At the Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes-AMG took the covers off of the new CLS53 and E53. The models are powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine. The straight-six motor, according to a report by Road & Track, will find its way into future models.
The V6 engines are being phased of the automaker’s stable in favor of Mercedes-Benz’s straight-six engines, mainly the M256 motor. The change, according to Ola Källenius, Mercedes-Benz’s Research and Development chief, has to do with the emergence of four-cylinder engines.
“Because four-cylinder is the dominating engine formula for the world, it makes more sense now to tack the six onto that,” Källenius told the outlet. “That’s opposed to the previous strategy where you have the V8 and the V6 of the same tree.”
When Källenius puts it like that, it makes sense. With Mercedes moving towards putting four-cylinder engines into its base vehicles, having inline-six motors that share a similar architecture with two more cylinders in higher-up models is a natural progression.
“In terms of our overall engine production strategy, the new four-cylinder and six-cylinder are branches of the same tree,” said Källenius. “The combustion chamber of those are essentially the same, the cylinder distance of 90 mm is the same, and you can run these engines over the same production line.”
As one would expect, the move to inline-six engines won’t happen overnight. And some models are definitely not in the plans to get the motor, like the C-Class, claims the outlet. One model that is slated to get the engine, though, is an E53 sedan that will replace the E43 model.
Better get used to inline-six engines from Mercedes, because they’re here to stay.
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