-Marlin-

Checked it out. Felt exclusive so I feel special. Read through the latest edition of the AMG mag and got a feel for the new direction of AMG. Not sure if I'm on board. The less is more thing and trumpeting the "green" persona of carbon emission (footprint) has me skeptical.

I don't buy AMG for carbon footprint or the efficiency. I buy AMG for the obnoxious sound of an overpowered car with subtle performance lines and throttle response that makes me wet myself.

Am I way off in my assessment of the future of the division?

zibby43

I feel the same as you my friend.

Be vocal over there. It's too dead sometimes. Don't be shy to voice your displeasure. AMG wants the feedback.

I will say though, even BMW M has felt the strain when it comes to being green and emissions control. The F80 M3 is a brilliant car but in my opinion, it has an absolutely gutless motor.

Case1906

Agree, and look at the state of Formula 1 these days. The very quiet, lower reving, fuel efficient Mercedes "Hybrid" motor with its mandated enery recovery system (ERS) is dominating the World Championship. That's great, but many feel like F1 has lost its soul. AMG and M are heading in that direction. This is why I'm holding on to my 6 mile per gallon on the track NA 6.2 liter beast as long as it will run.

-Marlin-

Yikes! I did not realize the same cancer has spread to the M series. Not good. They can do carbon credit offsets all day long, but if the car does not derive the same inspiration that has made AMG what it is, what do they have?

Soulless division that makes the people who don't buy them happy. Enter tree hungers and patchouli oil..... New CEO huh? Coincidence?

I buy the car for the motor and there's no replacement for displacement.

Ingenieur

But the new cars are faster AND more efficient
That is a good thing

Like it or not the fuel efficiency and emission are not at the discretion of the mfgs
AMG and M sell a lot of cars and if they don't make them more efficient it will drag their corp. avg down

The better the mpg the more I can drive
Faster and better mpg...think about it

Don't mistake their position as a political philosophy
It's the laws and pragmatic

As far as F1 it does seem silly but they are trying to make it worth something as a road car development formula
The fia writes the rules and they are big into road cars and safety not only sporting

OlegKouz

This

cyberorth

Well said. You have to get with the times and you will find the soul once again. Same as the argument on the third pedal.
Then in f1, every time they have changed the power plant, fans were unhappy, until they weren't...

-Marlin-

Ok, I'm skeptical of change, but the idea of turbos and super chargers is a turn off for me. I like all motor. Force fed is fun, but it conjures thoughts of The Fast and the Furious. I like the refinement of MB with the ridiculousness that AMG offers in HP and torque naturally aspirated. It's a bigger accomplishment in my mind. It's pure, sounds like it will last, and less likely to be plagued by long term problems due to heat.

I remember the first time I saw a commercial for an E63. It was in a garage and the narrator said the horse power of the car. I thought I misheard him until I saw the commercial again and went "Holy Crap" he did say what I thought he said. Broke at the time, I knew I had to partake in an AMG one day. I don't get that feeling from reading the articles of the new direction of the brand.

SaphGreyC63

It is exclusive, but I got turned off from those boards about that. I felt like alot of people on their were a bit elitist about owning AMGs rather than this board where everyone tries to help each other out.

whoover

Manufacturers have no choice. They must conform to European fleet limits on carbon emission. Failing to meet the mandated average emission of carbon means they have to pay a fine which rises to 95 euros per gram per kilometer excess carbon for every car they sell.

bhamg

Wow. Do you know how much more (quantitatively) stringent Euro emissions standards are than those in the U.S.?

-Marlin-

Whoover

I did not know that. It's starting to make sense now. Regulations from the top dictating the future of innovations........ok, I misunderstood.

Ingenieur

Same here to a lesser extent
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requires vehicle manufacturers to comply with the gas mileage, or fuel economy, standards set by the Department of Transportation (DOT). CAFE values are obtained using the city and highway fuel economy test results and a weighted average of vehicle sales. Tests are conducted in a laboratory by operating vehicles on a dynamometer. EPA administers the testing program that generates the fuel economy data. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), part of DOT, is authorized to assess penalties based on the information EPA supplies and to modify the standards.

Some countries base taxes/fees on displacement and/or power
Emission rates are also taxed

Even in the 80's BMW made 2 l M3's ( vs std 2.3) to sell in some markets

They have practicing this since WW2
They had to, little oil and very expensive

roadtalontsi

the big difference in euro emissions and u.s., is that in europe they are working with a much higher quality fuel. In america we are working with crap fuel. Ethanol can be a good fuel, however not for fuel mileage. Diluting 85 octane with "up to 10% ethanol" doesnt really equal 93 octane. Over in europe they have some pretty badass engines we dont get over here that can do lean burn modes of 28:1 air to fuel ratio. Alot of the safety the regulations like pedestrian safety that are required in europe trickle over the pond to us as well, which is less of a priority for u.s. car makers.

jrcart

Private Lounge is a forum run by AMG. It is moderated by AMG employees. If you have a legit gripe post it over there and I promise you will get answers. AMG marketing, engineering and product specialist all frequent that board and chime in on threads. Once a month they have chat sessions in which you can live chat with AMG employees and ask questions and get fast accurate answers. Private lounge is not a busy community like MBW is bit there are some interesting threads and AMG releases information there before they release it to the media or general public. You must own an AMG and have a VIN that matches your name so it keeps the troll count and poser count very low.

As for "green" performance cars they are not my cup of tea either but let sbe honest who in this thread would not take a Porsche 918 or a La Ferrari? Both are hybrids and two of fastest production cars in the world. The Electric Drive AMG SLS is the fastest electric car in the world and it would spank any stock gasoline internal comustion engine powered C63 around any race track in the world. Unfortunately "green" is here to stay and I am happy that companies like AMG are investing in R&D of "green" performance cars otherwise we would all be driving Prius' in 10 years. Like em or not they are here to stay so why not be on the cutting edge of the technology?

jrcart

Exactly.....not to mention the Obama generation EPA fleet requirments are getting tougher and touger to meet. For every E63 Mercedes sells they need to sell about 10 C250's to offset the MPG.

zibby43

Well said. Could not agree more.