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John Mahoney10 Sept 2015
NEWS

Mercedes-AMG: F1 team building new turbo four

AMG boss says current A45 AMG is at the very limit – replacement to be engineered by F1 team

Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers has revealed to motoring.com.au that the next-generation replacement for the current 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder will be engineered in partnership with Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, the same black ops engineers that have created the current state-of-the-art petrol hybrid V6 for the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 car.

When asked if the current car's 280kW/475Nm 2.0-litre turbo would feature any more upgrades AMG boss said: "That's it for this generation, we've squeezed everything we can and the turbocharging technology is at its very limit".

Moers said for the new engine Mercedes-AMG will cash in on its F1 team's expertise when he tasks the team, based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, to create a lightweight, powerful four-cylinder turbo to power its future range of A-Class, CLA, GLA and B-Class models.

Joking, one Mercedes-AMG insider said: "Where in the past we have a philosophy of 'one man to create one engine', for the next-gen AMG four-cylinder we can claim '400 people will make just one engine'."

The F1 engineers have been recruited for the road car engine because the team pioneered both ERS and KERS technology that could trickle down to the new turbo petrol that may also downsize from 2.0 litres to a 1.6-litre.

Whatever the case, the new engine is unlikely to feature E-boost, or electric-driven turbochargers Moers said, despite rival brand Audi heavily investing in the future tech.

"There's great limitations to the technology. Sure, we've experimented with it but it needs more power than a standard car's 12V electrical system and would need to carry extra batteries. We tried adding an electric fan to a regular turbo which gave us some advantages – but not enough got it to be worth it."

As already revealed by motoring.com.au, Mercedes-AMG boss favours electrification of its petrol engines to maintain power and torque, but cut emissions for future engines and has completely ruled out introducing a pure-electric or diesel-powered AMG model.

"The reason why we're not doing a diesel is because for us to make one we'd need a dedicated diesel engine and powertrain and there's limited demand for it to justify that," said Moers.

Similar reasons were given for not following up the ground-breaking SLS AMG Electric Drive.

"Even almost three years out of production the SLS Electric Drive is still the benchmark for the electric car technology with its pioneering tech but there's no sense in making another one [AMG eV]," Moers said.

AMG's boss claims there's currently not the demand for a high-price pure-electric supercar or AMG-badged sports car and that instead he prefers further electrification of its petrol engines – but not downsizing from its V8 to six-cylinders.

"Take our C63 – the power output and torque [for our V8] are class-leading but our fuel efficiency and emissions match our rivals. What's the point then of changing it?"

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