DETROIT MOTOR SHOW: No all-paw C63
E 63's 4Matic drivetrain ruled out for next-gen C 63Mercedes-AMG boss, Tobias Moers, yesterday cited driving fun as a factor in the company's decision to shelve an all-wheel drive variant of the C 63 AMG, even though parent company Mercedes-Benz offers all-wheel drive for its new C-Class.
On the surface, it seems an odd decision given that AMG has all-wheel drive cars (A 45 and CLA 45) just beneath the next C63 and has the all-wheel drive E63 just above it. What makes it seem even stranger is that Mercedes-Benz will sell the new C-Class exclusively as an all-wheel drive car in North America until 2015 – and North America is the biggest market in the world for the current C63 AMG.
Mr Moers refused to be drawn on whether the next C63’s all-new, 4.0-litre biturbo V8 delivered with it issues for either engineering or packaging for an all-wheel drive powertrain.
“We are doing a lot of improvements with the C-Class and the segment is still a good segment for being fun to drive,” Mr Moers insisted.
“In this segment, it’s still important to have a rear-wheel drive car. There will be enough improvements in the new C-Class that there will be no need for 4Matic.
“People like the C63 the way it is so why should I change it?” Mr Moers asked.
The new C63 is due in early 2015 and sources insist it will have around 350kW of power in the standard versions of the new 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 and closer to 370kW in the faster versions. It will channel its power to the rear wheels through an updated version of the current seven-speed automatic transmission.
“There will be an improvement in the shift times for the seven speed. But overall we are happy with it.”
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