New 2.0L Turbo (or Smaller) to be Built by AMG Petronas for A45 AMG

Reading into a recent Motoring.com.au article, we get a hint that not only is 375-horsepower not enough for the A45 AMG, but also that the current generation 2.0-liter Turbo is “at its very limit” with turbo technology. They interviewed Mercedes-AMG boss, Tobias Moers, and revealed some interesting news on the new engine, including that it will be built by AMG Petronas.

In the Motoring.com.au article, Moers was asked if the current 2.0-liter Turbo would get more power or upgrades.

“That’s it for this generation, we’ve squeezed everything we can and the turbocharging technology is at its very limit,” said Moers.

So, instead of just going the usual route of building a bigger engine, Mercedes-AMG is going to create a new engine that could potentially get smaller. It’s also the reason they are going to resource engineering and technology from Mercedes-AMG Petronas, their Formula 1 team located in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, England.

The ERS (Energy Recovery System) and KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) found in current Formula 1 cars are expected to trickle down to the road-going A45 AMG. That will not only help it make more power and reduce turbo lag, but we may also see it reduce to a 1.6-liter turbo instead of the current 2.0-liter. It also means Moers doesn’t want to go full electric or diesel-power in an AMG model.

“The reason why we’re not doing a diesel is because for us to make one, we’d need a dedicated diesel engine and powertrain and there’s limited demand for it to justify that,” said Moers. “Even almost three years out of production the SLS Electric Drive is still the benchmark for the electric car technology, with its pioneering tech, but there’s no sense in making another one [AMG eV].”

Moers goes on to say that there is currently no demand for a high-price, pure-electric supercar or AMG-badged cars, and he instead wants to focus on performance enhancing hybrid-systems, like the MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit – Heat) on the AMG Petronas Formula 1 car.

If you’re unfamiliar with the MGU-H, turbo boost is controlled by using the generator that sits between the turbine and compressor. It recovers energy under boost and in turn slows down the turbine speed, eliminating the need for a waste-gate. Lag is eliminated by reversing the flow of energy at the generator, turning it into a motor to spin the turbine up to speed when the exhaust can’t, and you don’t need to either retard the ignition timing or install a high-heat generating “rocket” anti-lag system. If the costs can come down to something reasonable for a street going system, AMG expects to use the MGU-H in the near future on their road cars, including the A45 AMG.

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Via [Motoring.com.au]

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