The NA engine is a great engine but nowhere near TT in torque at any rpm range. I think it comes down to the feel rather than the numbers.

 

I would stick to the NA engine if you are concerned about long term reliability. Even with the NA engine that had been around for a long time, even as recent at 2007 and 2008 they discovered defects with the balance sprocket that is very expensive to fix. By 2010 I think that engine was very solid.

I would not get the 2012 engine. MB obviously did not think the 4.7tt engine was the best choice for the S550 as only after 2 years they discontinued it in favor of a new engine. Not saying anything is wrong with the 4.7tt but all I'm saying is if you plan to keep the car a while, I'd stick with the simpler NA engine that is almost as much powerful and gives you almost the same 0-60 times.

 

Wait. The 4.7 TT in the 2012-2013 isn't the same engine in the 2014 S class?? I thought it was...

 

I could be wrong but I don't think so. I thought the 2012 S550 still took about 5 or 5.2 second to reach 60 based on specs published by Mercedes. The 2014 model has a Mercedes published time of about 4.6 seconds. Maybe they tuned the engine differently but given the difference, I assumed the 2014 S550 has a different engine. It would be good to know so someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Either way I'm sure the 2012 engine performs better than the 2011 due to more torque but like I said if it was me buying the car, I'd go with the NA engine because there are fewer things to go wrong and that engine has been around for a longer period. If you go from the Mercedes published figures, the performance to 60 is significant between 2013 and 2014 but not as much from 2011 to 2012.

 

They both have 4.7L TwinTurbo V8s! But like websrfr said its get 0-60 in 4.6 which a vast improvement over the 2012-2013 w221 TT! I'm guessing it's the same engine but with a amazing tune. That's crazy that a car that weighs tons can reach 0-60 that fast.

 

seems like the 4.6L TT V8 is a carry over from 221 to 222. Probably a bit more boost or different tuning makes up the power difference

 

The key thing is what are the physical differences between the 2 engines. If they are physically the same, can you plug in the software from the 2014 engine and make the 2013 s550 deliver the same performance? I have a feeling not and I have a feeling that though there might be many similarities with the engine that the 2014 engine actually has different hardware components and turbocharging circuitry that delivers 0-60 in the 4.6 second range. That is amazing acceleration and almost AMG territory before 2014.

Now if only they could get rid of all the internal combustion stuff, make it all electric with a 500 mile range battery, and about a 4.2 second 0-60 time like the Model S...

 

4.7L TT V8!!!! Lol

I wonder what kind of monster the 5.5L TT V8 pushing 577hp is! But the S550 w/ 449ph is a refined monster itself!

 

There seems to be some issues with the new engine leaking oil with the saturation of new 2014's with this engine. See post 29 and down here:

https://mbworld.org/forums/new-s-cla...ml#post5929358

Don't know how widespread this may be.

 

Yes! There's a huge difference. My 2012 S550 will leave my 2010 CLK550 in the dust, and the CLK is ~1500 lbs lighter. A few caveats:

1) The turbo's on gas engines have historically been problematic, although Mercedes has been a noted exception. Somehow MB manages to both keep the turbos cool and well lubed. And so far, not a peep of unreliability. That's reserved for ABC
2) I've yet to see a 278 motor in the shop for turbo issues - waste gates, bearings, heat whatever. They certainly did something right on this design
3) The 2012 was the first year they put the 278 motor in the S Class. Like the early .9 tranny, early versions of high torque components have proven unreliable. But see #3 - they simply are not failing in the field at this time
4) They did a marvelous job of beefing up the cooling system of this motor, as tight as it is. It runs remarkable cool for having two little blowers up there pumping out 1500deg air. Take a look at the intercoolers - you'll go "wow" at the design
5) The 2012/2013 S550 will flat put you in your seat - fully loaded. We put a 2012 on the Atlanta Speedway, and kept it way up top of the bank. It was cruising at about ~155 or so, while the 5 of us played Beethoven's moonlight with the a/c on, 99 deg day. It peaks at 160 before the limiters move in, but there was plenty of room left on the accelerator. These limits CAN be removed if you're that dumb to do so
6) Hot temp days do not adversely affect the 278 the way they do the 273. The 273 (old V8) is just not spirited when you load it up with a/c and hot weather.
7) The lag on the 278 is remarkable - you'll rarely wait for more than a second for them to spool.
8) The 278 will keep up quite well with the AMG 8 Cyl. Other than a much more robust 5 sp tranny on the AMG, 40HP simply is NOT going to make that much of a difference. Interestingly, there have been a few AMG 8's in the shop for serious work lately. But no 278's (yet). Knock Knock Knock Knock on wood!
9) Stay away from the AWD version of the S Class. Unless you live up north and just HAVE to take your $150k car out in the snow, then stick with a 2WD.
10) Finally, avoid ABC at all costs. Period.

In short, MB's done a superior job with the design of the 278 motor. We'll see in 5 years how these turbos are holding out, but they used a lot of the Diesel technology up there and those are almost bullet proof, so we're thinking they did it right. Again. Stay tuned loll