AMG Going AWD: Following in Audi's footsteps

[Ricky Church]

All-wheel drive in a Mercedes performance sedan? Get used to the idea, because AMG needs more traction, and its customers want it, too.

The recipe employed by the German power-houses is pretty simple, even if its implementation is anything but: stick a big V8 in the front and have it drive the rear wheels. But the times they are a-changing. The latest reports indicate that AMG is preparing to offer all-wheel drive on its range of performance-oriented Mercedes-Benz automobiles. Now if you're thinking that AMG already offers all-wheel-drive models, you're right. The M, G and GL sport-utes already pack four-wheel traction, as will the new A45.

What's destined to change is the availability of four-wheel traction on its sedans like the C, E, S and possibly even CLS-Class models. Most of these sedans (in their base forms) are already available with Mercedes' 4Matic system, though the tuners in Affalterbach may look to beef it up to handle the extra power their plan on channeling to each corner. With a revised E63 AMG around the corner, speculation is ramping that Mercedes will showcase an all-wheel-drive version of that first, before rolling it out across further models. The reason for the development is that the competition is offering all-wheel drive on its performance models, so Mercedes needs to keep up.

As AMG powertrain chief Friedrich Eichlers pointed out in speaking with Australian car news site Drive, Audi's RS models all pack Quattro all-wheel drive, and BMW is tipped to do the same with the M5. Even Maserati is speculated to be preparing AWD versions of its new Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans. The move could be more than a marketing calculation, though. AMG wants to continue ramping up the output of its engines, and it has evidently found it needs more traction to be able to channel all that power to the road.

 

[BlvdBrawler]

Neat. That much power needs AWD.

 

[ThumpDaddy]

I want my next car to be an AWD something. I just don't know what yet.

 

[Ricky Church]

I want my next car to be an AWD something. I just don't know what yet.

never felt more in control since the first time I drove an Audi, then after that I always had to have an AWD car handy, especially in the Northeast.

 

[King Theo]

never felt more in control since the first time I drove an Audi, then after that I always had to have an AWD car handy, especially in the Northeast.

This. if i lived in florida or california. or geographical landscape similiar i wouldnt mind rwd

but living in pittsburgh where it rains and snows all the fukking time awd is when i drive by people who are stuck or struggling. its just like the commercials brehs

 

[Ricky Church]

This. if i lived in florida or california. or geographical landscape similiar i wouldnt mind rwd

but living in pittsburgh where it rains and snows all the fukking time awd is when i drive by people who are stuck or struggling. its just like the commercials brehs

damn breh forreal.

It was like 3+ years ago I'm driving home after work, during a huge storm in North Jersey and the HWY 280 wasn't plowed, they don't plow the roads until the storm is over.

shyt was crazy, driving past all these FWD & RWD cars stuck in the snow, and there was no such thing as lanes, shyt was covered up and people was just driving to get out the way and not hit anyone else. shyt was scary breh.

all I kept thinking was "lawd bless AWD" when I saw the Audi's, Subaru's, and BMW's with X-Drives ripping thru, leaving everyone else in the snow.

and then another time I parked my car on the street outside my house instead of in the driveway, I wake up to go shovel snow to get out and go to work, and I think to myself "fukk it, lemme see how good this Quattro is" so I hop in after cleaning my car off and just ripped thru the snow out the parking space like there was nothing there, meanwhile I caught all my neighbors who was diggin' they cars out, mean-muggin' me as I drove by like

I got a million stories of me fukkin' around in the snow on purpose with the Quattro, just because I knew I could.

doing donuts in the snow in the parking lot at work, taking shortcuts thru high feets of snow that wasn't plowed just to give my car that work. shyt's fun as hell.

My old C5 A6

@ work.

@ my old house.

 

[ThumpDaddy]

That's what's up. I remember watching Audi's in racing. No matter what they did, the AWD just kept them winning. They weighed them down, restricted their power and they was still winning.

 

[HookersandIceCream]

About time
Just waiting for the turbos

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

CL63 AMG AWD