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2016 E-Class W213 Mule Hits the Nurburgring Nordschleife

Remember the funky-looking Mercedes-Benz E-Class W213 mule we showed you last week? Of course you do, especially since some of you needed further proof that the longer and wider C-Class W205 body was actually hiding a future E-Class underneath.
2016 Mercedes-Benz E-Class W213 mule 1 photo
Photo: TouriClips/YouTube
Well, as it turns out, the prototype was caught again later on, this time while being trashed on the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

Despite the mule using a a camouflaged AMG bodykit, it is clearly not a full-on AMG model by looking at the ground clearance and its cornering stability on the Green Hell.

Along with the presence of a much longer hood, this detail makes us believe that not only the suspension comes from the upcoming E-Class W213, but the powertrain as well.

Since there have been some rumors about a new family of inline six and four-cylinder engines in development at Mercedes-Benz – especially for the next generation of their E-Class model – we have a feeling that one of the new straight-six gasoline engines is actually being tested in this exact model.

The most recent reports suggest that the lowest-powered variant will have somewhere north of 360 hp, while the top-spec should deliver at least 435 hp – all from a displacement of three liters and with the help of two identical twin-scroll turbochargers and direct injection.

Until Mercedes-Benz unleashes the first pre-production prototypes of the 2016 E-Class W213 with heavy camouflage, you should probably get used to seeing this odd-looking C-Class W205 mule and other similar models, especially since both the W205 and the upcoming E-Class W213 are based on the MRA (Modular Rear-wheel drive Architecture) platform.

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About the author: Alex Oagana
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Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project.
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