Photo: Mercedes-Benz
There comes a time when you must call it quits. The AMG four-cylinder 2.0-liter turbo engine was the most powerful in its class when it first came out, and after a small hiccup, it regained its crown with the latest refreshment.
In its current state, the powerplant giving life to models like the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG, CLA45 AMG or GLA45 AMG offers 381 hp and 351 lb-ft (475 Nm) of torque. Those are naturally aspirated V8 figures from ten years ago - bar the torque, which would have been lower. And let's not even begin to talk about fuel consumption.
It's surprising, then, that the engine can't be developed any further. Tobias Moers, head of Mercedes-AMG, recently said in an interview with Australian website Motoring: "That's it for this generation, we've squeezed everything we can and the turbocharging technology is at its very limit".
But don't be too quick to slam this as bad news. Sure, we've come to love that little box of crackers, but who says there isn't room for better? Certainly not Tobias Moers. His plans are to involve the people who came up with the 1.6-liter hybrid powertrain used on the Formula One car in the development of the next small-block AMG engine.
And it may indeed be small, as Mercedes-AMG is tinkering with the idea of using a 1.6-liter engine on the road cars as well. However, he's quick to rule out (for now) the possibility of having ERS and KERS on any street-legal AMG models as that wouldn't make sense just yet.
Electrically driven turbos are also a no-no for the time being, even though rivals like Audi are heavily developing this technology.
"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 to be worth it."
During the same interview, he also denied any rumors of diesel or electrical AMG models in the foreseeable future, arguing there's just not enough demand to justify the high expenses.
For now, we're not worried at all. We still have the wonderful 2.0-liter engine, and we have all the faith in the world in the guys who built the highly successful hybrid engine in the MERCEDES-AMG PETRONAS cars. Even though the next A45 AMG will not be a hybrid itself, we're willing to bet our one month's worth of petrol it will be a cracking engine.
It's surprising, then, that the engine can't be developed any further. Tobias Moers, head of Mercedes-AMG, recently said in an interview with Australian website Motoring: "That's it for this generation, we've squeezed everything we can and the turbocharging technology is at its very limit".
But don't be too quick to slam this as bad news. Sure, we've come to love that little box of crackers, but who says there isn't room for better? Certainly not Tobias Moers. His plans are to involve the people who came up with the 1.6-liter hybrid powertrain used on the Formula One car in the development of the next small-block AMG engine.
And it may indeed be small, as Mercedes-AMG is tinkering with the idea of using a 1.6-liter engine on the road cars as well. However, he's quick to rule out (for now) the possibility of having ERS and KERS on any street-legal AMG models as that wouldn't make sense just yet.
Electrically driven turbos are also a no-no for the time being, even though rivals like Audi are heavily developing this technology.
"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 to be worth it."
During the same interview, he also denied any rumors of diesel or electrical AMG models in the foreseeable future, arguing there's just not enough demand to justify the high expenses.
For now, we're not worried at all. We still have the wonderful 2.0-liter engine, and we have all the faith in the world in the guys who built the highly successful hybrid engine in the MERCEDES-AMG PETRONAS cars. Even though the next A45 AMG will not be a hybrid itself, we're willing to bet our one month's worth of petrol it will be a cracking engine.
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