Stuttgart/Affalterbach – The AMG 6.0-litre V12 biturbo engine has stormed to a decisive victory in the International Engine of the Year Awards. In the “Best Performance Engine” category, the jury voted the 450-kW/612-hp AMG power unit top dog ahead of 70 elite rivals from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, France, the USA and Japan, underlining once again the expertise of Mercedes-AMG in the development of high-performance engines and cars.
This renowned annual awards ceremony, which took place under the banner of the “Engine Expo 2004” show at Stuttgart’s exhibition centre, sees the world’s leading passenger-car engine concepts nominated in twelve different categories.
Organising the event for the sixth time was British motoring journal “Engine Technology International Magazine”. A total of 24 countries were represented on the jury, which was made up of 56 motoring journalists from leading TV and print media.
Many of the jurors are also members of the “Car of the Year” panel. Mercedes-AMG was among the previous winners of the Engine Expo awards, having scored a resounding victory last year with the AMG 5.5-litre supercharged V8 engine.
The comments from the jury were just as gushing as those made by the world’s press in praise of the AMG V12 power unit. For example, Wolfgang Peters of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” described it as “by a distance the best engine for power-hungry people – cultivated and glamorous.”
Graham Johnson from “UK & International Press Automotive Magazines” was equally effusive: “Mercedes-AMG has created an engine with a wonderfully split personality – a passport to elegant and comfortable cruising one minute, a simmering vat of super-car power the next.”
Wolf Zimmermann, a member of the Board at Mercedes-AMG GmbH and responsible for development and production at the Affalterbach-based company, was delighted to accept the award at Stuttgart’s exhibition centre: “Following on from the impressive victory of our AMG supercharged V8 engine last year, today’s success is emphatic confirmation of the really quite overwhelming test results produced throughout the media for the AMG 6.0-litre V12 biturbo unit.
Victory in this category also underlines the pleasure this engine and the vehicles powered by it have given our customers.”
Developing 450 kW/612 hp and maximum torque of 1000 Newton metres, the AMG 6.0-litre V12 biturbo engine propels vehicle performance into a new dimension – and yet still displays extraordinary smoothness and the long-distance comfort you would expect from a Mercedes.
The engine celebrated its premiere in 2003 in the CL 65 AMG and S 65 AMG high-performance models and is also available with immediate effect under the bonnet of the Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG – the world’s most powerful roadster.
