Mercedes-AMG has just upgraded the turbocharged four-cylinder engine found in its compact cars to deliver 375 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque, but for further upgrades the official Mercedes tuner will turn to an all-new engine—one developed by the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team.
The information was revealed by Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers during a recent interview with Australia’s Motoring. He said the current engine had reached its limit and that for a replacement Mercedes-AMG will turn to the F1 team, specifically the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (formerly Mercedes-Ilmor, then High Performance Engines) division responsible for the power units used by several teams this season.
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Mercedes-AMG is reportedly turning to the F1 team because of its experience with small, lightweight, high-output engines and the sophisticated energy recovery systems being used this season. It’s not clear what form of technology transfer will happen but one possibility that can be ruled out is an electric-aided turbocharger, where an electric motor is used to spool the turbo at low revs.
Moers explained that the technology, often referred to as E-Boost, would require an upgraded electrical system and extra batteries and may not make much financial sense at present. As previously reported, Mercedes-AMG already uses E-Boost technology in motorsport but will only add it to its fleet of road cars if the customer can afford it.
In his interview with Motoring, Moers also revealed that Mercedes-AMG had ruled out diesel engines and another all-electric car (the first was the SLS AMG Electric Drive) due to a lack of demand. Instead, he sees hybrid power as being the next frontier for the Affalterbach-based squad.
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