Extension of the Most Efficient and Most Powerful V8 Engine Family for Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Benz

Authors

Dipl.-Ing. Bertram Tschamon, Dipl.-Ing. Christian Enderle, Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Ramsteiner, Mercedes-AMG GmbH, Affalterbach
Dipl.-Ing. Bernhard Heil, Daimler AG, Stuttgart

Summary

The first two members of the family of 4.0-liter V8 engines from Mercedes-AMG made their debut in 2015 in the form of the M177 LS1 and M178 for the Mercedes-AMG C63 and Mercedes-AMG GT.

In 2016, a further variant, the M176 for the G-Class, was added to the engine family. The engine thus finds its way into a Mercedes-Benz vehicle and will now for the first time be produced also at the engine plant in Bad Cannstatt. The challenge is to unite two methods of production: "One Man – One Engine" at Mercedes-AMG and conventional series-production assembly in Bad Cannstatt.

In 2017, Mercedes-AMG recently extended the engine family in three completely different directions. The M176 for the Mercedes S-Class has been made more efficient thanks to various measures, making it the benchmark for fuel economy in its class. To achieve this, Mercedes-AMG made use of the new Camtronic with cylinder
deactivation, which was developed in-house at Daimler.

The next major development step concerns the M177 LS2 (power level 2), with which Mercedes-AMG increases the torque of the engine from 700 Nm to 900 Nm and the power output from 375 kW to 450 kW. The uprated engine will be used by AMG in the E-Class and in the S-Class. In addition to the increased power, the M177 LS2
also features cylinder deactivation (Camtronic), making it the benchmark in its class in terms of both power output and fuel economy.

Not least, the engine family was further developed also in the sports car segment with an increase in power output. Hence, the output of the M178 has been raised from 375 kW to 430 kW for the new Mercedes-AMG GT R. This makes the GT R the fastest standard-production vehicle at the Nürburgring.

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