All-Wheel Drive Mercedes-E63 AMG Will Come With Drift Mode

While the new-generation Mercedes-E63 AMG will be offered with all-wheel drive, the company’s performance boss has confirmed that it will get a drift mode for those tail-happy enthusiasts.

AMG boss Tobias Moers confirmed the news to Motoring at the Paris Auto Show saying that the new E63 will be “really fast, have AWD standard as well, and we do have a drift mode in that car”.

Although AMG may be taking a leaf out of the Ford Focus RS handbook, we don’t expect this slide-inducing function to actually be called ‘Drift Mode’ as it is in the RS. Whatever it’s called, it’s assured to make the car even more prone to oversteer than the Ford.

In fact, Moers revealed that the E63’s all-wheel drive system has the ability to send 100 per cent of the power to the rear wheels (the RS can only do 70 percent). Combine that with a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine that delivers 563 hp in base form and 604 hp in ‘S’ trim and the new E63 has the right ingredients to be just as antisocial as the previous model.

The implementation of all-wheel drive will also ensure the new car is faster than ever before so much so that the sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) may take just 3.5 seconds for the S model.

There’s a possibility that a rear-wheel drive alternative will be offered in some markets but that has yet to be confirmed.