AMG Boss: "The horsepower wars are over."

Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sports/GTs, Etc., Green, I.C.E., Tech, Mercedes-Benz

Click above for a high-res image gallery of the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series

That's the way it goes with fashion: it's on the runway in Paris in March and in a bucket at Big Lots by September. Mercedes-Benz' in-house tuning arm, AMG, has decided to turn with the popular tide and call time on horsepower brinkmanship, with the division boss saying, "We are going to use other ways to extract better performance, including weight saving, engine optimization and alternative technologies."

What's the new fashion? Getting the most out of the least. AMG is going to do that by losing weight, installing tech like the SL63 AMG's wet clutch gearbox on the coming E63 AMG, and possibly re-engineering Mercedes' diesel, hybrid, and four-cylinder engines for AMG duty.

Not too long ago, imagining an A-Class AMG would have been beyond comprehension, but this is the future. We just hope everyone has thought through the consequences: with the reins being pulled on increasingly powerful motors, this is going to put a lot of horses out of work. And that makes the possibility of an equine industry bailout something we can't rule out...

[Source: Autocar]

AMG Boss: "The horsepower wars are over." originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The 2009 Porsche Panamera: Cue The Inappropriate Sexual References

Essentially an elongated version of the Porsche 911, the new 2009 Porsche Panamera bears a striking resemblance to its progenitor and, unfortunately, the Ambiguously Gay Duo’s Duo-car. Glaring design flaw aside, the new Panamera is definitely an innovative move for Porsche; with this new front-engine, 4-door sedan, Porsche will begin inserting itself [giggle] into other luxury/super car markets.

Publicly fingering [snicker] the almighty Mercedes-Benz CLS as a direct competitor, the Porsche Panamera is already preparing to call down the performance-sedan thunder. Although too soon to indentify a clear winner, we will [briefly] abandon the sexual innuendo in favor of a sports-related metaphor and compare the two competitors.

Challenging the Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Coupe for its Division Heavyweight Title is the Porsche Panamera S, the Panamera’s base model. Weighing in at $127,000, the rookie contender Panamera S is knocked out in the first round by the Mercedes-Benz CLS550’s cool $69,825 price tag. Rallying for round two, the Panamera S offers a sizable counter attack with a 4.8-L naturally aspirated V8 engine, 400-hp, and an acceleration rate of 0-60 mph in about 4.5 seconds. The CLS550 matches the Panamera S’s efforts with a 5.5-liter V8 engine and 7-sp automatic transmission, but is ultimately out-performed with its paltry 382-hp.

Next up: Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG v. Porsche Panamera Turbo the most immediately obvious differentiating feature between the two models is the 100k price tag difference with the CLS 63 AMG offered at $95, 425 and the Panamera Turbo rounding out at a whopping $198,000. Although the Panamera Turbo is smaller, lighter, and definitely packs a punch with a powerful with a twin-turbocharged 520-hp engine, the CLS 63 AMG doesn’t lag very far behind with its 6.3L V8 and 507-hp. For that kind of money, the Panamera Turbo doesn’t appear to have the kind of competitive edge over the CLS 63 AMG one would expect.

Not slated to make its debut until 2009, it’s impossible to prematurely calculate [snort] a winner until we’ve had the opportunity to evaluate the Panamera’s performance. One thing we can admit however – without its speed-sensitive rear-spoiler, the phallus-shaped Porsche Panamera is a hard one to swallow [hah].

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