Some car companies are chassis companies, like Lotus or Jaguar, and others, like Ferrari and Mercedes are engine companies. Having a powerful engine can overcome a lot of deficiencies in a car, that’s for sure, and recently, Mercedes, a company known for their powerful mills, received top honors for their engines.
Every year in Europe, there’s a slew of auto industry awards given out. There are categories for fuel efficiency, car of the year, build quality, the whole gambit. Naturally, there’s one for “Engine Of The Year”, and this year, Mercedes took top honors.
The AMG 6.3-liter V8 engine received two awards, one for “Best Performance Engine” and another in the “Above 4 liters” category. The 6.3-liter mill cranks out a whopping 525 naturally aspirated horsepower and took first place by a wide margin in each class. In the “2 to 2.5 liters” category, Mercedes’ new four-cylinder diesel unit also took first place by a comfortable margin.
The awards are given out by the British motoring publisher UKIP Media & Events. There are 12 categories for engines and the winners are decided by an independent jury of 64 well-known motoring journalists from 32 countries. Mercedes had to compete against engines from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, the USA and Japan.
The AMG 6.3-liter V8 engine that took top honors in the “Best Performance Engine” and “Above 4 liters” categories is quite the impressive plant, especially when you consider it’s a large-scale production engine. It’s naturally aspirated and displaces 6208 cc and cranks out 525 hp, and a maximum torque of 630 Newton meters. Mercedes saw fit to drop this plant into seven AMG high-performance cars such as the C 63 AMG and the SL 63 AMG.
Mercedes says that all of this ended up on the street via their racing efforts on the track, calling it a ” … a concerted technology transfer from motor racing, something that has been firmly embedded in the corporate philosophy of Mercedes-AMG for more than four decades.” Amen brother! Jury member Bill McKinnon from the USA said this about the AMG 6.3-liter V8: “Enormous pulling power and the responsiveness of a racing engine, combined with a “Wagneresque” soundtrack – this AMG V8 sets the standard.”
Who are we to argue?
Mercedes’ diesel engine is remarkable in its own ways. It’s a four-cylinder, direct-injection diesel engine with high performance with exemplary fuel economy. The most powerful alternative develops 204 hp from a displacement of just 2143 cc, with a maximum torque of 500 Newton meters. Mercedes uses the engine in both the new E-Class and C-Class, and when installed in the C 250 CDI, the engine has a combined fuel consumption of just 5.1 liters per 100 kilometers. Australian jury member John Carey describes the engine as having “Effortless performance and an unbelievably low fuel consumption.”
Mercedes, always a hard car to argue against.
Here’s their press release:
International Engine of the Year Awards 2009: Mercedes-Benz and AMG build the best engines
Stuttgart/Affalterbach, Jun 17, 2009In the coveted “International Engine of the Year Awards 2009”, engines from Mercedes-Benz and AMG were voted the best in three categories. The AMG 6.3-liter V8 engine carried off two awards: in the “Best Performance Engine” and “Above 4 liters” categories, this high-revving, naturally aspirated engine developing up to 386 kW/525 hp took first place by a wide margin in each case. In the “2 to 2.5 liters” category, the new four-cylinder diesel unit from Mercedes-Benz also took first place by a comfortable margin.
The “International Engine of the Year Awards” are among the most prestigious in the automobile sector, and are presented annually by the British motoring publisher UKIP Media & Events. The best engines of the year are chosen in twelve categories by an independent jury of 64 well-known motoring journalists from 32 countries. This year two engines from Mercedes-Benz and AMG prevailed against stiff competition from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, the USA and Japan. This once again demonstrates the great expertise of Mercedes-Benz and the performance brand AMG in the development and production of exciting engines.
For 2009 the winner in the “Best Performance Engine” and “Above 4 liters”
categories was the AMG6.3-litre V8 engine. This high-revving, naturally aspirated power unit with a displacement of 6208 cc develops an output between 336 kW/457 hp and 386 kW/525 hp, a maximum torque of 630 Newton meters, and is used in seven AMG high-performance cars such as the C 63 AMG and the SL 63 AMG. The basis for its agile power delivery is a concerted technology transfer from motor racing, something that has been firmly embedded in the corporate philosophy of Mercedes-AMGfor more than four decades. Jury member Bill McKinnon (USA): “Enormous pulling power and the responsiveness of a racing engine, combined with a “Wagneresque” soundtrack – this AMGV8 sets the standard.”
A high performance with exemplary fuel economy is also offered by the newly
designed direct-injection four-cylinder diesel engine from Mercedes-Benz. The most powerful variant develops 150 kW/204 hp from a displacement of 2143 cc, with a maximum torque of 500 Newton meters. It is used in both the new E-Class and the C-Class. The C 250 CDIBlueEFFICIENCY Saloon equipped with this engine has a combined fuel consumption of just 5.1 liters per 100 kilometres – showing exemplary efficiency. The 125 kW/170 hp variant is happy with 4.8 liters of diesel fuel per 100 km (corresponding to CO2 emissions of 127 g/km) – the best figure in this category. Jury member John Carey (Australia) describes the engine as follows: “Effortless performance and an unbelievably low fuel consumption.”
According to Friedrich Eichler, Head of Engine and Powertrain Development
at Mercedes-AMG: “These top rankings reflect the huge enthusiasm of our customers for the AMG6.3-litre V8 engine and the high-performance cars equipped with it – and they confirm the extremely positive test results in all the worldwide media.” Christoph Schmidt-Arnold, Head Project Manager for the new diesel engines, echoes these comments: “We are extremely pleased that the new four-cylinder diesel engine from Mercedes-Benz has been so well received by our customers and that its combination of high efficiency and maximum driving pleasure has now been acknowledged with this award.”
