AMG boss casts doubt over future of rear-drive performance

It should come as no surprise, but the days of two-wheel-drive AMG performance cars are officially numbered.

Asked whether we’ll see more two-wheel- or rear-wheel-drive AMG cars in the future, AMG global boss Tobias Moers delivered a simple answer to Australian media at the Frankfurt motor show today.

“You can always move the car into Drift Mode, and then you have a rear-wheel-driven car. You can do everything,” he said.

Mr Moers is referring to the mode which disconnects drive to the front wheels on all-wheel-drive models, sending all power to the rear wheels to enable power oversteer with the stability control disengaged.

Drift Mode was first seen on the current E63, and since on other all-wheel-drive AMG products including the new A45 and CLA45, where it represents an engineering marvel given the A-Class-based models’ native front-drive layouts.

The only rear-drive AMG products remaining in the global line-up are the C63, two-door GT, SL63 ans SLC43, which represents just a fraction of the overall range that now extends through every SUV available.

Of these, it’s probably the two-door GT that would raise eyebrows the most if it moved to all-wheel drive for its next generation, but understandable given the demands the existing model already places on its rear tyres to deliver flagship performance. Remember the Audi R8 has always been natively all-wheel drive and the fastest accelerating Porsche 911s have been all-wheel drive for decades. 


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