Mercedes to offer S Class in 4 cylinder version

RedorDead

Premium brands are chasing more and more volume. At what point does the line between premium and volume diminish.

From AutomotiveNews

Mercedes-Benz is rolling out an S-class sedan with a four-cylinder engine, a first in the model's 60-year history as it vies with BMW AG and Audi for the “green” luxury driver.

Mercedes is the first of the world's biggest luxury carmakers to put such a small engine on its top-of-the-line model. To meet emissions standards and win environmentally aware customers, premium manufacturers are flaunting their environmental credentials. BMW has invested 1.2 billion euros in fuel-saving technology, while Mercedes nearly doubled its investment on “green” development to 1 billion euros this year.

Mercedes aims to maintain S class performance even with a downsized engine. The S250 CDI, which will arrive at dealers early next year, has a 2.2-liter diesel engine that has a peak power output of 204 hp and delivers maximum torque of 500 Newton meters at 1600 rpm.

Mercedes says the high torque at low engine speeds is a result of two-stage turbocharging and the engine's torque figures are equal to a six-cylinder diesel.

With stop-start technology as standard, the S 250 CDI has fuel consumption of 5.7 liters per 100 km and CO2 emissions of 149 grams per km, making it the first car in the luxury segment to run on under 6 liters of fuel per 100 km and the first vehicle in its class to attain CO2 emissions below the 150 gram mark, Mercedes says.

'Green luxury is feasible'

The 2- ton sedan has a top speed of 240 kilometers (149 miles) per hour and accelerates to 100 km per hour in 8.2 seconds. The top-of-the-line S65 AMG hits the mark in 4.4 seconds, but spews more than twice the emissions, and, at 192,500 euros, costs more than three times as much.

“Green luxury is feasible,” said Verena Mueller, a Mercedes spokeswoman. “We expect to attract environmentally conscious customers who are seeking the lowest possible CO2 emissions. Besides private customers, that could of course also be fleet buyers.”

Engine downsizing is also a reaction to the financial crisis, which sapped demand in the U.S. for high-end cars amid historic job losses. BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer said on Nov. 3 that U.S. luxury car sales will likely remain below pre-crisis levels until 2013 or 2014.

Smaller engines are cheaper, so therefore offer a financial incentive to keep customers from trading down to less-expensive model lines. The S250 CDI, which will be targeted mainly to European customers, costs 3,700 euros less than the V6 version, but 27,400 more than entry-level E class.

“The business models of Mercedes, BMW, and Audi wouldn't support a massive migration of customers to smaller models,” said Christoph Stuermer, a Frankfurt-based analyst at IHS Automotive. “We're going to start seeing extreme versions of bigger cars to keep customers from drifting down.”

BMW turns to electric motors for green performance

BMW this year swapped a six-cylinder engine for an eight- cylinder in one version of its top-of-the-line 7 series. Still, the company, which is building a hybrid supercar and an electric auto for city driving, isn't planning to follow Mercedes by rolling out a four-cylinder version of its flagship line.

“I like selling 7-series cars with six- and eight- cylinders,” Reithofer said last month at the Paris Motor Show. “What we need to offer with these cars in the future is electrification.”

BMW is developing a production version of the Vision Efficient Dynamics concept car for sale in 2013. The four-person sportscar combines a three-cylinder combustion engine with two electric motors and can accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour in 4.8 seconds. With CO2 emissions of 99 grams CO2 per kilometer, it's equivalent to the most efficient Volkswagen Golf.

Audi will counter with 4-cylinder A8

Audi is following a similar approach and plans to couple smaller engines with electric motors. The carmaker is developing a version of the A8 that will combine a four-cylinder gasoline engine with an electric motor. The hybrid sedan is slated for 2012, spokesman Eric Felber said, adding that smaller engines on their own can risk performance.

“Downsizing shouldn't limit driving characteristics,” said Eric Felber, a spokesman for Audi. “It's important to offer a certain degree of performance in this segment.” Felber said.

Ahead of the arrival of the hybrid flagship, Audi will provide more efficiency by introducing a front-wheel-drive version of the A8 with a six-cylinder diesel engine starting early next year.

Mercedes' four-cylinder S class is likely to be popular in countries such as France, the U.K. and the Netherlands, which are raising auto taxes based on carbon-dioxide emissions.

“They're going to love this car,” said Stuermer. “It allows them social prestige and comfort, without punishing them with costs for performance that they can't even legally use.”

A customer's experience

Simon Empson from Colchester, England, who has owned an S class since buying his first in the 1970s, hasn't touched his V8-powered S500 for 18 months. Instead of cruising in the flagship Mercedes model, which starts at 60,400 euros ($84,000), he's driving a 9,000-euro Rio from Kia Motors Corp. because the Korean compact burns 70 percent less fuel.

“We have to start making some significant changes” in our driving habits because of the environment, said Empson, 52, who is managing director of U.K. discount car website Broadspeed.com. “In the new greener world, we will all have to learn how to drive fewer, shorter journeys, much more slowly.”

Aside from an S class, Empson also owns a Ferrari, a Bentley, a Triumph motorcycle and several French and English classic cars. But he's turning sour on these toys.

“I have owned dozens of exotic cars over the years and now feel that the investment status many now possess will collapse,” he said. “It's the end of an era.”

Paul McVeigh contributed to this report



Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101109/ANE/101109831/1193#ixzz14nygbnYA

whippet

I can see a big increase in people selecting the option to 'debadge' when ordering !!

unkel

Poor article. Also we discussed this well over a month ago already here. A 2l 4-pot S-class is a bit sad, but with the pressure / taxation based on emissions it looks pretty much inevitable. The others will probably follow soon.

x in the city

unkel wrote: »

Poor article. Also we discussed this well over a month ago already here. A 2l 4-pot S-class is a bit sad, but with the pressure / taxation based on emissions it looks pretty much inevitable. The others will probably follow soon.

yeah, like a 4 pot M3 and and 5 Cylinder M5...

//Mtech, carbon emissions friendly since 2013... :rolleyes:

Anan1

x in the city wrote: »

yeah, like a 4 pot M3 and and 5 Cylinder M5...

//Mtech, carbon emissions friendly since 2013... :rolleyes:

A four cylinder M3 is nothing new.

x in the city

Anan1 wrote: »

A four cylinder M3 is nothing new.

lol

i meant to say a 4 pot with 120Bhp...:p

Eric Cartman

Millde managment just came themselves with delight , Im dissapointed, theres no point in owning a 7 series, jag, S class or any other luxobarge if you cant afford to run a petrol V8 , this car is pointless , im just waiting for the fleet of these and bmws 725d (will probably appear soon...) to disgust our streets appealing to middle managment types with neighbourhood superiority complexes.

this car will never be a patch on the s500/s600 machines that made the s class the desired car it is.

this is just the green parties from accross the world ruinign what little fun the rich had left

shogunpower

in fairness thats a fair amount of torque from a 2.2 diesel. almost 100bhp per liter aswell.

DirkVoodoo

I can't see why it's sad, most people buying s-classes are simply looking for comfortable cruisers with lots of toys that will spend most of their lives on motorways or stuck in rush hour. Adding a non-performance, economical option makes sense as most people don't buy them for their dynamics.

I suppose from a badge snob perspective, having a cheaper model in the line-up ruins the feeling of exclusivity for most. I'd probably take an E250 CDI or a 520d over one of these anyway, unless I was getting a fully loaded S250.

Cookie_Monster

why not have luxury without all the power and speed.

its not like you can ever use it on the roads legally anyway.

Sikie

100 kW per litre is now possible on development engines so within 5 years anything above 3 litres will be rare

Seweryn

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

why not have luxury without all the power and speed.

What do you mean "without the power and speed"? The performance figures for the S250 CDI are surprisingly good and a lot better than base 6-cylinder petrol models made few years ago.

EPM

It's nothing madly new really. The E38 7 series was available with the 2.5 diesel from the 3/525tds. Admittedly it was an inline six but similar principle

Eric Cartman

shogunpower wrote: »

in fairness thats a fair amount of torque from a 2.2 diesel. almost 100bhp per liter aswell.

ok well now if they take the engineers that developped that, lock them in a room with the team who developed the s600 v12 bi-turbo and come out with a V12 diesel that does 0-60 in under 5 seconds, then I will be happy

Stevie Dakota

Why not just make a 1 liter V8? Low emissions, V8 burble, everyone happy.

Seweryn

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Why not just make a 1 liter V8?

Because:
- The cost is too high,
- Efficiency of that type of engine is not as good.

Eric Cartman

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Why not just make a 1 liter V8? Low emissions, V8 burble, everyone happy.

emissions are none of my concern..... It doesnt matter how effiecient an engine becomes, nothing will ever best a 6+ litre v12 petrol monster on sound and feeling.

manufacturers keep improving the kw per litre output of engines and the fuel economy and focus on 4 cyl engines , why not just take a v12 and see how much economy and power you can ram out of it while still keeping the 6 litre capacity

My truck does 30-35mpg roughly, Im happy with that, as engine efficiency improves it just means I can buy bigger engines

DirkVoodoo

Eric Cartman wrote: »

emissions are none of my concern..... It doesnt matter how effiecient an engine becomes, nothing will ever best a 6+ litre v12 petrol monster on sound and feeling.

manufacturers keep improving the kw per litre output of engines and the fuel economy and focus on 4 cyl engines , why not just take a v12 and see how much economy and power you can ram out of it while still keeping the 6 litre capacity

My truck does 30-35mpg roughly, Im happy with that, as engine efficiency improves it just means I can buy bigger engines

Getting the power out of an engine is one thing, putting it on the road is another thing altogether. Does an s-class really need more than a 6L bi-turbo V12?

x in the city

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Getting the power out of an engine is one thing, putting it on the road is another thing altogether. Does an s-class really need more than a 6L bi-turbo V12?

only if its this yoke...:):)

DirkVoodoo

Look at this size of that power/torque graph! Barely fits on the plaque

VinnyTGM

x in the city wrote: »

only if its this yoke...:):)

Porn

x in the city

VinnyTGM wrote: »

Porn

gormley can shove that up his green encrusted ass...

that is 7 years old also... crazy stuff