LOGOSDJ

I am leasing mine, which is mainly why this doesn't bother me that much, if at all.

hodadrah

No more "one man, one engine."

AMG was a great & unique brand.

Now it's becoming BS. Every car can wear it.

Can you imagine BMW selling M235i as M2? No. BMW introduce a real M2.

That's how you keep the brand value.

Good-bye, AMG. We will miss you.

topsider

true, but actually the M2 doesn't have an M-specific engine. That engine is now in the X4 as well

LOGOSDJ

Hahaha, this is funny. You act as if AMG vehicles are completely abandoning the "one man, one engine" mantra.

Nothing about the true AMG vehicles will be changing. They'll continue to be the best of the best in terms of performance cars with hand-built engines. All that's happening is that two lesser vehicles (with engines not built by one man) will considered to be a part of the AMG line-up, sitting at the bottom of the line-up. It's branding, nothing else.

If you are an AMG driver who owns/leases anything from a C63 or E63 to an S65 or G65, nothing about the amazing vehicle you're driving -- or what you paid to drive it -- will have changed, plain and simple. If you think anyone's experience driving and enjoying any of these cars will now somehow be tainted or ruined because a vehicle called the C43 that's half the price will now wear an AMG badge on the back, you couldn't be more wrong.

And lastly, if you think of "AMG" as simply an exclusive name and nothing more, then you probably shouldn't be driving an AMG vehicle, anyway.

LogicDSS

You should be happy about this move. Your CLA45 won't be the poor kid of AMG's anymore... but it will still be the slowest.

LOGOSDJ

Actually, it might be, since most CLA45s are priced the same or less than C450s depending on configuration.

kuba.95

You're joking right? The CLA 45 will still be easily faster than the C450 especially with the power upgrades the CLA 45 is getting.

0-60 times are Manufacturer times so they're most likely slightly understated.

2015 CLA 45. 0-60 4.4 Quarter Mile- 12.7
2016 CLA 45 (Which has the added hp etc)- 0-60 4.1

C450- 0-60 4.8 Quarter Mile- 13.2

LogicDSS

Joking? No, not at all. The CLA 45 and the C450 have almost the same performance with a simple chip on both cars. They both are capable to produce +/- 450 hp and +/- 460 torque.

AMGAffalterbach

That feeling though when they're entry CLA45 2.0T is almost breaking into the 3 second 0-60 range... modern engines and modern platforms put even 5 year old engines to shame including my own.

kuba.95

Lol Hp, and torque aren't everything.

kuba.95

Ya it's simply amazing how fast technology progresses in the vehicle sector. Also it's a good thing that MB is succeeding in formula 1 since that benefits current and future MB, and AMG owners.

LogicDSS

Now that is a fact. Really good point.

Since you bring it up, please do enlighten all of us and let us know what the CLA45 has more than the 450 - other than the hand built engine.

kuba.95

The stuff I posted earlier was facts also. If I remember correctly the 2015 CLA 45 had 355 hp and 332 tq yet it still was faster than the C450 which has 362 hp and 384 TQ.

Anyways here are some differences:

CLA 45 has a better transmission than the C450. 7 Speed DCT vs 7 Speed Automatic.

CLA 45 weighs quite a bit less. 3,450 lbs vs 3,748 lbs.

CLA 45 has better engine components, and more boost in it's turbo. Haven't checked this for a while but I believe it was 26.1 PSI or something near that.


The AWD systems are different so that could have an impact for some of the times. CLA 45 50:50 vs C450 33:67.

Better ESP. CLA 45 3 stage ESP vs C450's 2 stage.

I also believe that the CLA 45 could have a better cooling system since on the Mercedes-AMG site doesn't make any mention of an upgraded cooling system on the C450, while the CLA 45 gets the upgraded "AMG Cooling" system. Either way this would probably only make a difference on track use.

All of this information is from the MBUSA site, and the Mercedes-AMG site.

AMGAffalterbach

Kuba, I definitely get the impression about the CLA45 being more of a "ground-up" AMG car than the C43, because it is, and it does come down to weight and such too. But I think they are two very different cars in how they are meant to drive, as Matt Farah put it, the CLA45 is like the Mercedes answer to the Evo, it's a 2.0L high boost 4 cylinder. I think the C450/C43 is a more traditional Mercedes platform, rear-wheel-drive based and heavier. Probably feels more substantial at higher speeds, though I've never driven either one so can't say.

However, I think F1 technology will have wide-reaching consequences in the future. I have a feeling when I am in my 40s, most luxury performance cars (think E63/M5/RS7 equivalent) will have super high output, heavily turbocharged, low displacement 6 cylinders (think 2.0L or lower) with some type of KERS system with an MGH-U and MGU-K unit to both spool up the turbo, vector torque, and supplement engine output (by filling in the torque curve with electric motor power). All driven by a push for efficiency, of course. Hopefully super cars still retain something like a high technology, hot-V 4.0TT V8 with these added electronic systems. As I've said before, I think the 4.0TT is the perfect evolution of the V8 engine.

Hell, one automotive site out of Europe was saying it's possible Mercedes might implement modular inline-6 engines with some type of electronically supplemented turbocharger. I think this is unlikely, but back to the topic of CLA45 vs C43/C450, I really hope the C43 gets a little bump in power to make it more competitive with the upcoming V6 TT S4 and the ATS-V. I know the M276 DELA30 is not an AMG engine but it should be stout enough to compete with American counter-parts while still remaining reliable, or at least that should be their goal. I don't know how much development they did with that engine in comparison to the NA V6, but from what I read, it seems like they just slapped two turbochargers on it.

topsider

the CLA isn't strictly 50:50. it can send up to 50% to the rear, I've seen a CLA45 on a dyno and only the front wheels were powering the car

NthDegree

iTrader: (-1)

Maybe 5 year old NA Mercedes engines... BMW and Audi's engines from that time period (the N54 for BMW and the 3.0T from Audi) are still very competitive in terms of performance and efficiency). Glad Mercedes is finally catching up to the competition again as in my opinion they had fallen behind for a while.

Mc81b

4 cylinder ?
What's that...
Never heard of it, does it run on solar energy?

AMGAffalterbach

It runs off the plight of the working man

zdonner

As far as the renaming of the C450 - While I was at the NAIAS I spoke with a few of the folks at Mercedes Benz that were attending the show. They quickly shot down the notion that they would rename the car and absorb it into the AMG line.

topsider

At the new england auto show in boston this past weekend a Mercedes employee said the switch will include the name and a few other goodies, but nothing major in terms of body kit or power output

zdonner

I'm interested to see an official release because I asked multiple people there to the point where an actual MB rep that was there came to speak to me and she said that despite what they chose to do with the SLC43 they would not do that with the C450.

I felt like that response could be of two reasons; First that the car is so young that they don't want to announce a drastic change like that when they only have just begun to sell them. Second that they actually are not planning to change it and it was simply an assumption (which at present it really only is) by Car and Driver and there is no actual merit to the report.

topsider

They announced it internally in Detroit last week, so said the mercedes corporate employee that I talked to this weekend who was at the detroit show

zdonner

Who did you speak to? I went Saturday and Monday and was told the exact opposite.

inhartwetrust

Good to see that the Mercedes folks are clearly aligned on everything...

topsider

not sure about his name, but i asked if he was with a dealer or corporate and he said he was a corporate employee