Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Coupe

Segment
Coupe

It's no surprise that Mercedes-Benz usually finds itself at the forefront of producing engines that growl, especially with turbochargers. In 2014, Mercedes unleashed onto the world of F1 its revolutionary turbo design, where the compressor is joined to the turbocharger by a rod that runs through the block. Mercedes has taken it upon itself to equip some of its road cars with a different turbo setup, more specifically in regards to its design. The AMG GT S is one of these cars.

When it debut in 2014, the AMG GT S came with just over 500 horsepower out of a 4.0-liter twin turbo V8. That doesn't sound very exciting on its own, but it's probably one of the most complicated twin-turbo setups you've ever seen. Once you learn that the turbochargers are inside of the engine, it suddenly becomes a lot more exciting. Traditionally, a turbocharger sits on the outside of the engine, connected to the exhaust and the intake. So this setup that Mercedes has adopted, dubbed "Hot-V", is ludicrous. However, looking at the various advantages, its complexity and insanity pales in comparison to its innovation. The turbochargers are mounted inside of the "V" part of the block, making it more compact.

That doesn't sound like such a great thing to work on, but the good news about that is if you're rich enough to afford the $121,550+ price tag you can probably deal with the turbo design. But it's good to be compact.

The engine can sit lower and farther back, therefore adjusting the weight distribution to be closer to the favorable 50/50 that allows for better handling. Mounting the turbos inside of the "V" also makes them more efficient. The turbos, being in between the heads, offer a less convoluted response and can reach 1.2 bar of boost. There is a problem with heat, but according to an article by Car and Driver, Mercedes has addressed that with a fan behind the radiator that's designed to cool the engine while it's stopped. To cool the engine while the car is running around a racetrack there are ducts underneath the hood to direct air past the turbos.

Mercedes also designed the engine to be dry sump, which means instead of a single tube attached to an oil pump the engine has a much larger pump with several tubes that sit at the bottom of a much larger pan. The tubes "scavenge" the oil from the pan so the engine is always lubricated with every bit of the oil, rendering the pan dry. While Mercedes certainly isn't the first to create such a turbo setup, we're excited to see it becoming more popular, especially if it makes for better ingenuity.