I live in FL and am not interested in 4-Matic. What are the chances MB will give us a RWD 550 as a 2013 model?

 

While there is not much snow in FL there is a lot of rain and the 4-Matic is wonderful in the rain. Don't reject it because of the 4-matic.

 

Agreed as to the virtues of All Wheel Drive in the rain. But my daily is a Toyota Landcruiser and the wife just got a '12 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4X4.
The E would be a civilized hot sedan used and driven selectively. The 4Matic is parasitic to HP and my driving enjoyment. I am also considering the new CLS, but am unsure if I would prefer the stealth blend of an E vs the look at me presence of the CLS. A Renn Tech flash will be fit to either soon after delivery.

 

try an amg e63

 

all E550's are 4Matic? What? when did they start that?

 

2012.


To the O/P: I doubt anyone here knows.

 

I have a 2011 Bluetec. They only come in RWD. A set of snow tires and I get around pretty damn well in the snow. Having grown up in South Florida, I cannot imagine you having any issue whatsoever with any RWD vehicle. RWD allows the front tires to perform better than 4matic or FWD because the tires are only tasked with steering, as opposed to having to provide thrust and steering. This is why most sports cars are are RWD. Better balance and handling.

 

yeah, we're all a bunch of meat heads you know......

 

Get a slightly used 63 and save yourself the initial hit. Enjoy all the great AMG upgrades along with RWD.

 

I agree with the exception of the Veyron, 911 turbo s, and the Nissan gtr. They are the fastest 0-60 cars in the world right now. 2.5-2.7 AND 2.9 to 60, and they are all wheel drive. Production cars that is. I'm a rwd owner and love it, definitely no need in florida for 4matic.

 

Respectfully disagree with the last post (and two posters there). The last thing you want is to be caught on Florida's highways in summers downpours in E550 rwd or E63. I mean there's just so much water falling per minute that water just "stands" on the road regardless of how good (and it is good) road's water evacuation design is.

 

Its just a matter of preference. Even most of the pickups down there are 2wd. I spend 3 months during the winter in Boca and if I owned a vehicle down here it would be 2wd. What do people do on motorcycles when that downpour comes? because there are alot of bikes in florida, all year long. Not questioning the performance of the 4matic, I'm sure its great in the rain, but My 2wd 550 handles just fine in the northeast in the rain(and after the snow melts), so I think Florida would be a cakewalk.

 

1. Winter is our dry season here. Wet season is June- September, with almost daily late afternoon heavy downpours.

2. Lived in northeast for 30 years. That rain does not even compare to #1 above.

 

Yeah, I know about those downpours. I used to get caught in them on a1a, on the red bike in my sig, all the time... No back fender wasn't fun...lol

 

Ok, we get a lot of rain. But, I would venture a guess that at least 75% of the vehicles on FL roadways during any of the many fore mentioned downpours are 2WD. When it rains, all traffic slows to a crawl and there you are. FL doesn't experience an inordinate amount of crashes as result of 2WD vehicles losing control in the rain. Given the drive ability and performance of the RWD, I'll say no thank you to 4 Matic in this class vehicle.

 

This is what tires do. AWD, RWD, and FWD allsuck in the rain with crappy tires. I lived in South Florida for 30+ years and still own a home there. With all due respect, your post is BS. When the rains are coming down like you describe in Florida (and they do), you slow down and drive like a responsible adult. AWD will not help you in those conditions.

 

Ehhhh...this is more complicated than it might seem. In some conditions, it can make it easier to steer by having the front tires pull the nose of the car in the direction you want to go. Also, the overall effect on the performance of the car is complicated by the additional consideration that with RWD the rear tires are tasked with providing lateral grip in a turn AND 100% of the thrust, instead of just some of the thrust with AWD.

The main point is that very few of us will need to worry about these things EXCEPT under conditions that make 4matic useful!

 

A slightly used E63 would no doubt be a fine ride.
But, the performance potential of the new 2012 poweplant is what has my interest. A 4.6L Twin Turbo V8, once tuned, will make some serious hp and torque. So for the $25K (approximate) price variance between the E 550 and E 63...a RWD, badge delete, lowered and tuned E 550 would suit me just fine.
Older E63's beware... of the tuned turbos. Smoke'm if you got'm boys!

 

Ehhhhh.....it is really not a difficult concept to understand, but, I understand it can be elusive to some. A tire has only so much traction available to it on any given road surface. If some of the traction available is being vectored to propulsion, there is that much less dedicated to adhesion/steering. There are always exceptions, as someone above pointed out by naming three fairly common, if not ubiquitous, vehicles that do fine with AWD setups. What I stated is the "rule of thumb" not the absolute rule.

 

Yea a rain slick road works about the same as a 4wd truck hitting ice. Just doesn't matter how many wheels are pulling if there isn't any traction.

 

The limit of adhesion...ummm yah, that's where the fun factor is found!

 

I understand the traction circle. You are talking about the front tires, about understeer. But, moving (part of) the propulsion from the front to the rear affects oversteer. Whether the car steers better or worse AS A UNIT is more complicated. It's made even more complicated by the fact that (in the 4matic) the propulsion is transferred from front to back or back to front as one exceeds the respective tires' capabilities.

Check out:

http://www.rallycars.com/Cars/4wd_turbo_cars.html

I've quoted its conclusion for our discussion:

Most people have the wrong impression that 4WD is only useful on slippery roads and conditions. The best argument against this impression is to drive all three types of vehicle (front or rear wheel drive) on a dry tortuous road. In the first tight corner try extracting the car at the limit of its tires' grip and see what happens. Wheel spin is simply unavoidable.
A front wheel drive car will have its inside wheel spinning and will almost stall in the absence of a self locking differential. The only choice left to its driver is to lift off.
A rear wheel drive car will also have its inside wheel spinning and will get into oversteer. In the absence of a self locking differential the driver, apart from counter-steering, will have to ease on the gas pedal if he is to avoid exiting the road.
A full time 4 wheel drive car can negotiate the same corner with the gas pedal almost floored...

 

I am not sure I would agree that it is a rule of thumb. I'd much rather drive a FWD in snow than a RWD. In fact, I did for many, many years. Using the front tires to pull the car in the intended direction works better than pushing with the rears, at least for the way I drive. Of course, 4matic just takes the fun out of it!

 

Check this out:

The type of vehicle that's best for you depends on the conditions you typically face. for most drivers, four-wheel drive might be overkill. The 4-Wheel-Drive Myth - Podcast

 

The point of the podcast is probably correct. Most people don't need 4matic most of the time. Probably most don't need it ever. Fair enough.

But I must've forgotten my meds this evening. The &*%($ about acceleration is simplistic. Loose quotes "AWD makes you go faster, but doesn't make you stop more quickly." The connotation is that folks with AWD floor their cars and drive 60 mph on 4 inches of ice, completely forgetting that they must stop when the child chases the snowball into the street.

But trying to climb the hill leading from my neighborhood to the first major street is all about acceleration. The areas I need to drive and the climate in my area (D.C.) probably say that -- broadly speaking -- I don't need 4matic. Consumer Reports would laugh at the money I've wasted. Yeah, right. If I want to leave home, I need the acceleration afforded by the 4matic to get up that freakin' hill. Otherwise, I'd have an E63.

Don't hate me because I can accelerate on snow!