AMG: Horsepower war over
 

Mercedes-Benz’ AMG performance brand is best known for its wildly powerful vehicles, but the division’s era of 600+ horsepower creations looks to be coming to an end. Instead, the performance brand will look to use other approaches to ensure AMG levels of performance.

Car enthusiasts have enjoyed a horsepower run over the last few years that makes a 400 horsepower car seem underpowered, but AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg warns those days are over. “The horsepower war is over,” he told Autocar. “We are going to use other ways to extract better performance, including weight saving, engine optimisation and alternative technologies.”

The move to reduce power is a direct result of more stringent emissions regulations worldwide, but that doesn’t mean AMG will be producing boring cars anytime soon. Mornhinweg indicated that the upcoming E63 AMG would be the first vehicle to display AMG’s new way of thinking, with the new performance sedan being lighter and more efficient that its predecessor — all while delivering better performance. However, the next E63 AMG is only the start of the division’s green movement, with diesels, hybrids and possibly even smaller four-cylinder models on the way.



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