Apparently the B-Class AMG we talked about right below this story isn’t exactly going to be a B-Class AMG, according to a new story by Auto Express. What AMG will actually be doing is developing a compact “CLS lite” about 4,500mm long based on the next generation B-Class chassis. That’s just slightly shorter than an E90 BMW 3-Series.

The car is known internally in AMG as the C117 EVO and is expected to be priced around £30,000, much cheaper than the £50,000 C63 AMG. Although the earlier Automotive News report says the car is likely to have a high performance four cylinder engine, Auto Express reports that the car will be a “32″ AMG car, powered by a 3.2 litre Comprex pressure wave supercharged V6.

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Mercedes-Benz has some seriously big plans for its next generation Mercedes-Benz B-Class. The tallish “mini MPV” front wheel drive B-Class is set to get a high performance AMG version with a tuned up four cylinder engine! There are of course many other pocket rockets in its segment such as the 135i, the Audi S3 and the Volkswagen Golf R, but the B-Class is the only ‘tall’ competitor.

Perhaps what AMG will do is slice its new 5.5 litre V8 bi-turbo in half and perhaps destroke it to get a nice turbocharged 2.8 litre engine. Right now the most powerful petrol-powered current generation Mercedes-Benz B-Class is the B200 Turbo, which makes 193 horsepower and 280Nm of torque which is just about near Golf GTI standards. Or a Brabus version will bump power up to 223 horses and 310Nm. A Brabus tuned up B200 CDI diesel will do 190 horses and 350Nm of torque.

Is there a market for a really fast B-Class? Is there is, you can be sure we’ll see a Volkswagen Golf Plus GTI accompanying the Golf GTI in the next generation! Whatever it is, the car is supposed to be released after the next generation B-Class’s debut in 2011.

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It looks like Mercedes-Benz will be phasing out normal aspiration from its AMG cars, with the exception of the SLS AMG for now. The M156 is the V8 engine in the confusing “63 AMG” range of cars. Now I say confusing because the engine isn’t really a 6.3 litre, but a 6.2 litre since it displaces 6,208cc. It makes over 500 horsepower in various stages of tune, with the highest being 563 horses in the SLS AMG where it has been massaged and known as the M159 instead.

Replacing the M156 will be a new M157 – a 5.5 litre (5,461cc) V8 engine with twin turbochargers and direct injection, producing between 544hp up to 571hp. In 544hp tune, the engine makes a massive 800Nm between 2,000rpm to 4,500rpm (1.0 bar boost), while the 571hp version produces 900Nm (1.3 bar boost) between 2,500rpm and 3,750rpm. The engine is a bore-biased engine, with its pistons measuring 98.0mm x 90.5mm.

This engine will be showcased in Geneva installed in an S-Class mated to an AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed automatic transmission. That S-Class will be called the S 63 AMG. It will go from 0 to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds with the 544hp tune, while with 571hp tune (which AMG calls the AMG Performance Package), 0.1 seconds is shaved off that number. The AMG Performance Package will also increase the top speed limiter from 250km/h to 300km/h. I thought AMG was the performance thing for Mercedes-Benz cars but now it seems that the performance version has a performance version!

For the first time, an AMG engine will feature direct injection with spray-guided combustion and piezo-electric injectors. Other notable specifications also include a full aluminium crankcase with cast-in Silitec cylinder liners, a Bosch MED 17.7.3 ECU, four-valve technology with electromagnetically adjustable camshafts, an air/water intercooler in between the V-bank, generator management and a start/stop function as standard.

So now the ’63 AMG’ cars are turbocharged. The other AMG engine in the ’65 AMG’ cars is already twin-turbocharged. That monster is a 3 valve per cylinder twin spark 6 litre V12, making 604 hp at 4800-5100 rpm and a massive 1,000 N·m of torque at 2000-4000 rpm! 12 cylinders and twin spark means that engine has 24 spark plugs – a huge bill when a spark plug change is due, but probably no sweat to an owner of such a car.

Carlsson calls this a ‘self-developed’ automobile, but one look and you’ll know it still has a lot of Mercedes-Benz underpinnings. It’s probably a rebodied SL, which Carlsson calls the new Carlsson C25, which will debut at Geneva 2010 this March.

The 6.0 litre twin-turbocharged V12 under the hood of the C25 makes 753 horsepower and an insane 1,150Nm of torque, which will take it from 0 to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds. And 1,150Nm is just the limited figure (likely to preserve the mechanical sanity of drivetrain components) – fully unlocked it has a 1,320Nm peak at 3,750rpm.

Seriously, even in normally aspirated form a 6.0 litre engine would be putting out something close to 600Nm which is already going to give you a huge kick in the butt when you put the pedal to the metal. It’s one of my dreams (and probably any motorheads dreams) to experience acceleration from torque in excess of 1,000Nm one day!

The C25 was designed as a ‘Super GT’. It will go into production, but only 25 units will be made. There’s actually something very interesting about how these 25 units will be distributed. Each owner is promised that he’ll be the only C25 owner in his country! Once you buy a C25 in the USA, no one else can order a C25 and register it in that country. This means it will be offered in a maximum of 25 countries.

Not sure what’s preventing some rich guy from ordering one in some weird country somewhere and importing it to his original country though. Anyone wanna bet if there’ll be one in Malaysia?
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