Mercedes AMG

Mercedes AMG makes one of the most evil sounding (not to mention evil looking) cars on the planet. Maybe that is just why we are so drawn towards them. Words like angry, aggressive, muscular best describe the cars they make.

Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz car company specializing in high-performance luxury cars.

AMG models typically have more aggressive looks, higher performances, better handling and better stability, and more extensive use of carbon fiber than their regular Mercedes counterparts. AMG models are typically the most expensive and highest-performance of each Mercedes series, with the exception of non-AMG V12 models found in the most expensive nameplates of the Mercedes lineup.

How it came into being

AMG was founded as a racing engine forge in 1967 under the name AMG Motorenbau und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (AMG Engine Production and Development, Ltd.), by former Mercedes engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher in Burgstall an der Murr, near Stuttgart. The letters "AMG" stand for Aufrecht, Melcher and Großaspach, Aufrecht's birthplace (but at no time an AMG location). In 1976 most of AMG moved to Affalterbach, with the racing engine development remaining at the old location in Burgstall. At this time Erhard Melcher ceased to be a partner, but continued to be an employee at the Burgstall location.

In 1990, with AMG having become a high-profile purveyor of modified Mercedes cars, Daimler-Benz AG and AMG signed a contract of cooperation, allowing AMG to leverage Daimler-Benz's extensive dealer network and leading to commonly developed vehicles (the first one being the Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG, in 1993). On 1 January 1999 DaimlerChrysler, as it was called between 1998 and 2007, acquired 51 percent of AMG shares, and AMG was renamed to Mercedes-AMG GmbH. Racing engine development was divested and continues to exist in Burgstall under the name HWA (Aufrecht's initials). On 1 January 2005 Aufrecht sold his remaining shares to DaimlerChrysler, and since then it has been a wholly owned subsidiary.

Development of the product range

AMG initially produced a range of unofficial upgrade and accessories packages mainly for theMercedes-Benz R107 and C107, Mercedes-Benz W116, Mercedes-Benz W123, Mercedes-Benz W124, Mercedes-Benz W126 Mercedes-Benz R129 and Mercedes-Benz W201 models.AMG started off by designing and testing racing engines. It expanded its business into building custom road cars based upon standard Mercedes cars.

During the early 1980s and up until 1985, AMG offered a variety of engine performance packages, alloy wheels and styling products.

Typical AMG performance enhancements, which could all be custom ordered by the buyer, included increased engine displacements (5.2 liter, 5.4 liter), performance top ends which included port and polished heads/intake, lightened valvetrain and more aggressive cams. The DOHC 32V engine had also just been developed and was the pinnacle of AMG performance. Even a very rare Getrag 5-speed manual transmission could be ordered from AMG, and Mercedes had not offered a manual transmission V8 since the early 1970s.

The performance wheels offered during the same period were 15" or 16" ATS AMG Five Spoke Road Wheels, commonly referred to as Pentas. Penta was actually a UK based company that supplemented the high demand for the AMG wheel at the time with a replica and only a very slight styling difference, but they were not made or endorsed by AMG. The genuine AMG wheels were often coupled with an AMG performance suspension package which included uprated/lowered springs and revalved shock absorbers.

Another popular cosmetic upgrade were the AMG body kits. These ranged from subtle front spoilers, to an aggressive Wide Body kits for the W126 coupes. Other options included Recaro seats, smaller diameter steering wheels, instrument clusters, chrome delete option (all brightworks color coded or painted satin black), refrigerators, shift knobs, hi-fi stereo systems, custom upholstery and enhanced interior wood packages.

The release of the AMG Hammer sedan in 1986, based on the W124 E-Class, took AMG's performance modifications for a fast compact sedan to a new level. AMG made the world's fastest passenger sedan at the time, nicknamed the Hammer, by squeezing Mercedes 5.6-liter V8 tuned by AMG to 360 hp into a midsized sedan. It was very aggressive for the era, with 32-valve cylinder heads and twin camshafts, and said to be faster than the Lamborghini Countach from 60 to 120 mph. Later models were even more powerful and introduced the 17" AMG Aero 1 Hammer wheels. 1986 was also the year Mercedes introduced the 560 M117 engine. This provided yet another opportunity for customers to order the largest AMG displacement available at the time, the 6L 100 mm bore SOHC or DOHC engines available for both the W126 coupe and sedans.

Through the early 2000s, AMG focused principally on supercharged V8 and V6 engines, but the company officially abandoned this technology in 2006 with the introduction of the naturally aspirated 6.2L M156 V8. On 16 January 2006, Mercedes-AMG Chairman Volker Mornhinweg told AutoWeek that the company would use turbocharging for higher output rather than supercharging. For 2011, AMG released the M157 5.5L biturbo V8 which has supplanted the M156 in its full-sized cars such as the S-Class and CL-Class (and is trickling down to the CLS, E-Class, and SLK in various forms).

Although these are considered the most well known in-house tuning divisions, Mercedes-AMG has a considerably different philosophy than BMW M. Mercedes-AMG has created high-performance versions of many of its nameplates, including flagship sedans and SUVs, while BMW M has emphasized tuning only vehicles with "Lateral agility" (which has long been only been 3 Series, 5 Series, and roadsters). Compared to BMW M, Mercedes-AMG is "less narrow in its sporting focus, yet still combining sledgehammer performance with relaxed handling, cultured comfort, and practicality". Although there were some AMG models in the 1980s with manual transmissions, almost all recent models have used automatics (5G-Tronic and later 7G-Tronic with Speedshift), in contrast to BMW M which used manuals and recently semi-automatic transmissions (the current type being a dual clutch transmission). Starting in 2009, however, AMG began adopting the 7-speed AMG SpeedShift MCT dual clutch transmission.

While founders Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher had emphasized proper racing cars, Mercedes-AMG had diverged considerably from this philosophy in recent years, with their offerings being well known for straight-line acceleration but poor handling dynamics. However, current Mercedes-AMG chairman Volker Mornhinweg has urged the division to return to its roots of building sports cars.

Motor racing

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, AMG entered the big Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 V8 saloon, affectionately named the "Red Sow", in the 1971 Spa 24 Hours, and the European Touring Car Championship. AMG and Mercedes worked together on Mercedes-Benz W201 cars for the 1988 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM, German Touring Car Championship). AMG was made the official partner.

When DaimlerChrysler acquired a majority share of AMG in 1999, the motor racing department was divested into HWA AG. Their first car was the ill-fated Mercedes-Benz CLR. Since 2000, HWA builds and runs the cars for Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), as well as the M271 engine tuned for use in FormuIa 3.

Six successive lightly modified Mercedes-Benz AMG models (including, most recently, an SL 63 AMG) have acted as the safety cars for the FIA Formula One World Championship.

 2011, 6 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3s will be competing in the FIA GT3 European Championship, as well as various other endurance racing events like the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.Six successive lightly modified Mercedes-Benz AMG models (including, most recently, an SL 63 AMG) have acted as the safety cars for the FIA Formula One World Championship.

Relationship with Pagani

AMG also provides engines for the Pagani Zonda supercar. The engines used are variants of the M120 7,291cc displacement V12 engine originally used in the SL73 AMG. The M120 is the largest displacement naturally aspirated engine provided by AMG and is now exclusively used by Pagani.