Mercedes-Benz has developed a new generation of V engines that are characterised by considerably lower fuel consumption and significantly more power. The pistons and cylinder heads of the new engines are weight-optimised aluminium die-castings.

The completely redesigned V6 and V8 engines offer record levels of efficiency for the premium end of the market. The new V8 is rated at 320 kW (435 bhp) and thus about 12 per cent more powerful than its predecessor; by contrast, the fuel consumption has been reduced by up to 22 per cent. The new V6 achieves 225 kW (306 bhp) and only needs 7.6 litres per 100 km (37.2 mpg(imp) / 31.0 mpg(US)) and is thus 24 per cent more fuel efficient than its predecessor.

The state-of-the-art V6 and V8 engines will make their debut from the third quarter of this year onwards in the new generation of the CL-Class, and then later in the S-Class. A total of more than a billion euros has already been invested in the new engines: about 600 million euros went into their development and around 400 million euros was invested in production facilities.

Technological developments that lead to weight optimisation have been rigorously pursued for the components. A good example of this are the newly designed camshaft phasers, that are now markedly lighter and more compact than their predecessors. Crankcase, pistons and cylinder heads are weight-optimised aluminium die-castings. The power train is based on a development of the aluminium die-cast crankcase of the predecessor with cast-in aluminium-silicon liners. It was possible to adopt the base and connecting-rod wrist-pin end diameters of the predecessor; the compression height of the piston was increased by just less than four millimetres for stress reasons. The deck height of the crankcase could be maintained by reducing the stroke and using a connecting rod that is two millimetres shorter.