Mercedes Benz wants to be leader once again, now in the field of the 4x4. The new Mercedes Benz ML 63 AMG vehicle is presented at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show. It is expected to arrive on the market in the second quarter of 2006. Mercedes and AMG developed a SUV with sports car performance. The main objective is to recover the lost market against its German rivals Porsche, with its product the Cayenne, and Volkswagen with the Touareg.
As with most SUVs and off-road vehicles, the ability to travel off-road, almost no longer matters. Now the trend indicates that a good 4x4 vehicle must accelerate fast and achieve sports car speeds. Although no one could consistently explain why. And Mercedes couldn't be less than his rivals. In conjunction with AMG, its high-performance sports vehicle development department, Mercedes Benz designed and built a van equipped with a 6.300 cm3 V8 engine that delivers 510 HP power at 6,800 rpm and a torque of 630 Nm at 5,200 rpm. It is one of the most powerful V8 in the world, considering it is NOT equipped with turbos or superchargers. It will be the most powerful SUV ever made.
The Mercedes ML 63 achieves a self-limiting top speed of 250 km/h. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 5 seconds, as surprising as it is ridiculous. The 510 Hp of the V8 engine are transmitted to the wheels via an AMG Speedshift 7G-Tronic automatic box with Direct Select gear lever located in the steering column. It is specially designed for the performance of the V8. It has three modes of operation: Sport, Comfort and Manual. Power reaches the ground by means of wheels with AMG alloy five-ray wheels, carriageways on 295/45R19 tires.
The all-wheel drive is permanent, and when cornering at high speeds, the torque is distributed to the front and rear axles in the ratio 40 to 60. The ML 63 features Airmatic air suspension with AMG springs and specially conditioned ADS damping system. Even the body drops its height when the speed is increased.
As far as safety is concerned, the Mercedes ML 63 has systems such as the Pre-Safe, active head restraints Neck-Pro on the front seats, and adaptive two-stage Airbag for driver and passenger. It also has windowbags and the already known pretensioners and force limiters in the seat belts of each seat.
Inside the ML 63 AMG, the exclusive equipment features AMG seats with leather upholstery, Alcantara inserts in the shoulder area, multi-contour function and thermal adjustable seats. The AMG leather steering wheel has gear shift buttons. Access thresholds AMG and steel sports pedals with rubber parts give it more sporty character.
For more information on 4x4 vehicles, see Evolution of 4x4.
© Adrián Blanco 2005 - Prohibited the total or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —