All-Wheel Drive a Big Part of Mercedes AMG Future

Mercedes Benz currently has four all-wheel drive AMG models in the range: the ML 63 AMG, G 63 AMG, G 65 AMG and the GL 63 AMG. The A 45 AMG compact luxury hatchback will obviously be the fifth model, a car of first powered by a 2.0-liter turbo engine.

This will reportedly have a truly performance oriented all-wheel drive system as standard, making short work of the engine’s 400 Nm of grunt (295 lb-ft).

However, Mercedes AMG says there will be a big part to play for AWD in the company’s future, and not just for the SUVs and off-road vehicles, but also for other AMG high-performance vehicles.

The automaker teased a number of upcoming cars at their 45th anniversary even, and our best guess is that a hotter SLK, some C-Class variants and an a couple of SUVs are hidden under there. However, only the C63 AMG wagon would make sense with AWD.

The car we really want with all-wheel drive is the SL roadster, since performance and safer dynamics work well with the big GT cars. However, this looks unlikely.

Far more probably are an AWD compact four-door coupe (CLA 45 AMG) and the B 45 AMG, since both are based on the same platform as the A-Class.

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Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG 2.0 turbo good for crazy 185 HP per liter

We have just joined the journalist hordes in Affalterbach for some early peeks at AMG's imminent future, and the downsizing trend is really catching on, even here with Mercedes-Benz and its traditionally big-engined high-performance arm.

The biggest news was the smallest news: a really hot-looking high-performance A-Class model dubbed A45 AMG that will take it to the soon-to-be tested BMW M135i and future Audi RS3. Specific numbers are not out, but engine bosses tell us to expect around 370 hp and 300 pound-feet of torque. The engine is all-new: a twin-scroll turbocharged 2.0-liter called M133 and based loosely on the Daimler 2.0-liter turbocharged unit. If those figures are accurate, that would mean the M133 has the greatest true series-production power-per-liter rating in the world. This is the first AMG engine not built at Affalterbach, but at Daimler's state-of-the-art four-cylinder assembly plant at Kölleda, but the "one man, one engine" approach remains unscathed.

Word has it that the United States and Canada most likely will not get this wee AMG, but we hear this same powertrain with strengthened seven-speed dual-clutch transmission will come to us in a four-door CLA 45 AMG version, and possibly also in a smaller crossover vehicle based on the modular chassis beneath the A- and B- Class ranges.

Official pics from this early peak-a-boo at HQ come out only after we leave, but we just got hold of these spy photos that show the car with very little left to the imagination. Best example of what we're talking about is the main show car unveiled at this past March's Geneva motor show – the A 250 Sport with the full AMG treatment pictured here.

Of what little we could divulge from the stone-faced Teutons, these little 45 AMGs will all come with all-wheel drive, and we don't intend a full-on 4Matic treatment. It is aidsed instead by a hang-on rear differential. But you can switch off completely the ESP and have a solid Sport rear bias. The challenge for all this dynamically will be the projected 60-percent of total weight resting over the front axle, 60 percent of around 3,300 pounds.

Redline on the tach is currently shown at 6,300 rpm, so we'll almost certainly be wishing it were left to go higher when we test it. The center transmission lever of all AMG models is there as well, which is a much finer interface for us than the civilian trim steering column lever-ette.

AMG folks say that there is a good chance that there will also be an optional Driver Package that will let the top speed go to 174 miles per hour versus the stock 155 mph. Pricing is said to be competitive with a BMW M135i or where an RS3 could end up. AMG is planning that from creating the three versions of the new compact lineup – hatch, sedan, and crossover – by 2017 and the 50^th anniversary of AMG that total annual volumes will climb from today's 20,000+ units to 30,000+. 

via: Mercedes-Benz

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Mercedes A45 AMG Hot Hatchback

The Germans practically invented the hot hatchback, but when Mercedes creates a luxury C-segment five-door with over 300 horsepower and all-wheel drive, it kind of goes against the grain of offering affordable road rockets. However, a noticeable trend where luxury products are selling in non-traditional segments has been forming and you can expect this, the ultra-fast A-Class, to sell well.

Why? Because Mercedes is pitting its against the likes of Audi’s RS3 Sportback, a car with a 2.5-liter T5 and 340 PS. To get there, Mercedes will offer the A45 AMG with a 2.0-liter and somewhere between 320 and 350 horsepower. This unit will borrow the block from the existing A 250 model, but will use F1 tech to deliver a lot more power.

Power is to be sent to the road via permanent all-wheel drive and a double clutch gearbox. There only the small problem of money left, as rumor puts the smallest AMG at about €50,000.

Via: autoevolution

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