Mercedes AMG Boss: The horsepower wars are over

I read this first that there was a new AMG called "The Boss" producing a level of horsepower no one else could beat, hence the war being over (with a clear victor). Imagine my disappointment... Seriously, there are much greater things to focus on than sheer horsepower. Performance car drivers now expect much more from less power and with lower weight, bringing the coincidental benefits of lower fuel consumption and smaller emmissions. Add the global financial crisis to the mix and high powered luxo-barges seem increasingly flawed.

Let's be completely honest here. when it comes to the German horsepower war, Mercedes Benz and Audi are far more ridiculous than BMW. I mean come on, a 580bhp RS6? Who really needs a car like that? At least BMW are making the effort, introducing turbocharging and its efficient dynamics program to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. That's not to say Merc isn't trying with its blue efficiency range. So far I haven't seen Audi budge an inch with regards to its efficiency apart from a few lacklustre attempts in its diesel range. Power is great and all, don't get me wrong, as I'm a speed freak myself, but Mercedes and Audi need to make a greater effort with regards to the horsepower war. So far as I can see, Merc only issued that statement to make themselves look good.

Sorry, but this is bull****. Of course they'll have to look at hybrids and that kinda stuff (which they're already developing ). And Diesel-AMGs are nothing new. We've had that a couple of years ago already in the old C-Class. A AMG A-Class will not come out, I dont believe that till i see it. Thats just not Mornhingweg's style. And to the new AMG E-Class .. its still and EClass so it will still be damn heavy. And i will take bets from now on: its gonna have more that 514hp ( this is what the E63 has right now). So this whole stuff is just marketing BS. I take my test-ride in the new E350 CDI as an example: 15.6 liters of diesel ( !!!!! ) with a completely new engine. What the hell ?? @adz612 Both, Merc and Audi have the same CO2-reducing stuff that BMW has with the gear-shifting optimiziers and turn-off automatic and all that crap. And btw: who needs a SL with 612 hp ???

Nice one by AMG! This is a prelude for them announcing the new diesel AMGs which will probably start the "torque wars"!!! Mercedes can't help having at least one figure above anyone else, even if it's irrelevant in the context of their 2 ton trucks...

Hmmm.... Will we see a 450hp Hybrid C-class AMG?

I hear they're developing a highly tuned steam powered engine.

No offence... but lightweight+hybrid=fail You can't make a car lighter weight and a hybrid. Batteries and motors weigh a lot. But hey, looks like this will be the end of inefficient high hp/L cars.

Welcome home, Reason! These will be "tuned Mercs".

"BMW introducing turbocharging"? HUH?? Audi/VW has been doing this for YEARS in most of their cars getting decent fuel economy...sorry but BMW is playing catch up here friend! Um, and the RS6 is a twin turbo! I fail to see your point...

and honestly, i fail to see your, dude... rs6 is a twin turbo? sooooooo? the 335 bimmer is a twin turbo as well... oh, you know what, the 335D bimnmer is a turbo, too. what do you know? they're really introducing turbocharging, you know... in their cars.

For next: Is Renault's sports division in Matra waiting with Alpine and their RWD things when Ghosn and the other guys of the Renault board will get the point about European/American car market and make some changes in company basic approaches.

adz612 - Audi not budging an inch? You're kidding right? In addition to FSI technology, Audi is at the forefront of diesel technology. Have you watched Le Mans for the past, I dunno, 8 years? Audi R8's were utterly dominant and they retired the model to move to the diesel R10. Despite penalizing it for being so fuel efficient, it still is undefeated at the 24 hours of Le Mans. And btw, Audi has already stopped the horsepower wars; the b8 S4 has already ditched the 4.2 V8 for a 3.0 supercharged v6. Better fuel efficiency and more usable power. Good for BMW finally figuring out how to use turbos...Audi has been doing it for years.

Mercedes have never been on that war...merecedes have never been able to made an proper super car and less a proper super engine as the BMW P80 whit 680hp from the McLaren F1...14 years ago!!!! so dont talk about power...

No more 1000 Nm torque? Who will keep world turning 24 hrs per day?

BMW and turbo`s? The first prodution road car to have turbo the 2002turbo in 1973.The 1983 F1 world champions with road car based engines ( old cylinder blocks that had done at least 100,000 miles )1,400BHP in qualifying out of a 1.5 litre engine. No BMW don`t know about turbo`s, just having to use them to keep the tree huggers happy!

As almost every subject on WCF, comments are again about my p*nis is bigger then yours... I just hope all of them start making lighter (and more affordable) cars. The insurance alone on a 6.3 litre car! Like the M3 E30, or the 190E 2.3-16V, only 2.3 litres and lots of fun.

Totally agree with alex_w115! I had more fun in my old stripped out and tuned Mk1 GTI than my C32AMG. The AMG was great for high speed cruising and launching off of stop-lights, but the GTI was just fun to tuck corners and rev the sh!t out of it. It's a pitty here in Korea there aren't many older European cars available for a project car like that. But back the AMG's...I thought that there was a one off A Class AMG that they made with the first generation A-Class. And there was also the C30 AMG with an in-line 5 cylinder diesel in the W203 body style...my friend has one! So it wouldn't be the first time AMG has tinkered with the diesel engine. Diesels make the perfect sense to use as a performance base because most of them are turbo-diesels. Brabus already has tuning kits for Merc diesels that manipulate the ECU to produce decent upgrade in performance. I'm really looking forward to these newer cars that they are talking about building! But having owned several AMG sedans in the past...I have come to the conclusion that no matter what...it is still a heavy saloon...there are things that the law of physics have against them (center of gravity, weight, drag) that deter them from being what I want in a performance car... Just save the money and buy a normal saloon for a family car and buy a nice lightweight roadster...even if it doesn't have the hp or straigt-line speed of those monster saloons...I'll be having more fun!

Why so much BMW fans on Mercedes-Benz page of this site? What are you looking for here? If you are absolutely, totally sure that BMW is the better car, or your car is the best car, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING HERE, why do you bother, why are you interested of MB? You have doubts? Go away, leave us with our not so cornering cars... Buy BMW or GTI or whatever, who cares, just f. off...

@schizo0223 There was no A-Class AMG, there was a McLaren Edition in silver/black/red but i think that was it. And like i said upt top already, there has been a 203 AMG-CDI a couple of years ago already, so nothin new. I just hope Audi, as the Turbo-Diesel pioneer, comes out with something comparable soon, like some S-Versions with Diesel.