The 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class was officially revealed about a week ago and is clearly more than your typical middle-cycle facelift. Last time we checked, even though it sports a more aggressive face, the 2014MY has…18 engine options, at least in Europe, and none of them bears the AMG moniker.But fear not, there’s going to be a new E63 AMG alongside the rest of the new E-Class range at the upcoming Detroit Motor Show. In fact, we’ve already snapped the new car doing the mandatory rounds in the Nordschleife a couple of months ago as well as a camouflage free model in Spain.
At the time, we assumed that the bi-turbo 5.5-liter V8, that churns out 518HP and 516 lb-ft (700Nm) in standard form and 550HP with the AMG performance pack, might get an upgrade or two but would continue to direct the power to the rear wheels.
As it turns out, for the first time in the series, the 2014 E63 AMG will also get an all-wheel drive option. The Mercedes-Benz performance division has tuned the 4MATIC all-wheel drive system, which uses a mechanical open center differential instead of an electronically controlled unit, to deliver a standard 70/30 rear/front axle torque distribution split, instead of the 55/45 set-up on less potent E-Class 4MATIC versions, in order to retain the RWD car's sportier handling.
All this info comes courtesy of Car & Driver associate editor Csaba Csere who got an exclusive first look at the new E63 AMG in California. Even though he didn’t get to actually drive the car, he spent quite some time in the passenger seat interrogating AMG boss Ola Kallenius and head of development Tobias Moers, with the latter also showing him what the 4MATIC-equipped super sedan can do in the former Marine El Toro airfield.
You can watch the video and learn more about the changes AMG has done to the AWD E63 AMG in the video after the break.
By Andrew Tsaousis
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