Just as BMW launched their “M Sport” line of mass-produced vehicles bearing the M Badge (think 335i M Sport and the Euro-spec M550d diesel performance sedan), Mercedes-Benz is about to get in on the action with AMG-badged versions of more pedestrian models.
According to Automotive News, a C450 AMG will debut as a more performance oriented C-Class above the C400 and below the more hardcore C63 AMG. Less hardcore AMG versions of the CLA, E-Class and GLK are also expected to follow. In addition to more hardcore performance improvements, true AMG models will get more radical visual enhancements like fender flares and a wider track.
The move comes in response to Audi moving their “S” models to a more mainstream position, and positioning their RS lineup as the ultimate performance models, as well as the aforementioned move with BMW’s M cars. Cadillac is also following suit, creating a “V-Sport” line below their more extreme “V” models.
Of course, the proliferation of AMG models through the Mercedes range has led to AMG vehicles becoming less about outright performance, and more about becoming the most expensive example of a particular Mercedes model. Buyers of the ML63 AMG SUV for example, may opt for it because of the status it conveys, rather than its performance capabilities. The new AMG-lite range should capitalize on that desire, but likely won’t move the needle for buyers who must have the most expensive M-B, or nothing else.
And the car buff world eagerly awaits an AMG-CLA/Corolla S shootout………
I thought they had already brought the AMG badge to the masses. Every 20-something young man rocking a 10 year old C-Class seems to have the AMG badges on it…
Witness: the cheapening of a brand
Soon Mercedes will be more diluted than the vodka at a high school party.
Don’t give them any more branding ideas.
Too late…
http://www.amgcollection.com/category-s/169.htm
Your local Mercedes dealer received their demo C class about two weeks ago and the sellable cars are now starting to trickle in. Go drive one.
The CLA gave them breathing room. This new C class is the best car in the class and is priced like it. The average transaction price of a C300 is going to be around $50,000. The C450 AMG is probably going to cost $60,000-$70,000. They aren’t “cheapening” anything.
LOL people pay $50K for a C-Class?
It’s only been on sale for a week or so. Time will tell how many people are going to pay $50k for a C-Class. BUT, one thing is for sure. Mercedes is not bringing it to the masses. That’s the job of the CLA/GLA.
I hope they don’t go for it, because that is a RIDICULOUS price for a C-Class.
Auto companies have been hiring “non-auto” marketing firms for decades. One of the principle traits of these firms is defining/dumbing down anything that has to do with performance. They all must believe H.L.Menken, “No one will ever go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” They know they will sell more 4-series (whatever they are) if they just slap an “M” designation on it. Same car as the regular 4 with a higher price; cost of (now mass produced) badge – maybe $20.
Cool, if it siphons off/satisfies people who want the appearance package and a bit of tuning and allows the real AMG models to become ever more hardcore. From what I read on other sights though, it seems like they are just putting a little engine tuning behind the “AMG sport package” that already can be had on most MBs.
The thing is, an M or AMG vehicle is pretty tough to deal with on a daily basis. They may get all the praise from the car buff books, but when you are on your evening commute in the fourth year of a $70K car note, you might want a suspension that’s a little more forgiving.
Maybe I’m just getting middle aged.
Eh. Hard to get upset when a C450 “AMG” will certainly outperform a C36 or C43 AMG from just a few years ago.
Nothing signals übermensch like brand dilution. These new AMG Mercedes will surely keep the proletariat in line.
Lol since when is an AMG E class hardcore
Says a man whose never driven an E63
Or even an E55…
I drove an SL55. It was nice, brutal, sexy, but not hardcore. I never once thought while driving it, ‘whoa they need to tone this down’.
The SL is heavy, and only had a 5 speed trans. Also, are you sure it was a real 55? I have seen some people go all out putting 55 appearance parts on their SL500.
An E63 on the other hand is probably the most hard-core 4 sedan on the market, only limited by the traction the tires can put out.
The outgoing C-class already had an amg appearance package. It came with red stitching,red seat belts, leather and suede seats, 18inch wheels. Everything but go fast bits.
Only Audi handles this correctly. They have Sx vehicles and S-line sporty trim packages on their models. Only the true high performance models get the RS badge
The S-line use to be a suspension package as well as trim. At least my 2007 A3 was.
I feel like now they will slap S-Line on nearly anything. I have seen a few very common looking Audi models with S-Line on the side while driving around.
But — save perhaps in the mind of the drivers — there’s no confusing it with the actual S model.
Oh I agree. And I think the D2 S8 was maybe my favorite car of the 90s.
“In addition to more hardcore performance improvements, true AMG models will get more radical visual enhancements like fender flares and a wider track.”
Ah, so they’ll be Boy Racer specials with added ugly?
Stuttgart’s current lineup is pretty iffy, aesthetically, for me – this is not appealing sounding.
I thought that Mercedes-Benz already had “AMG” packages that added a few minor horsepower upgrades and some lowered sideskirts, but were nothing like the genuine AMG models.
They built the M100 and M156 so they can do whatever they want.
Well at least the kids will no longer need to buy fake AMG badges on eBay and stick them onto their pedestrian Mercs now that it will come pre-riced from the factory.
If a 2.0T in a $24k Sonata and other cars makes 130hp/lt. a 3 liter turbo like BMWs or Mercedes should be able to make 390Hp no problem right? BMW makes 300hp and Mercedes 330hp, we should be able to get 400HP easily on these cars for a reasonable price.
Who cares about HP/L?
Anyone who cares about thermal efficiency, volumetric efficiency, or brake specific fuel consumption. You know, anyone remotely interested in well engineered vehicles.
Have you ever noticed how the same guys who brag about getting 1.1 horsepower per cubic inch from their crappy old Chevrolet small block V8s always b*tch about bringing up horsepower per litre? Somehow, power per unit of displacement is OK when described in archaic imperial units, but not standard SI units. Go figure.
“Anyone who cares about thermal efficiency, volumetric efficiency, or brake specific fuel consumption.”
HP/L in a Prius, displacement/dimensions of the car in any car at all, and HP/L in a Prius, respectively?
What are you asking?
I hope you’re not confusing brake specific fuel consumption with consumer fuel efficiency.
“I hope you’re not confusing brake specific fuel consumption with consumer fuel efficiency.”
No, but in the absence of published bsfc data I’ll settle for assuming that a car thats very raison d’etre is greenbeanism would be specified with an engine with relatively low bsfc and high thermal efficiency.
As that engine outputs a staggering 54 HP/L, I would suggest that any positive correlation between HP/L and those qualities is, at least within the range of modern automotive engines, wholly coincidental.
I haven’t noticed that, I always figured the HP/L guys were just the metric equivalent. The measure is equally useless, however.
No, the measure is not “equally useless”.Specific power output vs. engine size is always relevant. A low output compared to engine displacement means more unrealized power left on the table, lower thermal efficiency, and a lower power to weight ratio.
Case in point: a 500 cubic inch engine that makes 150 horsepower in a small car would rightfully be derided as too heavy for too little power.
“Case in point: a 500 cubic inch engine that makes 150 horsepower in a small car would rightfully be derided as too heavy for too little power.”
Engine weight and physical dimensions are not perfect analogues with engine displacement.
By the way, these days, “well engineered” seems to correlate rather well with “a 4-figure repair bill every time something goes wrong”.
Thermal efficiency has nothing to do with displacement.
Volumetric efficiency is just as irrelevant as displacement. You don’t care how big the inside of your engine is, you care how big the outside is, and how heavy it is. This is where those antediluvian small-block Chebbies look pretty good: a 6.2L LT1 is no bigger or heavier than a 4.4L BMW N62, and makes quite a lot more power. (BMW had to add a turbo, making the even heavier N63, to match its output.)
Engine weight/horsepower and exterior engine size/volume per horsepower are interesting. Specific output is not. We wouldn’t even pay attention to engine displacement, except that some European countries made the dumb decision to tax displacement early on, and then some Asian countries (including China) followed their lead.
why dont they switch the names back to the Good ol’ days. Name them 400C, 350E, 550S – those in the 50s and 60s remember those names. They’d sell a ton of them.
All brands are doing the same : they try to sell cars with similar ‘character’ and features to ‘corporate-brainwasched global-customer’..
You’ll not find tradition, heritage or uniqness in modern cars..
.. and that’s what happen when barbarian-money-maker$ are running the bussine$(i.e: music industrie..)
Nouveau-riche love ‘prestige-logos’ on everything..
yeah, I love this §ellout :) http://www.amgcollection.com/category-s/169.htm (Por$che is doing it ass well..:)