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Mercedes-Benz C 450 Sport Comes to Hunt The Audi S4

A few days ago, while rummaging through a rather long and mildly boring Mercedes-Benz press release concerning the ongoing 2014 Auto Show, where the Stuttgart brand had its own fair share of novelties, a very odd bit of information jumped in front of our eyes.
Mercedes-Benz C 450 Sport Lookalike 1 photo
Photo: Image Edited by autoevolution
When speaking about the newly-unveiled C-Class Long, Mercedes-Benz mentioned that it will have an engine lineup offering from 115 kW (156 hp), corresponding to the C 180 L, all the way to 270 kW (367 hp), which doesn't correspond to any existing engine in any other three-pointed star vehicle.

Pairing this mysterious detail with the fact that there has long been a rumor of a performance sub-brand in the likes of BMW's M Performance and Audi's S models to appear at Mercedes-Benz, our cogs were suddenly put into motion.

Thankfully, our hunch led us to a couple of Mercedes-Benz insiders who just today all agreed to present their newest scoop about the Stuttgart brand.

As it happens, the engine delivering those 367 hp already exists in the current Mercedes-Benz lineup, but it only offers 333 hp and 480 Nm (354 lb ft) of torque. Internally codenamed M276 DELA 30, it is a twin-turbocharged three-liter V6 that can be found under the hood of the E 400, C 400 and recently the SL 400 Roadster.

The 367 hp version is expected to offer around 550 Nm (406 lb ft) of torque and will power the most powerful C-Class outside the monster C 63 AMG variant.

To be called C 450 Sport, the future Mercedes-Benz C-Class model will be launched in 2015 and comes poised to battle the Audi S4 and the BMW 335i with M Performance parts. The cool fact is that it will come with other rear-wheel drive or 4Matic all-wheel drive, during which case it will probably mop the floor with the 333 hp Audi S4 quattro, especially since AMG has participated in the development of the model.

Expect more details about the reworked engine in the upcoming days, as it is rumored that the C 450 Sport will not be the only model to feature it in the future.
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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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