"If you want to be a member of the club with cars that have 0-100km/h times of around 3.0 seconds, then you need to have all-wheel-drive for your sports cars. The traction is a little bit of a problem for us, and we can solve this problem with all-wheel-drive. It's a good idea to have all-wheel-drive. We just think about that because we won't bring the power and the torque to the road if you always lose the grip and the [traction control system] kills all the power and torque," said Eichlers.

Now AMG won't be moving all of their vehicles to AWD. There will be RWD models along with the AWD.

"I think we will have both [rear- and all-wheel-drive models]," Eichlers says. "Some people like two-wheel-drive because the steering is a little bit lighter and you can have more fun, with drift, when the rear of the car comes around. Some people like that."

Source: Drive.com.au

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

View full article

[G. David Felt]

I love AWD and think we all should be driving them. Totally awesome to drive an awd auto. Course I do not know what they are talking about as I can get plenty of drift in my SS AWD Trailblazer.

[smk4565]

This is a good move because the Quattro cars and 911 Turbo AWD, etc launch so much better than a RWD car can. Imagine the V12 hooked to AWD with launch control, instead of spinning tire it will slingshot the car to 60 or 100 mph in no time. But I'm glad RWD is staying, as there is more to a car than launching it off the line and I'd prefer the rwd.

[Drew Dowdell]

How much more will they weigh now?