Underneath the white noise of PR-friendly, gasoline-electric hybrids and hydrogen-powered cars, thrums the bass rumble of the current Horsepower War. To this skirmish Mercedes has always seemed, well, a little over-prepared with some of the industry's more lethal weapons.
In the late '60s it was their 6.3-litre vee-eight 300SEL, and then the OTT 450 SEL 6.9-litre version with its 286 horsepower and more than 400 pound-feet of torque (which made it a favourite of both business execs and bank robbers alike). Then the big-motor-in-a-not-so-small-sedan format evolved into the 500E of the early '90s. With some engineering and production help from the elves at Porsche, the cooking 300E mid-sized sedan received a Monster Garage-like makeover. Now a Q-ship legend, with its 322 horsepower, 354 pound-feet of torque 5.0-litre vee-eight (kindly donated from the contemporary SL), the 500E would run under six-second zero-sixty sprints, top out at 155 mph, and then take you and your neighbours out for dinner like a Porsche 911 never could.
Up to this point in our Horsepower War history lesson, these weapons, er, cars, had all been straight-from-Stuttgart production models. With Mercedes acquiring the legendary German tuning firm AMG (producing their own weapon's grade machinery called "Hammers"), the genealogy of Mercedes's current mid-sized missile, the 2005 E55 AMG, becomes a little more clear.
This generation E55 AMG's immediate predecessor, the 1998-2002 model, was the most successful AMG model in the company's 35-year history with about 12,000 units sold worldwide. For this latest version, AMG started with the completely new-for-'03 E-Class, with its vee-eight now enlarged from 4.3 to 5.0 litres, and then got to work--in fact, quite a bit of work.
Part of the justification for the E55 AMG's somewhat elevated $115,650 Cdn. price tag is that every AMG-built engine, from the C55 up, is hand built by a single engineer. The first phase of making a regular M-B 5.0-litre vee-eight "weapon's grade" is to enlarge its displacement to 5439 cubic centimetres. Additionally, the crankcase is stiffened, a more durable crankshaft is installed and balanced, and the mill gets forged connecting rods. Modified cam timing allows the valves to open longer, cylinder heads
with bigger ports and a highly modified oil supply system that includes oil cooling for the pistons are added. Oh yeah, almost forget the cherries on top of this now very powerful cake: an IHI-supercharger and intercooler.
After the AMG engineer has completed their horsepower magic, a special plaque with the builder's signature is placed on the supercharger cover as vouch of authenticity.
The result? How about a near-Viper-like 469 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque available all the way from as low as 2650 on up to 4500 rpm.
When you do fire up the E55 AMG for the first time, be prepared for a culture shock as the more open exhaust system (for improved breathing, natch) will have you thinking American hot rod, not Teutonic business sedan. But this car really is "all business".
Knowing the engine's output numbers, the first thing any car zealot will want to do is find a very empty, and very large (make that very, very large) parking, and stomp on the gas--but wait. Keep in mind that Mercedes asks for a 1,600 kilometre break-in on its AMG-engined cars. Once you've passed that long awaited mileage number, go ahead, and enjoy the primary reason you bought this beast in the first place.
In the late '60s it was their 6.3-litre vee-eight 300SEL, and then the OTT 450 SEL 6.9-litre version with its 286 horsepower and more than 400 pound-feet of torque (which made it a favourite of both business execs and bank robbers alike). Then the big-motor-in-a-not-so-small-sedan format evolved into the 500E of the early '90s. With some engineering and production help from the elves at Porsche, the cooking 300E mid-sized sedan received a Monster Garage-like makeover. Now a Q-ship legend, with its 322 horsepower, 354 pound-feet of torque 5.0-litre vee-eight (kindly donated from the contemporary SL), the 500E would run under six-second zero-sixty sprints, top out at 155 mph, and then take you and your neighbours out for dinner like a Porsche 911 never could.
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This generation E55 AMG's immediate predecessor, the 1998-2002 model, was the most successful AMG model in the company's 35-year history with about 12,000 units sold worldwide. For this latest version, AMG started with the completely new-for-'03 E-Class, with its vee-eight now enlarged from 4.3 to 5.0 litres, and then got to work--in fact, quite a bit of work.
Part of the justification for the E55 AMG's somewhat elevated $115,650 Cdn. price tag is that every AMG-built engine, from the C55 up, is hand built by a single engineer. The first phase of making a regular M-B 5.0-litre vee-eight "weapon's grade" is to enlarge its displacement to 5439 cubic centimetres. Additionally, the crankcase is stiffened, a more durable crankshaft is installed and balanced, and the mill gets forged connecting rods. Modified cam timing allows the valves to open longer, cylinder heads
 |
After the AMG engineer has completed their horsepower magic, a special plaque with the builder's signature is placed on the supercharger cover as vouch of authenticity.
The result? How about a near-Viper-like 469 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque available all the way from as low as 2650 on up to 4500 rpm.
When you do fire up the E55 AMG for the first time, be prepared for a culture shock as the more open exhaust system (for improved breathing, natch) will have you thinking American hot rod, not Teutonic business sedan. But this car really is "all business".
Knowing the engine's output numbers, the first thing any car zealot will want to do is find a very empty, and very large (make that very, very large) parking, and stomp on the gas--but wait. Keep in mind that Mercedes asks for a 1,600 kilometre break-in on its AMG-engined cars. Once you've passed that long awaited mileage number, go ahead, and enjoy the primary reason you bought this beast in the first place.